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. 2025 Jul-Aug;40(4):156-164.
doi: 10.1097/JMQ.0000000000000231. Epub 2025 Apr 17.

A Platform Designed to Empower Quality Improvement for Patients with Atrial Fibrillation

Thomas F Deering  1 , Anne Marie Smith  2 , John A Gillespie  3 , Julie Simonson  3 , Julie Gouveia-Pisano  3 , Marcia Jackson  4 , Tracy Blithe  2 , Heather Somand  5 , Charles J Medico  3 , Karl H Schuleri  6 , Michelle L Budzyn  7 , Ramin Zand  8 , Durgesh Chaudhary  9 , Sandeep K Jain  9 , James C Coons  10 , Erica M Byers  10 , Eric Dueweke  10 , Francis Solano  10 , John N Catanzaro  11
Affiliations

A Platform Designed to Empower Quality Improvement for Patients with Atrial Fibrillation

Thomas F Deering et al. Am J Med Qual. 2025 Jul-Aug.

Abstract

There are significant gaps in care for patients with atrial fibrillation (AF) and is a need to focus on improving guideline-concordant care. Recognizing challenges encountered in pursuing sustainable quality improvement (QI) in AF care, the Heart Rhythm Society spearheaded a multifaceted collaboration grounded in the principles of Improvement Science to develop a robust platform aimed specifically at demystifying QI for clinicians and health care systems interested in closing care gaps for patients with AF. Solution development included an innovative discovery process, a design phase, piloting, and refinement, and finished with transformation into a comprehensive digital platform. End-users were engaged throughout the 4-phase process to help ensure the final platform would meet the needs of clinicians and health care systems. The result was the launch of www.CardiQ.org featuring the Atrial Fibrillation QI Framework and an extensive, curated Resource Library that has been accessed by more than 10 000 users spanning over 100 countries.

Keywords: CardiQ; atrial fibrillation; digital; innovation; transformation.

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Conflict of interest statement

Thomas F. Deering: Paid consultant or received honorarium from CVRx Inc., Pacemate, Sanofi, Boston Scientific, Abbott. John A. Gillespie: Former employee of Pfizer Inc. Julie Simonson: Employee and shareholder of Pfizer Inc. Julie Gouveia-Pisano: Employee and shareholder of Pfizer Inc. Heather Somand: Former employee of Pfizer Inc. Charles J Medico: Employee and shareholder of Pfizer Inc. Karl H. Schuleri: Employee and shareholder of Bristol Myers Squibb. Ramin Zand: Research (Contracted Grants for PIs and Named Investigators only), Heart Rhythm Society; NIH Grant. Sandeep K. Jain: Research (Contracted Grants for PIs and Named Investigators only), Medtronic and Boston Scientific. James C. Coons: Paid consultant or received honorarium from Pfizer and Bristol Myers Squibb. John N. Catanzaro: Honoraria/Speaking/Consulting Fee, Aziyo Biologics. All the other authors have no conflicts of interest to disclose.

Figures

Figure 1.
Figure 1.
Complexity of atrial fibrillation (AF) care. Adapted from Piccini et al.
Figure 2.
Figure 2.
Graphical summary of atrial fibrillation (AF) Quality Improvement Framework and CardiQ discovery and design process and outcomes.
Figure 3.
Figure 3.
Innovation lab process.
Figure 4.
Figure 4.
Atrial fibrillation (AF) Quality Improvement Framework.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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References

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