The American College of Cardiology’s (ACC) 2024 conference was a hub of innovation and excitement, particularly when it came to the role Artificial Intelligence (AI) is poised to play in cardiology. With numerous sessions dedicated to exploring the impact of AI in cardiovascular care, We’ve distilled some of our favorite AI takeaways from the event.
Conversations at the conference showed us that the understanding of AI’s impact beyond the reading room is in full effect. As such, the cardiology world is embracing AI, seeing its ability to enhance treatment opportunities, improving operational efficiency and, of course, improving patient outcomes.
We saw a huge focus on health equity, and it’s recognized that AI can be a great equalizer in this regard. If AI is always running in the background on every patient, underserved populations will greatly benefit. For instance, at an Aidoc dinner event, Martha Gulati, MD, Cardiologist at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center, spoke about the disparity in diagnosis and referrals for women with cardiac pathologies like coronary artery calcification (CAC) or aortic stenosis.
However, as findings on imaging alone is just the first step – having a plan to act on the findings is absolutely critical in order to change outcomes. As stated by Michael Shapiro, MD, Director, Center for Preventive Cardiology at Wake Forest said, “Findings on imaging doesn’t change outcomes. What changes outcomes is tying the findings to a plan.” This is the real strength of a comprehensive AI solution in the world of cardiovascular care.
There’s no doubt that the conversations of clinical AI have greatly matured over the last few years, and ACC showed us this is also applicable to the cardiovascular space. Ami Bhatt, MD, FACC and CIO of ACC emphasized the importance of adopting a “big-picture” view of AI. She highlighted the collaborative efforts of all stakeholders in developing frameworks and infrastructure to ensure the ethical and responsible deployment of AI. Bhatt said that, “when done thoughtfully, we will serve our patients better, educate ourselves optimally and improve the quality of work in the practice of medicine.
Other conversations at our booth included the best ways to deploy AI within a health system. For example, how does a platform work and what’s the best way to implement it? We heard more and more about health systems forming AI committees or chairs to evaluate different solutions in an effort to choose what works best for them in the immediate future and longer term.
AI is already being used for analyzing medical images, aiding in drug discovery, telehealth, remote monitoring and more. Bhatt mentioned that AI has the potential to further transform cardiovascular care and improve heart health by:
One such exciting new opportunity is Aidoc’s CAC Patient Management solution. This will empower care teams by surfacing new patients who need to be managed as CAC is a strong and independent predictor of major adverse cardiovascular events (MACE) such as MI, stroke, and cardiovascular death. Learn more about it here.
The ACC’s commitment to advancing cardiovascular care promises a future where technology plays a pivotal role in improving patient care, streamlining processes and fostering innovation. For more information on the collaboration between ACC and Aidoc, check out the press release here.
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