About HEFC
Additional Information
In the communities most often missed by the healthcare system, heart disease goes undetected until it is too late — not for lack of need, but for lack of access, trust, and continuity. HEFC, powered by HeartSense, closes that gap from inside the community itself. Local college, university, and HBCU students become program directors and community health advocates, trained and equipped to screen, educate, and guide their neighbors to care.
People get screened and connected today. The community gains lasting health infrastructure — and a pipeline of future providers who share its lived experience and are far more likely to return and serve.
Through the adoption of innovative technology and specifically AI-enabled digital auscultation technology, standardized training, and ongoing mentorship, HEFC empowers students and community partners to identify individuals at-risk for structural heart disease, heart murmurs, atrial fibrillation (AFib), and other cardiovascular conditions— Connecting them with appropriate local follow-up care before symptoms become severe.
The Focus of Health Equity Futures Collective
The collective has four areas of focus:
1 Train local leaders — Student fellows from partner colleges, universities, and HBCUs are trained and equipped as program directors and community health advocates — the people who run the program on the ground.
2 Screening in the community — Regular events use innovative point-of-care technology to detect chronic and structural heart disease early. Anyone with a finding is referred to a nurse-led diagnostic clinic for point-of-care echocardiogram — a simple two-step path from first listen to clear answer.
3 Education that lasts— Culturally grounded education for community members and local providers alike — risk factors, women and heart disease, structural and valvular disease, and the implicit-bias dynamics that drive disparities — delivered through faith organizations, community centers, and local channels.
4 Navigation to care — Local pathway tools and partnerships connect people from detection to treatment, including help navigating financial barriers — so a diagnosis becomes a treatment, not a dead end.
More than a screening program, HEFC builds sustainable community partnerships, prepares the next generation of healthcare leaders, and advances health equity by bringing innovative cardiovascular technology directly into the communities that need it most.
Ensure ALL Communities are Represented
National prevalence data badly underrepresents heart disease in underserved communities, because people who never reach a specialist are never counted. HeartSense screenings in Louisiana, for example, have found that as many as 1 in 5 people in some underserved communities have undiagnosed structural heart disease, and more than half have never seen a cardiovascular specialist. Every HEFC program helps reveal the true picture — turning invisible need into a case for investment, and into care.
How do you know if HEFC is right for you?
HEFC was created to engage organizations already rooted in a community:
• Universities, medical and nursing schools, and HBCUs
• Churches and faith health ministries
• Community centers and advocacy organizations
• Health systems and clinical partners
• Sponsors and funders seeking measurable, lasting community impact