2026 AHA/ACC Clinical Performance and Quality Measures for Patients With Atrial Fibrillation: A Report of the American College of Cardiology/American Heart Association Joint Committee on Performance Measures

The purpose of the writing committee’s performance measures is meant to ensure that patients with newly diagnosed atrial fibrillation (AF) receive a basic clinical evaluation, with an emphasis on secondary prevention for patients at all stages of AF, documenting stroke risk, and, if indicated, providing appropriate anticoagulation.

AF quality measures cover a variety of topics including measuring and addressing health inequities, optimizing antiarrhythmic or anticoagulant treatment, engaging in shared decision-making for rate- versus rhythm-control strategies, and, in appropriate patients, offering catheter ablation for those with heart failure with reduced ejection fraction.