High-quality heart failure care is easy to find for many Americans—but care gaps remain
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The Heart Failure Society of America (HFSA) has released a new comprehensive look at heart failure (HF) clinics in the United States. The report includes more than 300 HF programs located in 47 states that serve approximately 626,000 patients.
HFSA wanted to shine a spotlight on the country’s specialty clinics, often found in academic medical centers, while highlighting care gaps where many patients remain underserved. For instance, many Southern and Appalachian states—areas known for especially high risks of HF and other cardiovascular conditions—still have fewer clinics than are needed to ensure patients can easily access high-quality care.
“This report shows where specialty heart failure care exists in the United States and, just as importantly, where it doesn't,” HFSA President Kenneth B. Margulies, MD, said in a statement. “The clinics in this database represent professional, multidisciplinary care. But the mismatch between where that care is concentrated and where the disease burden is heaviest is the central challenge our country needs to address.”
Other key takeaways from the report include:
- 74% of clinics can treat patients with ventricular assist devices.
- 92% of clinics currently offer telehealth services.
- 62% of clinics are involved in clinical research.
- Epic is far and wide the most common electronic health record (EHR) vendor, containing patient data in 54% of all U.S. clinics.
- 26% of programs have one HF cardiologist, 25% have two to three, 21% have four to six, 12% have seven to 10 and 6% have 11 to 15. Another 7% have no cardiologists and are instead led by advanced practice providers.
- Nearly one in two HF programs have at least one cardiomyopathy subspecialty program.
- 71% of clinics offer genetic testing, either the on-site or remote variety.
Click here for the full report. Its release comes just days before ASM 2026, HFSA’s annual scientific meeting.
Michael has more than 19 years of experience as a professional writer and editor. He has written at length about cardiology, radiology, artificial intelligence and other key healthcare topics.