Primary Care is the Quarterback in Effective Care for Cardiovascular-Kidney-Metabolic Syndrome

"...the primary care physicians and internists and family practice physicians really are at the crux of this...like the quarterbacks for thinking about this challenge."

The "challenge" referred to is the paradigm shift envisioned that will make interdisciplinary care for cardiovascular-kidney-metabolic (CKM) syndrome a reality.

In an interview with Patient Care,® Chiadi Ndumele, MD, PhD, MHS, points out that the recommendation for simultaneous care by primary and specialty care clinicians for patients with complex chronic disease is certainly not new. The renewed emphasis in the American Heart Association's (AHA) recent statement on prevention and management of CKM syndrome, said Ndumele, chair of the AHA statement's writing committee, re-stresses the significant impact of fragmented care on cardiovascular morbidity and mortality and suggests strategies to bring this ideal closer to standard of care.

Chiadi Ndumele, MD, PhD, MHS, is associate professor of medicine and director of obesity and cardiometabolic research in the division of cardiology at Johns Hopkins University. His research focuses on the relationship between obesity and cardiovascular disease, and particularly heart failure.