The Annual Heart in Diabetes (HiD) CME Conference, entering its sixth year, is a unique medical meeting that brings world-renowned clinical leaders in diabetes, obesity and cardiorenal metabolic diseases together with practicing clinicians to improve the care of patients at a high risk of these comorbidities. This well-attended meeting was held in Philadelphia and conducted as a hybrid model.

I had the opportunity to participate in this meeting from its inception and am happy to see how important it has become in the medical field to clinicians that directly manage cardiometabolic/cardiorenal diseases. A highlight of this conference was the presentation of data and therapies, and technologies that are reengineering health metrics that impact patient care and improve health parameters – think CGMs for glucose lowering and digital health devices to lower ASCVD risk and LDL cholesterol.

Attendees, many of which are true leaders in the industry, voiced their pleasure at participating in the meeting as participants and presenters. This included Zachary Bloomgarden, MD, Clinical Professor, Department of Medicine Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai; Editor, the Journal of Diabetes, NY, NY. I asked him what he finds most exciting about this conference. Dr. Bloomgarden regularly attends this meeting not just to find answers but to share views with likeminded individuals. He noted the importance of talking with other clinicians and researchers who see patients with T2D and CVD and who are struggling to understand the optimal treatment for patients.  The question most often asked is, “How can we make these marvelous therapies available to more patients and navigate complex guidelines?” The answer is just that, “No one has a perfect answer.”

Another attendee was Christie Ballantyne, MD, Chief, Sections of Cardiology and Cardiovascular Research Professor, Departments of Medicine Genetics and Physiology Director, Center for Cardiometabolic Disease Prevention, Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, TX. Dr. Ballantyne discussed how cardiologists are “doing too little too late and by using genetics and polygenic risk scores and other genes for diabetes and CV diseases. Practitioners can use lifestyle and therapies early on and follow up with patients later in life with targeted therapies, imaging and biomarkers”.

I also chatted with Hilly Paige, Vice President, Marketing at Esperion, one of the corporate supporters of this meeting. He said, “One of the things I like about this meeting is that it is clinically focused and translates evidence and practical recommendations across specialties (cardiologists, endocrinologists, lipidologists, nephrologists) to improve patient care”.

I have known Hilly for years across our careers and he said that both Healio and Cardiology Today do “a great job taking scientific rigor and clinical recommendations to broader audiences particularly to healthcare professionals who cannot attend meetings. Partnering with Healio Strategic Solutions can expand the reach of medical education”.

For more information on Healio Strategic Solutions’ products and services plus how they are improving medical education, email Adrienne at [email protected] or DM her on LinkedIn.