ALERT Study of Integrated EHR Platform Addresses Health Disparities in Structural Heart Disease Treatment

April 6, 2026—Medtronic announced data from the ALERT trial, which is designed to address health disparities and undertreatment in structural heart care using an integrated electronic health record (EHR) platform. The trial is sponsored by Tempus AI, Inc. and funded by Tempus AI and Medtronic.

The findings from the ALERT study were presented at ACC.26, the American College of Cardiology’s annual scientific sessions, and simultaneously published by Wayne Batchelor, MD, et al in the Journal of the American College of Cardiology.

The Medtronic press release noted that the study utilized Tempus Next, an artificial intelligence–enabled care pathway platform. The Tempus Next software automatically identifies significant aortic stenosis (AS) or mitral regurgitation (MR) patients who may meet guideline-indicated therapy criteria, but do not have a treatment plan in place. ALERT evaluated the impact of EHR notifications generated by Tempus Next.

According to Medtronic, the results showed that electronic clinician notifications (ECNs) significantly improve the timely evaluation and treatment of AS and MR, including treatment with transcatheter aortic valve replacement (TAVR). Medtronic stated that ALERT included 765 clinicians ordering 2,016 echocardiograms across five United States health systems encompassing 35 hospitals.

The company reported that the study met its primary endpoint, defined as time to surgical or transcatheter valve intervention followed by time to multidisciplinary heart team (MHT) clinic visit within 90 days after the index echocardiogram. Also, the findings showed that ECNs were 27% more effective at notifying clinicians about patient cardiovascular status than usual care (win ratio, 1.27; 95% CI, 1.05-1.54; P = .007).

Finally, key findings at 90 days included a 40% relative increase in valve intervention (13.4% vs 9.6%; P = .005) and a 27% increase in MHT evaluations (22.7% vs 17.9%; P = .005).

As noted in the press release, data suggest that White patients represent the majority (90%) of all TAVR procedures to treat AS and MR; by contrast, patients who are Black, Hispanic, Asian, or part of other racial groups are not being treated with TAVR at the same rates as White patients.

Additionally, women with AS continue to experience meaningful disparities in care because they are less likely to be referred for timely evaluation and valve intervention compared to men. This makes improved access to minimally invasive options, such as TAVR, especially critical. Existing evidence suggests that this minimally invasive option could result in less time in the hospital and a quicker recovery compared to open heart surgery, noted the company.

Dr. Batchelor, who is Steering Committee Chair of ALERT, commented on the study in the Medtronic press release.

“As clinicians, our priority is to ensure that patients with significant heart valve disease receive timely treatment,” stated Dr. Batchelor. “Untreated symptomatic severe AS carries a high risk of mortality within 2 years, yet we continue to see significant undertreatment, particularly among patients from racial and ethnic minority groups and those with certain hemodynamic profiles. This compromises our ability to scale life-saving valve interventions across health systems.

“These findings highlight the value of real-time clinical alerts to accelerate diagnosis and specialist referral, helping ensure that more patients—regardless of race, ethnicity, geography, hemodynamics, or other factors—have access to guideline-directed, life-saving care.”