American Heart Association Backs Auxira Health to Alleviate Cardiologist Burnout

This week, the American Heart Association’s venture capital arm made a strategic investment in Auxira Health, a virtual care service that helps cardiology practices handle routine tasks so doctors can focus on complex patients.

Clinicians are usually burnt out and under tremendous pressure, and patients often struggle to find access to cardiology services when they need them, pointed out Lisa Suennen, managing partner at American Heart Association Ventures.

“Auxira’s solution helps solve both problems at once by helping cardiologists focus at the top of their license and equipping practices better serve all patients, which expands faster access to patients because there are a broader set of resources well-trained to help them rapidly and sensitively.” she declared.

Baltimore-based Auxira, which launched last year, was initially co-developed by MedStar Health and Abundant Venture Partners. The startup seeks to address the growing mismatch between the rising demand for cardiology services and the limited capacity of cardiologists to meet that demand, said CEO Inna Plumb.

Physicians are overwhelmed by administrative tasks and low-acuity follow-ups — which is why Plumb and her team designed Auxira to relieve this burden and expand access without requiring practices to hire more full-time staff or overhaul their infrastructure.

The company pairs virtual clinical teams with cardiologists to act as an extension of their practice. Auxira directly employs these virtual clinical pods, which consists of nurses, advanced practice providers and medical assistants, Plumb stated.

These professionals work remotely inside the practice’s existing systems to handle things like routine visits, follow-up care, patient messages, medication refills and communicating test results — giving physicians more freedom to focus on complex cases and new patients. 

“Each pod is carefully matched to fit the clinical and cultural needs of the cardiologists they support, and all team members have prior cardiology experience. We expect the team to grow to over 60 by the end of the year. We have built a powerful recruiting flywheel through our networks, strategic partners like the American Heart Association and specialized referral channels,” Plumb explained.

She noted that Auxira’s virtual teams are carefully selected for their cardiology experience and rigorously vetted, adding that they undergo hands-on training onsite with the physicians that they will support.

This ensures a high degree of clinical alignment, trust and care continuity from day one, Plumb pointed out.

“Each advanced practice provider is matched with a small group of physicians — typically three — to build deep, ongoing relationships,” she remarked.

This model not only boosts patient access, but it also improves physician wellbeing, she added.

The goal is for Auxira’s team to become a trusted extension of the practice — working inside the same EHR and integrated into the same workflows. This way, cardiologists don’t feel like they’re outsourcing care — they just like they’re expanding their team, Plumb declared.

Auxira’s model has already proven successful at MedStar Health, she noted. Since integrating the solution, the health system has seen gains in both new and established patient appointment availability, as well as an increase in relative value units per patient seen by the cardiologist. MedStar also said that the use of Auxira’s platform led to a 35% reduction in cardiologists’ after-hours EHR time.

Auxira is starting to deploy its platform at other health systems, but Plumb said the startup can’t name these partners quite yet.

Photo: eakrin rasadonyindee, Getty Images