Cardio Diagnostics Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ: CDIO), an AI-driven precision cardiovascular medicine company, announced today that the Company’s clinical blood tests, Epi+Gen CHD and PrecisionCHD, are now available at Family Medicine Specialists’ (FMS) newest clinical location at the Walmart Supercenter in Round Lake Beach, Illinois. FMS is a leading primary care and risk-bearing provider in Northern Illinois and in December 2023, launched the ongoing Heart Attack Prevention Initiative for at least 1,200 of their BlueCross BlueShield and other health plan patients. This launch in a retail healthcare setting is an expansion to existing and new patients in the area.

Despite Walmart Health closing their provider clinics, their partnerships with provider partners like FMS continue to grow and expand as they rely on their partners to provide optimal and innovative patient care. During FMS's operating hours, seven days a week, patients can undergo a simple blood draw to receive Cardio Diagnostics' epigenetic-genetic tests, if determined by the provider to be medically necessary. Cardio Diagnostics’ tests are also available to patients who prefer to use telehealth platforms like Navierre and do not have to be patients at FMS. Cardio Diagnostics’ epigenetic-genetic tests provide personalized insights into heart attack risk and coronary heart disease status.

“Our collaboration with FMS to bring our tests to their Walmart location in Round Lake Beach is a game-changer in cardiovascular health management,” shared Meesha Dogan Ph.D., CEO and Co-Founder of Cardio Diagnostics. “By integrating Cardio Diagnostics' state-of-the-art clinical tests within FMS's expanding retail network, we are shifting the paradigm from a model that relies on specialty care infrastructure to one that meets American communities in their backyard. This strategic alliance democratizes access to top-tier heart disease services and propels Cardio Diagnostics as a cardiovascular retail healthcare innovation leader. We aim to meet patients where they are, weaving advanced medical services seamlessly into their everyday lives.”

The Evolution of Retail Clinics

Retail clinics are undergoing a transformative evolution, expanding their services beyond basic, non-emergency care to encompass comprehensive primary care, chronic disease management, and behavioral health services. This significant shift in healthcare delivery models is projected to capture up to a third of the market by 2030, according to a recent report by Bain & Company. The evolution of retail clinics is primarily driven by the increasing costs of traditional healthcare settings and the growing consumer demand for more accessible and convenient care options.

These retail healthcare clinics are now seen as minimal care providers and vital players in the primary healthcare landscape. Innovative providers like Family Medicine Specialists are at the forefront of partnering with retail organizations and satisfying increased demand for convenient and accessible care. “At Family Medicine Specialists, we have multiple retail healthcare collaborative relationships and are particularly excited about our unique and innovative initiative with Cardio Diagnostics, a leader in clinical cardiovascular diagnostic solutions,” said Jason Bellucci, MBA, President of Family Medicine Specialists. “This collaboration will enable us to bring advanced cardiac diagnostic tools directly into our retail healthcare clinic locations, enhancing our ability to provide more advanced patient care without additional infrastructure. We believe this collaboration will empower our clinicians with additional resources to serve our patients better.”

By integrating healthcare services, retailers are also diversifying their business models. This move allows them to reduce reliance on traditional retail sales, which are subject to the ebbs and flows of economic change. Detecting cardiovascular risk and its drivers in the retail healthcare setting is a strategic expansion into chronic disease management in a competitive market. Such organizations can diversify their patient base and enhance their service offerings, making them indispensable in a healthcare landscape that increasingly values prevention, management, and convenient care access. Retail clinics are set to play a crucial role in the future of healthcare. They offer a promising model for delivering high-quality, accessible, and cost-effective care to a wide range of populations across the United States.

About Cardio Diagnostics

Cardio Diagnostics is an artificial intelligence-powered precision cardiovascular medicine company that makes cardiovascular disease prevention, detection, and management more accessible, personalized, and precise. The Company was formed to further develop and commercialize clinical tests by leveraging a proprietary Artificial Intelligence (AI)-driven Integrated Genetic-Epigenetic Engine (“Core Technology”) for cardiovascular disease to become one of the leading medical technology companies for improving prevention, detection, and treatment of cardiovascular disease. For more information, please visit www.cardiodiagnosticsinc.com.

Forward-Looking Statements

Certain statements and information included in this press release constitute “forward-looking statements” within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Act of 1995. When used in this press release, the words or phrases “will,” “will likely result,” “expected to,” “will continue,” “anticipated,” “estimate,” “projected,” “intend,” “goal,” or similar expressions are intended to identify “forward-looking statements” within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Such statements are subject to certain risks, known and unknown, and uncertainties, many of which are beyond the control of the Company. Such uncertainties and risks include but are not limited to, our ability to successfully execute our growth strategy, changes in laws or regulations, economic conditions, dependence on results are discussed in the Current Report on Form 10-K for the period ended December 31, 2023, under the heading “Risk Factors” in Part I, Item IA thereof, and other documents filed from time to time with the Securities and Exchange Commission. Such factors could materially adversely affect the Company's financial performance and could cause the Company's actual results for future periods to differ materially from any opinions or statements expressed within this press release.

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