The American Heart Association's Predicting Risk of cardiovascular disease EVENTs (PREVENT) equations have been integrated into Epic's electronic health record (EHR) platform, a move that makes modern cardiovascular risk assessment available in the majority of EHR systems nationwide. This integration represents a significant step forward in bringing guideline-recommended risk assessment into everyday patient care, where clinicians engage with patients to discuss the primary prevention of heart attack, stroke, and heart failure.
By embedding the PREVENT equations directly into Epic's workflow, the integration streamlines care delivery and provides opportunity for timely decision support at the point of care. This is critical because risk estimation is the starting point for prevention. When clinicians have seamless access to accurate, up-to-date risk assessment tools, they can identify risk earlier and identify patients sooner who may benefit from lifestyle interventions, additional testing, or preventive therapies before cardiovascular disease develops.
"The promise of PREVENT lies in its ability to be implemented and acted on at scale. Expanding access to the PREVENT equations through the Epic platform provides clinicians with access to risk estimates that can support shared decision-making with patients," said Sadiya S. Khan, M.D., M.Sc., American Heart Association volunteer and a preventive cardiologist at Northwestern Medicine in Chicago who led the development of the PREVENT equations. "This is a critical next step in informing conversations and care for personalized prevention in patients."
Unlike previous risk tools, the PREVENT equations incorporate measures of cardiovascular, kidney, and metabolic health and provide estimates for total cardiovascular disease, including heart attack, stroke, and heart failure. The equations were developed using health information from more than 6.5 million adults from diverse racial, ethnic, geographic, and socioeconomic backgrounds. They can assess risk over both 10- and 30-year time horizons, making them a more contemporary approach to risk assessment. The PREVENT equations are intended for use in adults aged 30-79 years without a history of cardiovascular disease.
Recent American Heart Association and American College of Cardiology guidelines for managing high blood pressure, abnormal cholesterol, and cardiovascular-kidney-metabolic (CKM) syndrome recommend use of the PREVENT equations for cardiovascular risk assessment and personalized treatment decisions, reflecting growing adoption of the tool across cardiovascular prevention efforts. This integration is part of the American Heart Association's broader effort to accelerate implementation of evidence-based CKM health strategies and extend access to guideline-recommended prevention tools through health technology relationships.
The integration also reflects the Association's role as a trusted source of cardiovascular science and a convening leader working with clinical, technology, and health system partners to help ensure validated tools can be used consistently and efficiently in routine care. By advancing access to the most contemporary, validated risk estimation tool within a major clinical platform, the American Heart Association reinforces its leadership role in moving cardiovascular science from publication to practical implementation.
For more information about the PREVENT equations, visit the American Heart Association's professional education website. Additional resources include the PREVENT equations can improve, personalize care for adults with high BP and PREVENT equation accurately estimated 10-year CVD risk and those with calcium buildup. Follow American Heart Association news on X @HeartNews.
