TORONTO, ON, October 23, 2023
Given the alarming statistic that 36% of chronic illness-related deaths in Ontario stem from
cardiovascular disease, innovative approaches for the prevention and management of cardiovascular
disease are paramount. For this reason, cardiologists in Ontario are collaborating with Novartis
Pharmaceuticals Inc. towards innovative care models for atherosclerotic cardiovascular disease
(ASCVD), a primary driver of cardiovascular disease morbidity and mortality.
Central to this collaboration is the establishment of Nurse Practitioner (NP) clinics that aim To address
the fragmentation of secondary prevention care in ASCVD .
By focusing on pivotal initiatives such as the launch of NP-led clinics tailored for ASCVD patients, the aim is to transform patient care.
The ability to leverage AI, NLP, and OCR, has also been instrumental in supporting innovative care
models such as these. One example of such technology is Cardea Health which ‘empowered us to distill
essential data’ Dr. Andrew Yadegari, CMIO and Co-Founder of Cardea Health Inc. remarked. “
Dr. Jason Burstein, a partner at the Heart Health Institute, further emphasizes the value of technology
stating, “Our alliance with Cardea Health was instrumental, their technology swiftly pinpointed our
target patient demographics across the Heart Health Institute, impacting a significant patient
population primarily from underserved areas of Scarborough, Ajax, and Pickering.”
Naveed Ahmad, CEO and Co-Founder of Cardea Health Inc., encapsulates the broader vision: “projects
such as this one showcases the potential to improve patient care when technology and clinical acumen
converge in one mission.”
Overview of the Operations:
In March 2023, the Heart Health Institute (HHI) established NP led ASCVD clinics, hosting an average of
2.5 specialized ASCVD clinic days monthly, peaking at 5 clinic days in July 2023.
The impact on patient care was significant. The average LDL levels across the patients seen at these clinics dropped dramatically from 2.5 to 1.2mmol/L, allowing many of these patients to achieve guidelines directed LDL-C thresholds
This initiative was driven forward by 8 cardiologists at HHI, all engaged in improving patient outcomes
through this innovative model.
The value of technology:
Ensuring that ASCVD patients were being efficiently directed into the NP led clinics originally required
patient evaluations that took an average of 30 minutes, consuming significant time and resources.
With the aid of technology (A true-positive tool with 75-85% accuracy and a named entity recognition
(NER) system) efficiency was improved allowing patients and clinicians to save time and resources by
facilitating access to the NP led clinics.
Combining technology with human expertise reduced evaluation times to from 30 minutes to 1.5 minutes per patient. Health Informaticists found that combining manual vetting, technology, and expert judgment was most effective.
In closing, innovative care models, supported by technology, that enable better cardiovascular care are
setting the setting the stage for a brighter, healthier future.
Data Points
Start Date: March 2023
Data period: 6 months
Number of Nurse Practitioners: 1 now moving to 2
Average ASCVD clinic days per month over the past 6 months: 2.5
Average ASCVD patients seen per day: 9
Highest number of ASCVD clinic days in a month: 5 days ( July 2023)
Patient Impact analysis: LDL decrease from baseline/initial value 2.5 down to 1.2 after 1 visit