On the Front Lines of Heart Failure: Best Practices and Evolving Evidence in Cardiorenal Care for the Multidisciplinary Team
Release Date
June 1, 2026
Expiration Date
June 1, 2027
Estimated Time to Complete Activity
60 minutes
Specialty
Cardiology, Endocrinology, Family Medicine, Internal Medicine, and Nephrology
Topic(s)
Heart Failure, Cardiorenal
Credit Available
- Physicians — maximum of 1.0 AMA PRA Category 1 Credit(s)™ and 1.0 ABIM MOC Points
- Nurses — maximum of 1.0 ANCC contact hours
- PA — maximum of 1.0 AAPA Category 1 CME credits
- Pharmacists — 1.0 ACPE contact hours
All other healthcare professionals completing this course will be issued a statement of participation.
Program Overview
Heart failure (HF) is becoming increasingly prevalent and continues to drive significant morbidity and mortality across the full cardiovascular-kidney-metabolic (CKM) continuum, wherein delayed disease recognition, suboptimal treatment selection, and fragmented care patterns each contribute deleterious impacts to the quality and outcomes of cardiorenal care. In fact, the profound epidemiologic scope and burgeoning need for optimized management of CKM has recently prompted the promulgation of the 2026 AHA/ACC/ADA/ASN Guideline for the Prevention, Detection, Evaluation, and Management of CKM Syndrome, the first-ever expert consensus guidance statement to be published in this rapidly evolving field.
In this 60-minute, expert-led activity offering CME/CE and MOC credit, multidisciplinary clinicians will gain practical, evidence-based strategies to improve HF management across the cardiorenal spectrum. Through focused insights, practical pearls, and case-based discussion, faculty will translate evolving evidence into real-world clinical decision-making, with an emphasis on early intervention, guideline-concordant treatment, and team-based care.
Participants will explore:
- The growing burden of HF and its intersection with CKM disease
- Key mechanisms of HF pathophysiology, including the central role of aldosterone
- Approaches to early identification and diagnosis, enabling timely initiation of therapy
- Implementation of guideline-directed medical therapy (GDMT) in everyday practice
- Emerging evidence on aldosterone antagonism and its role in cardiorenal care
Designed for the multidisciplinary team, this program emphasizes collaborative, evidence-driven, and patient-centered strategies to optimize outcomes in HF.
This activity is supported by an independent medical educational grant from Boehringer Ingelheim Pharmaceuticals, Inc.
Learning Objectives
Upon completion of this activity, participants should be better able to:
- Review the prevalence and clinical impact of heart failure (HF), and its connection to the cardiovascular-kidney-metabolic (CKM) disease continuum.
- Examine the central role of aldosterone in HF pathophysiology and progression—and why it remains a critical therapeutic target.
- Apply best practice approaches for early identification and diagnosis of HF, ensuring rapid initiation of guideline-directed medical therapy (GDMT).
- Integrate patient-centered, guideline-based treatment plans through effective multidisciplinary and interprofessional collaboration.
- Evaluate the latest evidence for existing and novel HF therapeutics that target aldosterone.
Faculty
Muthiah Vaduganathan, MD, MPH, FACC, FHFA (Activity Chair)
Cardiologist and Clinical Trialist
Brigham and Women’s Hospital and Harvard Medical School
Muthiah Vaduganathan, MD, MPH, FACC, FHFA, is a cardiologist and clinical trialist at Brigham and Women’s Hospital and Harvard Medical School. He is co-director of the Center for Cardiometabolic Implementation Science at Brigham and Women’s Hospital. He serves as an Associate Editor of JACC and as US national ambassador to the ESC Heart Failure Association. His research focuses on drug development, clinical trials, and implementation of cardio-kidney-metabolic therapies. He has authored or co-authored more than 850 peer-reviewed publications and is recognized as a Clarivate Highly Cited Researcher. He participates on study leadership of ongoing advanced-phase trials in cardio-kidney-metabolism and heart failure.
