Novartis, heart organizations launch CHF social networking platform

Global pharmaceutical giant Novartis has partnered with several cardiology organizations to launch the first dedicated social networking platform for those with chronic heart failure.

The platform, Together in HF, provides a forum for stories, experiences and information resources that can help older adults understand and manage heart failure. The application also gives caregivers a tool to encourage residents and families to be actively engaged with heart health and the experience of living with heart failure.

In creating the platform, Novartis has partnered with medical societies and cardiology associations, including Mended Hearts, WomenHeart: The National Coalition for Women with Heart Disease and the National Alliance for Caregiving, the American Association of Heart Failure Nurses, the Association of Black Cardiologists and CardioSmart/the American College of Cardiology.

“Healthcare professionals play a crucial role in caring for patients—whether by helping them understand heart failure better to cope with the disease or by finding a new treatment regimen—and they face the constant resource challenge of providing enough information to their patients,” said Cynthia Bither, President of the American Association of Heart Failure Nurses (AAHFN), in an announcement about the program. “Patients and their families benefit from interactions with leading organizations that are there to serve the heart failure community. Together in HF brings these groups together in a way that helps patients and caregivers manage their condition day to day when they are not with their healthcare professionals.”

The program is available as an app for Android and will be available for iOS in 2017. Participation in the site is open to U.S. residents only.

Editor’s note: Novartis is the maker of Entresto, a medication for heart failure.

Pamela Tabar

Pamela Tabar was editor-in-chief of I Advance Senior Care from 2013-2018. She has worked as a writer and editor for healthcare business media since 1998, including as News Editor of Healthcare Informatics. She has a master’s degree in journalism from Kent State University and a master’s degree in English from the University of York, England.