Cardiologist Uses Eko to Enhance Patient Understanding

“Eko has been a game changer for a cardiologist in practice.”  

Patient connection shapes career path

Dr. Jerry Fan didn’t follow a traditional route into cardiology. Not knowing if medicine was the right career for him, he took a year off between studies to work in pharmaceutical research — his dad was a researcher, and Dr. Fan thought he wanted to follow that path. But something didn’t feel right.

He missed the patient interactions and the opportunity to make a direct and lasting impact on someone’s life in real time. That clarity, along with his family’s history of cardiovascular disease and stroke risk, led Dr. Fan to cardiology — a specialty where he can pair clinical complexity with the human connections he finds most meaningful.

In his practice today, Dr. Fan supports patients through some of their most vulnerable moments. Whether it’s after a heart attack or during a new diagnosis, he guides them forward with clarity and clinical precision. 

From Eko’s first-gen to the CORE 500®

Dr. Fan has been an early and enthusiastic Eko adopter. He’s used every device, from the original CORE™ Digital Attachment to the newest CORE 500® Digital Stethoscope. He was drawn to Eko’s technology early on because it offered something other stethoscopes didn’t: sound quality and usability that fit the demands of real clinical practice.

“Eko has been a game changer for a cardiologist in practice.”

What sets the CORE 500® apart for Dr. Fan is its combination of form and function. It offers everything he needs: precise sound, strong battery life, and tools that elevate his ability to detect early signs of cardiac disease. 

The 3-lead ECG and full-color display take it a step further, allowing Dr. Fan to verify arrhythmias, identify irregular rhythms on the spot, and start conversations that help change patient adherence.

“You can show the patient, ‘Hey, you're in atrial fibrillation. This is important. We need to know how much burden you're in.’ It’s nice for a clinician to be able to do that at the bedside and be able to show a patient data.”

Using technology to educate and engage

For Dr. Fan, one of the most valuable uses of the CORE 500® and Eko AI is helping patients better understand their condition. 

“You can show the patient, ‘Hey, you're in atrial fibrillation. This is important. We need to know how much burden you're in.’ It’s nice for a clinician to be able to do that at the bedside and be able to show a patient data.”

He also makes it a point to let patients listen to their own heart sounds and compare them to his to reinforce what he’s hearing, and why it matters. That small but intentional moment helps patients understand the diagnosis more concretely, building trust and fostering more productive clinical conversations.

Detecting early for better outcomes

In daily practice, the CORE 500® and Eko AI help Dr. Fan pick up murmurs and valvular abnormalities that may be difficult to hear with traditional stethoscopes, especially in patients with obesity or softer heart sounds.

“It’s helped me diagnose quite a few valvular heart diseases, things like mild mitral stenosis or mild regurgitation. The CORE 500 is really helpful to hear it a little bit better and crisper.”

But what makes Eko so valuable in Dr. Fan’s practice isn’t just diagnostic features — it’s how it turns those features into a tool for education. For patients dealing with complex conditions, being able to show real-time ECG data changes how they understand their health.

“You can put the stethoscope on the patient, tell them what you're hearing, and then show them what you're hearing.”

Dr. Fan often integrates the stethoscope into these conversations, using both visual and auditory feedback to help patients grasp what’s happening inside their body. Sometimes he even lets them hear their own heart sounds, and compare them to the normal sounds of his, to illustrate what a murmur or irregular rhythm truly sounds like.

“You can put the stethoscope on the patient, tell them what you're hearing, and then show them what you're hearing."

Powerful teaching moments like these build trust, and are especially meaningful in an environment where many patients are overwhelmed by medical terminology or anxious about their prognosis. Instead of simply telling someone they have a murmur or obstruction, Dr. Fan gives them the tools to hear and see it for themselves — and that, he says, changes everything.

Turning insights into patient action

For Dr. Fan, the value of Eko lies not only in its advanced features, but in what it empowers him to do: educate, engage, and elevate the standard of care. He doesn’t just use Eko to find problems — he builds trust, shares understanding, and turns technical data into meaningful conversations.

“There’s just so many different ways to use this technology to make your clinical practice a little bit easier.”

That combination of clarity and clinical insight has made Eko an indispensable part of how he delivers care, and how he helps patients take ownership of their health.

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