Stephanie G Barnes, DNP, AGNP-C, CHFN
Nurse Practitioner
Clinical Director for Advanced Heart Failure
Duke University Hospital
Stephanie G Barnes, DNP, AGNP-C, CHFN, is a Nurse Practitioner and the Clinical Director for Advanced Heart Failure at Duke University Hospital. Stephanie received her bachelors in nursing from the University of South Carolina and masters in nursing from UNC Chapel Hill and Doctorate in Nursing Practice from Duke University. Stephanie serves on the Board of Directors of the American Association of Heart Failure Nurses.
Mona Fiuzat, PharmD, FACC, FHFA, FHFSA
Associate Professor of Medicine
Duke University
Mona Fiuzat, PharmD, FACC, FHFA, FHFSA is an Associate Professor of Medicine at Duke University and spent over 10 years at FDA as former Senior Scientific Advisor for FDA, Division of Cardiology and Nephrology (CDER, DCN), and Senior Senior Scientific Advisor to the FDA Commissioner. She previously served as Executive Editor and current editorial consultant for JACC: Heart Failure as well as several other journals including Circulation, Circ: Heart Failure, European Journal of Heart Failure, and JCF. Her clinical research experience has been in clinical trials with a focus on pharmacogenetics in heart failure, and she helped file an NDA for the first proposed pharmacogenetically targeted heart failure drug. She worked in the Heart Failure research program at Duke on a number of key clinical trials as an investigator and steering committee member, and has authored or co-authored over 200 papers in the field of heart failure. Most recently, she serves as a founder and Executive Committee member of the “Heart Failure Collaboratory”, a public-private partnership between government agencies, academicians, patients, societies and payers to improve heart failure research and therapeutic development. She is a former Program Chair for the Heart Failure Society of America’s (HFSA) Scientific Sessions, Membership Co-Chair, Research Network Taskforce, and served on the HFSA Board of Directors including officer roles as HFSA Secretary and Treasurer. She has also served on the ACC Education and Outcomes Committee, and AHA Nominations Committee and currently on the IMPLEMENT-HF Steering Committee. She was the recipient of the 2019 ACC Distinguished Associate Award.
Accreditation Statement
In support of improving patient care, American Academy of CME, Inc. is Jointly accredited by the Accreditation Council for Continuing Medical Education (ACCME), the Accreditation Council for Pharmacy Education (ACPE), and the American Nurses Credentialing Center (ANCC), to provide continuing education for the healthcare team.
Successful completion of this CME activity, which includes participation in the evaluation component, enables the participant to earn up to 1.0 MOC points in the American Board of Internal Medicine’s (ABIM) Maintenance of Certification (MOC) program. Participants will earn MOC points equivalent to the amount of CME credits claimed for the activity. It is the CME activity provider's responsibility to submit participant completion information to ACCME for the purpose of granting ABIM MOC credit. Your points will be automatically submitted to the ABIM on your behalf; please allow 6-8 weeks for your points to display on the ABIM website.
CLAIMING MOC POINTS: If you intend to claim MOC points for your participation, you will need to provide your unique ABIM ID when completing the activity evaluation. Physicians who do not know their ABIM ID can log in to the ABIM website at https://www.abim.org — your ABIM ID will appear next to your name. By claiming MOC points, you are agreeing to have your participation completion information to be shared with the ACCME and the ABIM.
Credit Designation
Physician: American Academy of CME, Inc., designates this enduring material for a maximum of 1.0 AMA PRA Category 1 Credits™. Physicians should claim only the credit commensurate with the extent of their participation in the activity.
Nurse Practitioners and Nurses: American Academy of CME, Inc., designates this educational activity for 1.0 ANCC contact hours (0.8 pharmacotherapeutic contact hours).
California: Provider approved by the California Board of Registered Nursing, Provider Number CEP16993 for 1.0 contact hours.
Pharmacists: This activity provides 1.0 ACPE contact hours (0.1 CEUs) of continuing education credit. Universal Activity Number JA4008191-0000-26-041-H01-P, Knowledge. Pharmacist will have credit uploaded to CPE Monitor within 5 weeks.
Physician Assistants: American Academy of CME, Inc. has been authorized by the American Academy of PAs (AAPA) to award AAPA Category 1 CME credit for activities planned in accordance with AAPA CME Criteria. This activity is designated for 1.0 AAPA Category 1 CME credits. Approval is valid until June 1, 2027. PAs should only claim credit commensurate with the extent of their participation.
