Cardiology made significant strides in 2025, driven by advances in AI, minimally invasive interventions, precision lipid therapies and new models of chronic cardiovascular care.
Leaders say the breakthroughs emerging this year could meaningfully shift how heart disease is diagnosed, treated and prevented in the decade ahead.
Here are five developments that defined cardiology in 2025:
1. AI-powered cardiac diagnostics and next-generation therapies reached a turning point: AI and emerging therapeutics drove some of the year’s most significant advances.
New York City-based Columbia University and NewYork-Presbyterian’s EchoNext tool identified hidden structural heart disease from ECGs with higher accuracy than clinicians (77% versus 64%), uncovering thousands of undiagnosed cases.
The FDA expanded Boston Scientific’s Farapulse pulsed-field ablation system for persistent drug-resistant atrial fibrillation, while AI-enabled angiography matched invasive percutaneous coronary intervention evaluation accuracy, reducing the need for catheter-based assessment.
U.S. trials of BiVACOR’s magnetically levitated total artificial heart also showed early promise as a transplant alternative, and GLP-1 receptor agonists demonstrated significant reductions in major cardiovascular events among high-risk patients.
2. Structural heart and procedural innovation advanced with a surge of world and regional firsts across the U.S.: Cardiology programs nationwide delivered an unprecedented number of breakthrough procedures in 2025, marking major progress in structural heart care and complex cardiac surgery.
Teams achieved world-first milestones, including the first robotic adult heart transplant, the first robotic Tavr explant and valve replacement and the first bloodless heart-liver transplant, while others advanced pediatric cardiac care with partial-heart transplants, genetically engineered pig-heart research and cutting-edge device implants.
Health systems also recorded state and regional firsts in tricuspid valve replacement, pulsed-field ablation, neuromodulation for heart failure, AI-based coronary plaque analysis and robotic-assisted coronary bypass. Collectively, these achievements expanded treatment possibilities for high-risk patients and demonstrated rapid evolution in minimally invasive and hybrid cardiac interventions.
3. Cardiologists endorsed GLP-1 medications as first-line therapy for cardiovascular risk reduction: In a major shift for preventive cardiology, the American College of Cardiology recommended that physicians use GLP-1 medications, including semaglutide and tirzepatide, as first-line treatments for patients at risk of cardiovascular disease.
The expert consensus, published June 20 in JACC, notes modern obesity medications are more effective than lifestyle interventions for weight management and for lowering cardiovascular risk, with fewer complications than procedure-based interventions. The guidance states that clinicians should not require lifestyle-only attempts before prescribing GLP-1 therapies, but instead pair medication with ongoing behavioral support.
4. Cardiology departments restructured their care models as outpatient migration, workforce strain and shrinking margins reshaped the field: In 2025, cardiology programs accelerated the shift of catheter placements, device implants and other low-risk procedures into outpatient settings, with single-specialty cardiology ASCs growing from 55 to 221 between 2018 and 2023.
Health systems expanded cardiology-focused labs and ASC infrastructure to capture rising volume, even as staffing shortages, burnout and administrative burden strained access. Leaders pointed to improved EHRs, more fellowship positions and stronger primary-care alignment as essential for sustaining workforce capacity.
Financial pressure also mounted as ASC reimbursement remains about 53% lower than hospital outpatient rates, pushing many practices toward larger platforms. With cardiovascular demand rising and cardiologist supply tightening, systems are prioritizing recruitment pipelines to maintain patient access.
5. The escalating cardiologist shortage forced organizations to innovate aggressively around recruitment, retention and workforce pipelines: A defining challenge in 2025 was the accelerating cardiologist shortage, with the American College of Cardiology projecting the patient-to-cardiologist ratio will rise from 1-to-1,087 today to 1-to-1,700 by 2035.
Cardiovascular organizations told Becker’s they are already feeling the strain, citing fewer physicians entering medicine, funding constraints limiting fellowship slots and younger cardiologists seeking better work-life balance.
Groups like Cardiovascular Logistics say the only sustainable path forward is proactive recruitment, identifying physicians early in training, maintaining long-term relationships, reducing organizational red tape and personalizing roles to retain top talent. Leaders warn that without meaningful workforce investment, rising demand and shrinking physician capacity will significantly limit patient access in the decade ahead.
