Cerner and Duke Clinical Research Institute collaborate on cardiac risk app
Cerner recently collaborated with Duke Clinical Research Institute (DCRI) to develop an atherosclerotic cardiovascular disease (ASCVD) Risk Calculator app. The app was designed as a tool to increase communication between the patient and their doctor about ways to live a healthier life and risk factors for heart disease and stroke.
The app helps healthcare providers estimate 10-year and lifetime ASCVD risk for patients based on information like age, race, sex, blood pressure, cholesterol levels, smoking, and diabetes status. If untreated, ASCVD can lead to heart attack and sudden cardiac arrest, as well as fatal and nonfatal stroke. To facilitate shared decision-making between the patient and their doctor to guide treatment decisions, the app was designed to factor in a person’s willingness to take action to improve their health, and the risks and benefits of potential therapies.
Cerner and DCRI worked together to develop the software through the Cerner Open Developer Experience (code) that encourages innovators to build apps that advance the healthcare industry. Through Cerner’s open source code, doctors from DCRI provided clinical direction to create an app that could be embedded within Cerner’s electronic health record (EHR) for each patient. Cerner wrote, maintains and hosts the ASCVD Risk Calculator under an open source license.
