New study shows AI alerts help more heart patients get life‑saving valve care
A major new study led by Wayne Batchelor, MD, an interventional cardiologist and President of the Medicine Service Line at Inova , shows that artificial intelligence (AI) can help doctors identify and treat serious heart valve disease faster – especially for patients who have historically been overlooked.
Dr. Batchelor served as Principal Investigator and Chair of the Steering Committee for the ALERT study, a large national clinical trial examining how AI‑enabled alerts in electronic health records can improve care for people with heart valve disease. The study results were presented at the American College of Cardiology’s Annual Scientific Sessions and published in the Journal of the American College of Cardiology.
Heart valve diseases such as aortic stenosis and mitral regurgitation can be life‑threatening if left untreated. Yet many patients – particularly women and people from racial and ethnic minority groups – are not diagnosed or referred for treatment in time. The ALERT study set out to see if AI could help in changing that.
“As physicians, our goal is simple: make sure patients who need treatment actually receive it, and receive it on time,” said Dr. Batchelor. “With the morass of data physicians now receive it is virtually impossible to avoid some blind spots where we are undertreating patients and not knowing it. This study shows that real‑time alerts can help doctors act sooner and help more patients get the care that can save their lives.”
“Severe valve disease not only can lead to death but also repeated hospitalizations, driving a huge increase in health care costs. So, this is not only important for patients but also is favorable in terms of the public health value proposition.”
“Integrating technology into our workflow to support both our patients and clinicians – by improving access and helping identify the best treatment options – is a top priority at Inova,” said Christopher O’Connor, MD, President, Inova Schar Heart and Vascular and Schar Distinguished Chair.
How the ALERT study worked
The ALERT trial included 765 clinicians across five U.S. health systems and 35 hospitals, reviewing more than 2,000 heart ultrasound tests (echocardiograms). Using an AI‑powered platform, clinicians received electronic alerts when a patient’s test results showed signs of serious valve disease, but no treatment plan was in place.
Compared with usual care, these AI‑driven alerts helped doctors move patients more quickly toward specialist evaluation and treatment.
Key findings from the study:
✅ 27% improvement in clinician awareness of patient cardiovascular status
✅ 40% relative increase in valve interventions within 90 days
✅ 27% increase in multidisciplinary heart team evaluations
✅ Earlier identification of patients eligible for minimally invasive TAVR procedures
Many of these treatments involved transcatheter aortic valve replacement (TAVR), a minimally invasive procedure that can replace a damaged heart valve without open‑heart surgery. TAVR often means shorter hospital stays and faster recovery for patients.
Addressing gaps in care
The data also highlighted ongoing disparities in structural heart care. White patients currently represent about 90% of TAVR procedures, while women and patients from Black, Hispanic, Asian and other racial groups remain less likely to receive timely referrals and intervention.
Dr. Batchelor, who also now chairs the Society of Thoracic Surgery/American College of Cardiology Transcatheter Valve Therapeutics Registry, emphasized that technology like AI alerts can help close these gaps. “These tools don’t replace doctors – they support them and enable them to make better decisions,” Dr. Batchelor said. “This study has helped move the needle in terms of our understanding of how these interventions play out along different patient demographics. By flagging patients earlier, we can make sure treatment decisions are based on medical need, not delayed by system barriers or unconscious bias,” Building the future of heart care
The ALERT study used an AI‑enabled care platform developed by Tempus, with support from Medtronic. The technology automatically identifies patients who may qualify for guideline‑recommended treatments and prompts clinicians to take the next step.
“This research shows what’s possible when clinical leadership and technology come together,” said Dr. Batchelor. “It’s about delivering the right care to the right patient at the right time – and making sure no one is left behind.”
Connect with Drs. Batchelor and O’Connor on Doximity.