UH Harrington Heart & Vascular Institute Expert Addresses Disparities in PAD at National Forum
June 06, 2024
Innovations in Cardiovascular Medicine & Surgery | June 2024
Natalie Evans, MD, MSNatalie Evans, MD, MS, a vascular medicine specialist with University Hospitals (UH) Harrington Heart & Vascular Institute, recently joined a prestigious panel of fellow experts convened by the American Journal of Managed Care. The group’s topic? Disparities in cardiovascular disease management.
Dr. Evans has a special interest in peripheral artery disease (PAD) among underserved populations, who are disproportionately affected by the condition. She works with the American Heart Association’s National PAD Collaborative and treats a full caseload of patients with PAD.
Dr. Evans says the time is now to raise the alarm about the condition.
“It's underrecognized, it’s undertreated and it's a huge, huge issue in our community here in Cleveland,” she says. Many patients with PAD, for example, are not prescribed a daily aspirin or statin therapy, which is the standard of care.
Effective solutions for reaching underserved populations with a risk reduction, screening and treatment message have so far been hard to come by, Dr. Evans says. However, she says, one key element for success appears to be for healthcare providers to forge relationships in the community with trusted partners, such as community health workers and churches.
“We need creative ways to get our message out there,” she says.
Educating people that symptoms in the leg warrant medical attention and aren’t “just a cramp,” is also paramount.
“People aren’t aware that when they get older and start having pain in the muscles when they walk, that that could be a circulation issue and they could have PAD,” she says. That's where disconnect is. Figuring out how to tie all that messaging together is going to be really important.”