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Amy Murphy amurphy@acc.org,
(202) 375-6476
October
26, 2009
AMERICAN COLLEGE OF CARDIOLOGY LAUNCHES NATION’S
FIRST
CARDIOVASCULAR OFFICE-BASED REGISTRY
Innovative Two-Year Pilot Program Establishes the PINNACLE
Registry™ as the Nation’s Leading Quality Improvement
Tool for Heart Doctors and Their Patients
Washington, DC – TThe American College of Cardiology
(ACC) today announced the launch of the PINNACLE Registry™,
the first-ever office-based quality improvement program based
on proven guidelines and performance measures.
The newest registry in the ACC’s National Cardiovascular
Data Registry® (NCDR), the preeminent cardiovascular data
repository in the United States, the PINNACLE Registry™
is a comprehensive management system that translates data
into clinical insights and provides for comparative effectiveness
research, quality improvement and proven commitment to quality
outcomes.
“The ACC is in a unique position to develop and offer
the PINNACLE Registry™, as the College is a confluence
of cardiologists alongside our patients; advocates in scientific
advancement and research; all built upon our successful history
of clinical practice guidelines and the performance of quality
health care,” said Ralph Brindis, M.D., president-elect
of the American College of Cardiology. “By linking clinical
practices with hospitals and bringing the data of the NCDR
into a physician’s office, the PINNACLE Registry™
will show patients, colleagues and the health care community
that we are delivering the right care for the right patient
at the right time.”
The PINNACLE Registry™, designed by cardiologists,
benefits from its two-year pilot phase as the IC3 Program®,
and now will be integrated into the NCDR® to provide participants
with access to both hospital and ambulatory patient-focused
data. As one of the largest practice-level scientific efforts
undertaken in the United States, the IC3 Program®,, now
the PINNACLE Registry™, contains hundreds of thousands
of clinical patient records focusing on four common cardiac
conditions – coronary artery disease, hypertension,
heart failure and atrial fibrillation.
The ACC thanks the Bristol-Myers Squibb/Sanofi Pharmaceuticals
Partnership for their vision and commitment as a founding
sponsor of the IC3 Program®,.
As of October 15, the IC3 Program®, already had 181 practices
representing more than 600 office locations nationwide and
achieved nearly 315,000 patient encounters. In November 2009,
two abstracts will be presented, including one report on outcomes
from the first 10,000 patient records.
“Data management and reporting is the foundation for
a practice’s success clinically, financially and professionally,”
said Janet Wright, M.D., the ACC’s senior vice president
for Science and Quality. “The PINNACLE Registry™
is the first step to embedding quality improvement at the
point of care and due to the two-year pilot program, we have
a significant head start to becoming the foundation for a
nationwide network of practices committed to improving quality
and patient outcomes.”
Designed to save time and allow for efficient data entry,
the PINNACLE Registry™ allows for multiple data entry
methods. The registry is compatible with a variety of electronic
health record (EHR) systems and deploys with software solutions
capable of querying EHR systems and automatically transmitting
data to the PINNACLE Registry™ database. The ACC can
also input paper records.
The PINNACLE Registry™ produces quarterly outcomes
reports that validate the quality of care participating cardiologists
deliver while highlighting potential improvement areas. Participation
is free to all cardiology practices.
The PINNACLE Registry™ will power the ACC’s new
PINNACLE Network™, the first-ever registry-based cardiovascular
network to link thousands of cardiology practices to each
other and to the ACC’s NCDR®.
The PINNACLE Network™ immediately addresses the rapidly
shifting business environment that private cardiovascular
practices face with a wealth of practice management and financial
management tools. The PINNACLE Network™ also builds
a foundation for innovative, registry-based systems to reward
practices for the high quality care they provide.
For more information on the PINNACLE Registry™ visit
www.ncdr.com.
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About the ACC:
The American College of Cardiology is leading the way to optimal
cardiovascular care and disease prevention. The College is
a 37,000-member nonprofit medical society and bestows the
credential Fellow of the American College of Cardiology upon
physicians who meet its stringent qualifications. The College
is a leader in the formulation of health policy, standards
and guidelines, and is a staunch supporter of cardiovascular
research. The ACC provides professional education and operates
national registries for the measurement and improvement of
quality care. More information about the association is available
online at www.acc.org .
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