All other team members will receive a certificate of participation.
Disclosures
According to the disclosure policy of the Academy, all faculty, planning committee members, editors, managers and other individuals who are in a position to control content are required to disclose any relationships with any ineligible company(ies). The existence of these relationships is not viewed as implying bias or decreasing the value of the activity. Clinical content has been reviewed for fair balance and scientific objectivity, and all of the relevant financial relationships listed for these individuals have been mitigated.
Faculty Educator/Planner Disclosures
Muthiah Vaduganathan, MD, MPH, FACC, FHFA: Advisory Board/Consultant: Alnylam Pharmaceuticals, American Regent, Amgen, AstraZeneca, Bayer AG, Baxter Healthcare, BMS, Boehringer Ingelheim, Chiesi, Cytokinetics, Esperion, Fresenius Medical Care, Idorsia Pharmaceuticals, Lexicon Pharmaceuticals, Merck, Milestone Pharmaceutical; Grant/Research Support: Amgen, AstraZeneca, Bayer AG, Boehringer Ingelheim, Galmed, Impulse Dynamics, Novartis, Occlutech, and Pharmacosmos.
Stephanie Barnes, DNP, AGNP-C, CHFN: Advisory Board/Consultant: CVRx
Mona Fiuzat, PharmD, FACC, FHFA, FHFSA: Advisory Board/Consultant: Abiomed
Planning Team Disclosures:
John JD Juchniewicz, MCIS, CHCP, Bryan Taylor, PharmD, MBA, Michelle Kohute, PharmD, Natalie Kirkwood, RN, BSN, JD. No relevant financial relationships to disclose.
Disclosure of Unlabeled Use
This activity includes information about off-label uses of approved agents and/or investigational agents.
Disclaimer
The opinions expressed in this accredited continuing education activity are those of the faculty, and do not represent those of the Academy. This educational activity is intended as a supplement to existing knowledge, published information, and practice guidelines. Learners should appraise the information presented critically, and draw conclusions only after careful consideration of all available scientific information.
Implicit Bias
Implicit Bias: Implicit bias refers to unconscious attitudes and stereotypes that influence our thoughts, judgements, decisions, and actions without our awareness. Everyone is susceptible to implicit bias, even clinicians. In healthcare, implicit biases can have a significant impact on the quality of care an individual receives. These biases can be both favorable and unfavorable, and are activated involuntarily without an individual’s awareness or intentional control. Studies have indicated that healthcare providers’ incorrect perceptions can impact providers’ communications and clinical decision-making contributing to disparities in clinical outcomes. Addressing implicit biases in healthcare is critical to improving health outcomes and promoting health equity for all patients. Patient-centered care can reduce the impact of implicit bias, by treating each patient as a unique individual who may or may not hold beliefs associated with their backgrounds and circumstances. In addition, recognizing implicit bias in one’s own practice using techniques such as self-reflection and mindful clinical decision-making can ensure more equitable and effective care for all patients.
Over the past several decades, cognitive science research has demonstrated human behavior, beliefs and attitudes are shaped by automatic and unconscious cognitive processes. The healthcare profession is devoting greater attention to how these automatic and unconscious processes impact care including: (1) preferential treatment toward or against specific patient populations causing healthcare inequities, (2) influence patient-provider communications leading to misunderstandings and mistrust, and (3) impact access to healthcare and affect treatment decisions resulting in misdiagnosis, delays in treatment and specialty referrals and poor pain management. Considering one might have unconscious biases and exploring them may be uncomfortable because the very idea that they exist may conflict with how clinicians perceive themselves. It is only by becoming aware of one’s unconscious biases that members of the healthcare team can take steps to mitigate them to ensure all their patients are treated receive quality healthcare. For more information on strategies to reduce implicit bias, visit: https://www.ihi.org/library/blog/how-reduce-implicit-bias.
Instructions for Participation and Credit
There are no fees to participate in the activity. Participants must review the activity information including the learning objectives and disclosure statements, as well as the content of the activity. To receive CME/CE credit for your participation, please complete the post-assessment (achieving a score of 70% or greater) and program evaluation.
For questions about this activity, contact CEServices@academycme.org