Three health tech innovators push boundaries to build a brighter future of cardiovascular care

As digital health technologies gain momentum, research is finding that more people are open to artificial intelligence (AI) supported health interventions when those are backed by clinical expertise and rooted in evidence-based guidelines. To harness this opportunity, the American Heart Association, a relentless force changing the future of health for everyone everywhere, launched its inaugural CarePlan Challenge this year to drive innovation and expand access to guideline-based cardiovascular care.

The American Heart Association's Center for Health Technology & Innovation invited developers, health technology innovators and AI specialists to create digital solutions that transform preventive care, improve disease management and enhance patient engagement. Participants were challenged to create digital prototypes integrating the Association's science-based CarePlans - personalized care pathways designed to manage and improve post-acute and chronic health conditions including those for heart failure, hypertension and cardiac rehab - alongside tools such as Life's Essential 8™, a set of 8 habits designed to improve patients' heart health and overall well-being, and the PREVENT™ Risk Calculator, a tool used by clinicians to estimate a patient's risk of developing heart disease, stroke or heart failure over the next 20 or 30 years.

Applicants from around the world received application programming interface (API) access to the CarePlans and other digital tools, enabling them to build and submit prototypes that showcase integration of American Heart Association science within a digital health solution.

Submissions were judged based on the following criteria:

• Innovation & creativity: Uniqueness of approach and creative use of American Heart Association content and APIs
• Technical implementation: Quality of code, effective API usage and performance
• User experience & design: Interface intuitiveness, accessibility and engagement
• Clinical impact & relevance: Potential to improve outcomes and alignment with American Heart Association guidelines

The selected solutions include:

• ConneQT – Guided Wellness Programs are mobile solutions using CarePlans and Life's Essential 8 to link daily tasks, biometrics from the CONNEQT Pulse and personalized goals from the PREVENT calculator to build heart-healthy habits, give clinicians more visibility into patients' overall health and drive measurable cardiovascular outcomes.
• Porter Health – a web-based, cross-platform tool that pulls patient data to deliver one-click PREVENT and cardiovascular-kidney-metabolic health (CKM) risk assessments and an expert-vetted, large language model-assisted CarePlan - tailored based on patient demographics, actionable for patients and clinicians and ready for desktop and mobile use.
• OneVillage – a women-focused virtual cardio-primary care platform that turns CarePlans and PREVENT-guided risk into an 80-day personalized pathway. This solution combines physician visits, cardiac rehab and supportive services, such as nutrition, physical therapy, stress and doulas, with daily education and tracking to expand access and improve outcomes across diverse communities.

These innovators are pushing the boundaries to build a brighter future of cardiovascular care. Their prototypes aimed at using technology to turn science into action show significant promise in making evidence-based care more personal, accessible and impactful."

Seth Martin, M.D., M.H.S., FAHA, FACC, FASPC, American Heart Association volunteer, professor of medicine, division of cardiology at Johns Hopkins Hospital and co-founder of Corrie Health

The CarePlan Challenge was hosted by the Center for Health Technology & Innovation. Entries were evaluated by a panel of expert judges, comprised of leaders in digital health, clinical research and implementation science. Judges were selected for their deep experience in applying technology to improve patient outcomes and scale innovation responsibly. The panel of judges includes:

• Azizi Seixas, Ph.D., associate professor of psychiatry and behavioral sciences at the University of Miami
• Tatyana Kanzeveli, founder and chief executive officer of Open Health Network
• Seth Martin, M.D., M.H.S., FAHA, FACC, FASPC, professor of medicine in the division of cardiology at Johns Hopkins Hospital and co-founder of Corrie Health
• Erin Michos, M.D., M.H.S., professor of medicine in the division of cardiology at Johns Hopkins School of Medicine

The challenge champions will take the stage in the Health Innovation Pavilion at the American Heart Association's Scientific Sessions 2025 in New Orleans to showcase their prototypes before an expert panel of judges and live audience for additional feedback on their ideas. Their presentations will take place on Sunday, November 8, at 3:15 p.m. CT, celebrating breakthrough ideas that bring science, technology and innovation together to advance cardiovascular care.