GE Healthcare announced this week that it would be teaming up with the American College of Cardiology to push forward artificial intelligence and digital technology in cardiac care.  

The company says it will lend its perspective to the ACC's Applied Health Innovation Consortium, a collaboration of patient advocates and academic, clinical, industry and technology partners aimed at digitally transforming healthcare.  

"We are excited to have GE Healthcare join forces with the Applied Health Innovation Consortium," said Dr. John Rumsfeld, ACC chief innovation officer and chief science and quality officer, in a statement.  

"In our mission to transform cardiovascular care and improve heart health, GE Healthcare is a great collaborator to help build a roadmap for AI and digital technology that bridges gaps in clinical care," added Rumsfeld.  

WHY IT MATTERS  

According to the press release, the consortium expects to define challenges, develop AI models and put research results to practice through implementation in clinical workflows.  

The collaboration will start by addressing atrial fibrillation management, along with coronary artery disease, valvular heart disease and heart failure.  

It also intends to identify priorities and make progress in specific ways to impact care – particularly around AI-driven services, such as image interpretation, risk prediction and decision support.   

And it will do so, say the organizations, with the help of GE Healthcare's product development power and the ACC's thought leadership.  

As the announcement notes, cardiology clinicians use GE Healthcare's AI software, hosted on its Edison platform, to diagnose and treat more than 145 million hearts every year.

"We are eager to help shape the heart care pathway – from early detection to treatment to follow-up at home – by combining our expertise in AI and digital technologies with top clinical leadership to advance risk prediction and decision-making support," said GE Healthcare Chief Technology Scientist for Cardiology Solutions Eigil Samset in a statement.  

THE LARGER TREND  

The news of GE Healthcare joining the Consortium follows results of a trial released this past month by the Mayo Clinic signaling the potential for AI-guided heart disease detection, specifically with regard to low ejection fraction.

"The AI-enabled EKG facilitated the diagnosis of patients with low ejection fraction in a real-world setting by identifying people who previously would have slipped through the cracks," said Dr. Peter Noseworthy, a Mayo Clinic cardiac electrophysiologist who was the senior author on the study.

The trial was just the latest attempt at harnessing the power of AI to address heart disease, especially around diagnostics. In 2020, the FDA approved marketing authorization for AI-enabled cardiac ultrasound software to assist in diagnosis for nonexpert providers.  

ON THE RECORD  

"Ultimately, this will enable precision health, which is doing the right thing, at the right time for every patient, at scale – with the ultimate goal to provide better outcomes, delivered to more people, more cost efficiently," said GE's Samset about the new ACC project.

Kat Jercich is senior editor of Healthcare IT News.
Twitter: @kjercich
Email: kjercich@himss.org
Healthcare IT News is a HIMSS Media publication.