COVID-19 CVD Registry: Getting Started, What Your Hospital Needs to Know

Thank you for your interest in the American Heart Association’s COVID-19 CVD Registry. The registry captures patient clinical characteristics, medications, treatments, labs, vitals, biomarkers and outcomes in adult (≥18 years old) patients hospitalized with COVID-19. A large focus lies on granular data collection from hospitals that routinely test biomarkers in COVID-19 patients.

While we welcome all hospitals to participate in the quality improvement (QI) program, hospitals with robust systems for running COVID-19 biomarkers on all adult hospitalized COVID-19 patients during the pandemic are highly encouraged to participate. The following information will help hospitals quickly register and access this no-cost opportunity.

Registration

Please email the following information to [email protected] using the subject line, “[your hospital’s name] interest in COVID-19 CVD Registry Participation”

  • Hospital name and location
  • Which Get With The Guidelines® (GWTG) modules hospital currently participates in, if any
  • GWTG Site ID, if participating
  • Name and email of person leading the contracting
  • Name and email of lead physician champion for the registry
  • Do you have an onsite clinical chemistry laboratory? If yes, please describe its capacity for running serial standard blood tests.

Once received, AHA staff will review and contact you with any questions.

Contracting

Once your registration information is received, the American Heart Association will review and contact you with any additional questions and appropriate contractual agreements.

Non-Get With The Guidelines Hospitals:

Hospitals not already contracted for one of our GWTG programs will need to execute an online unified participation agreement (UPA).

Get With The Guidelines Hospitals:

Hospitals already contracted for GWTG through the AHA UPA may:
  1. sign a paper amendment to the UPA; or
  2. complete an online UPA solely for enrollment in COVID-19 CVD Quality Improvement Registry. 
Hospitals who have Participating Hospital Agreements (PHA) with IQVIA may:
  1. execute an online UPA to bring all of their modules under the UPA; or
  2. complete an online UPA solely for enrollment in COVID-19 CVD Quality Improvement Registry.

Note: Similar to the American Heart Association’s existing suite of GWTG programs, the COVID-19 CVD registry is a QI program and data are collected and submitted as part of standard healthcare operations. Most hospitals participating in the other GWTG registries as well as this patient data registry do not require institutional review board (IRB) review. Your hospital IRB will determine whether participation is subject to or exempt from IRB oversight. The U.S. Department of Health & Human Services offers a resource of Quality Improvement Activities FAQs that may help answer your specific IRB questions. 

 

Written by American Heart Association editorial staff and reviewed by science and medicine advisors.

See our editorial policies and staff.

Last Reviewed: Apr 7, 2020