Finalist
Uniting a Disparate HCM Community: Transforming Knowledge into Patient Impact
Summary of work
Obstructive hypertrophic cardiomyopathy (HCM) profoundly disrupts lives. It rips through families, disregarding age, preventing participation in beloved hobbies (like playing the bagpipes or five-a-side) and daily activities, due to breathlessness and palpitations. The launch of the first disease-modifying therapy, mavacamten, created a transformative moment. Yet challenges such as intensive echocardiography monitoring and fragmented UK services risked limiting access to this breakthrough treatment. Our innovative programme was designed to unite the inherited cardiac condition (ICC) healthcare professional (HCP) community; overcoming barriers, sharing best practice, and building scalable services. Through a stepwise engagement journey, leaders from ICC centres, regional cardiologists, and multidisciplinary teams were brought together for the first time. Hybrid launch events with international experts, a high-profile British Cardiovascular Society (BCS) symposia, practical webinar case clinics, and a “meeting-in-a-box” toolkit cascaded knowledge locally, helping redesign service provision across the UK. The results have been remarkable: over 590 HCPs engaged nationwide; 94-100% would recommend the programme; confidence in identifying and treating eligible patients increased significantly; and centres prescribing mavacamten grew from 1 to 43 in under two years. Most importantly, more patients are now accessing life-changing therapy, restoring health and passions, like playing the bagpipes or 5-a-side with friends again.
Judges’ comments
The submission from BMS and Lucid had a clear context and well-articulated objectives, which were solid and measurable. The knowledge shifts were clear, showing commercial benefits and it was a win-win for patients, clients and HCP’s.
