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Heart Failure at the Crossroads: Early Recognition and Proactive Management
ACTIVITY DESCRIPTION
This activity consists of a recorded presentation from the "Medical Director and Clinician Leadership Forum 2025" held in Nashville, TN., October 22, 2025.
Heart failure remains a leading cause of hospitalization and mortality. This session focuses on recognizing early signs, diagnostic tools, and evidence-based strategies to optimize care, improve patient quality of life, and reduce readmissions.
Provided by
This activity is provided by Optum Health Education.
Commercial support
There was no commercial support received for this activity.
Target Audience
This activity has been designed to meet the educational needs of nurses, nurse practitioners, pharmacists, pharmacy technicians, PAs, physicians, psychologists, social workers and other health care professionals.
Learning Objectives
At the end of this educational activity, participants should be able to:
- Recognize early symptoms and diagnostic criteria for heart failure.
- Initiate guideline-directed medical therapy for heart failure.
- Evaluate approaches to monitoring and adjusting treatment to prevent disease progression.
Faculty
Michael Almaleh, MD
Chief of Cardiology and Specialty Care
WellMed Medical Management
Dr. Michael Almaleh is a senior medical director and chief of cardiology and specialty care for Wellmed Medical Group, a role that he has held for the past 13 years. He was previously the chairperson of the Optum Cardiology Steering Committee and currently serves as the Optum Cardiology Forum and Heart Failure Subcommittee Chairs. Dr. Almaleh is an active clinician/educator, currently serving as the associate program director for the Texas Institute for Graduate Medical Education and Research (TIGMER) Internal Medicine Residency Program.
Dr. Almaleh received his MD from Boston University School of Medicine where he graduated Summa Cum Laude. He completed his residency in Internal Medicine at the University of Washington - Seattle, and his fellowship in cardiovascular diseases at Wilford Hall and Brooke Army Medical Centers. In addition, he received advance training in heart failure and cardiac transplantation, cardiac device implantation and management, and cardiovascular computed tomography. Dr Almaleh is board certified in Cardiovascular Diseases as well as Nuclear Cardiology. He is a fellow of the American College of Cardiology, and is a member of the Alpha Omega Alpha honor society.
Planners
Elizabeth Albert, MD
Clinical Manager
Optum Health Education
Sarah Chart, RN
Sr. Director Healthcare Optimization & Strategy
Optum Health Education
Sara L. Fleszar, PharmD, BCOP
Senior Clinical Oncology Pharmacist
Whole Health Solutions
Optum Health
Rebecca Gleason, RN, CCM
Clinical Manager
Optum Health Education
Lisa Latts, MD, MSPH, MBA, FACP
Chief Medical Officer
Optum Behavioral Health Solutions & Optum Health Solutions
Optum Health Clinical Excellence
Optum
Jaime Murillo, MD
Senior Vice President and Chief Medical Officer
Medical Affairs
UnitedHealth Group
Sam Nordberg, PhD
Chair of Psychiatry and Behavioral Health
Optum Massachusetts
Disclosures of relevant financial relationships
In accordance with the Accreditation Council for Continuing Medical Education's (ACCME) Standards for Integrity and Independence in Accredited Continuing Education, Optum Health Education (OHE) requires all those in control of educational content to disclose their financial relationships with ineligible companies within the prior 24 months. Ineligible companies are defined by the ACCME as companies whose primary business is producing, marketing, selling, re-selling, or distributing health care products used by or on patients. Individuals must disclose all financial relationships, regardless of the amount, with ineligible companies and regardless of their view of the relevance of the relationship to the education. OHE ensures that the content is independent of commercial bias.
Financial Relationship Key
A-Advisory Board
CT-Clinical Trial
C-Consultant
E-Employee
G- Grant/Research Support or Funding
I-Stocks and Other Ownership Interests
S-Speakers’ Bureau
O-Other Financial or Material Support
The presenter and planners have no financial relationships to disclose.
Method for calculating CE credit
CE credit was calculated by the complexity of content.
Accreditation statement
In support of improving patient care, this activity has been planned and implemented by Optum Health Education. Optum Health Education is jointly accredited by the Accreditation Council for Continuing Medical Education (ACCME), the Accreditation Council for Pharmacy Education (ACPE) and the American Nurses Credentialing Center (ANCC), to provide continuing education for the healthcare team.
Credit designation statements
This activity was planned by and for the health care team, and learners will receive 1.25 Interprofessional Continuing Education (IPCE) credits for learning and change.
Physicians
Optum Health Education designates this enduring activity for a maximum of 1.25 AMA PRA Category 1 Credits™. Physicians should claim only the credit commensurate with the extent of their participation in the activity.
PAs
The American Academy of PAs (AAPA) accepts credit from organizations accredited by the ACCME.
Pharmacists/Pharmacy technicians
This activity is approved for 1.25 contact hours (0.125 CEUs) in states that recognize ACPE.
Attending the full program will earn 1.25 contact hours (0.125 CEUs).
Unique activity number: JA0007123-0000-25-066-H01-P/T
Nurses
The participant will be awarded up to 1.25 contact hours of credit for attendance and completion of supplemental materials.
Nurse practitioners
The American Academy of Nurse Practitioners Certification Program (AANPCP) accepts credit from organizations accredited by the ACCME and ANCC.
Psychologists
Optum Health Education is approved by the American Psychological Association (APA) to offer continuing education for psychologists. Optum Health Education maintains responsibility for this program. 1.25 CE hour.
Social workers
As a Jointly Accredited Organization, Optum Health Education is approved to offer social work continuing education by the Association of Social Work Boards (ASWB) Approved Continuing Education (ACE) program. Organizations, not individual courses, are approved under this program. State and provincial regulatory boards have the final authority to determine whether an individual course may be accepted for continuing education credit. Optum Health Education maintains responsibility for this course. Social workers completing this course receive up to 1.25 enduring continuing education credits.
Attendance
A certificate of attendance will be provided to learners upon completion of activity requirements, enabling participants to register with licensing boards or associations that have not been preapproved for credits. To apply for credit types not listed above, participants should use the procedure established by the specific organization with which they wish to obtain credit.
Available Credit
- 1.25 ACPE - Pharmacists
- 1.25 ACPE - Pharmacy Technicians
- 1.25 AMA - Physicians
- 1.25 ANCC - Nurses
- 1.25 APA - Psychologists
- 1.25 Attendance - General Attendance
You must be logged into your account to participate in this activity. Get started by clicking “Register” and following the instructions. At the end of the activity, you will be able to view, save or print your certificate of participation. A complete listing of all of your activities can be found under “My Account,” “My Activities.”