The American Heart Association has expanded its education portfolio to help clinicians translate the first-ever cardiovascular-kidney-metabolic (CKM) syndrome guideline into practice. The new resources, announced in Dallas, range from 15-minute micro-learnings to in-depth courses and practical tools, with continuing education credit offerings varying by activity. The move comes as cardiovascular, kidney, and metabolic conditions—such as Type 2 diabetes and obesity—increasingly overlap, making coordinated care more critical than ever.
Since 2023, the American Heart Association has been a leader in advancing CKM health by convening experts across science, clinical care, and industry to develop resources that improve diagnosis and management of these interconnected conditions. “CKM syndrome challenges clinicians to look beyond a single condition and consider how cardiovascular, kidney and metabolic health influence one another,” said Ambar Kulshreshtha, M.D., Ph.D., a family practice physician and member of the Association’s CKM Health Initiative. “These educational resources support a range of learning styles and busy schedules, giving care team members practical ways to build knowledge, stay current with the latest evidence and apply recommendations.”
The education portfolio is hosted on the Association’s CKM Health for Professionals site, designed for physicians, nurses, pharmacists, and other healthcare team members. Offerings include Micro-Learnings (15 minutes or less), short videos and activities that cover topics like measuring waist circumference, highlights from the 2026 CKM Syndrome Guideline, the PREVENT equations, and strategies for weight management conversations. For deeper dives, podcasts offer 30-minute episodes, including one with CE credit on therapeutic applications for metabolic dysfunction-associated steatotic liver disease (MASLD), a condition rising alongside metabolic risk factors.
On-demand videos exceeding 60 minutes include the recorded version of the CKM Syndrome Guideline Unpacked: A Unified Approach for Interdisciplinary Prevention & Care, a virtual summit featuring insights from the guideline writing committee. Additional sessions address cardiovascular risk assessment, chronic kidney disease screening, GLP-1 receptor agonists, and managing patients with heart failure and CKM syndrome. Apps and tools support point-of-care decision-making, such as a QuickStart guide for the American Heart Association Predicting Risk of cardiovascular disease EVENTsTM (PREVENT) Online Calculator, which estimates 10- and 30-year cardiovascular disease risk by integrating cardiovascular, kidney, and metabolic measures. The Guidelines-on-the-Go app, available for iOS and Android, puts the latest science at clinicians’ fingertips.
Toolkits and additional resources extend education beyond courses, with downloadable tools like the CKM Care Clinical QuickStart Guide, a step-by-step resource covering screening, risk stratification, staging, and management. For more information, visit heart.org or stroke.org. The initiative is supported by founding sponsors Novo Nordisk and Boehringer Ingelheim, supporting sponsors Novartis Pharmaceuticals Corporation and Bayer, and champion sponsor DaVita. This expansion matters because it equips healthcare professionals to deliver integrated care for patients with overlapping conditions, potentially improving outcomes and reducing the burden of cardiovascular disease.
