The ACC's Strategic Plan exists to guide the College between now and 2023 in its Mission to transform cardiovascular care and improve heart health. Achieving the plan's Strategic Goals of increasing relevance as the cardiovascular professional home; generating and delivering actionable knowledge; advancing quality, equity and value of cardiovascular care; and ensuring organizational growth and sustainability is dependent on the dedication, leadership and hard work of ACC leaders, members and staff working together.

To this end, the collective efforts of ACC committees, councils and task forces are vital to executing against the priorities outlined in each of the goals and ensuring continued movement forward.

A recent report to the Board of Trustees highlighting 178 current projects across 48 committees, councils and task forces provides a snapshot of the work being done to implement the Strategic Plan and ultimately leverage innovation and knowledge to optimize cardiovascular care and outcomes worldwide.

In the actionable knowledge space, alone, more than 20 projects are underway, among them efforts to improve and modernize clinical guidelines, as well as develop tools that allow localization of guidelines to specific countries or regions. Live courses targeted at emerging clinical areas like cardio-oncology and cardiovascular health promotion were rolled out as a means of engaging experts and other stakeholders in discussions around recent science, best practices and more.

Additionally, the foundation is being laid to develop the College's next Digital Strategy, taking into account the continued and rapid changes in technology and the way information is created, managed and delivered to meet the needs of members and customers.

Increasing ACC's relevance as the professional home for its members is also another major area of focus, with more than 50 projects underway among nearly every Member Section Council and the Board of Governors. Examples range from the Academic Council's Young Scholars Program that launched during ACC.19 with 20 students from Louisiana to the creation of toolkits and other resources by Member Section Councils on topics ranging from improving clinician well-being to developing a Women in Cardiology regional council.

Across nearly every committee, council and task force, there is conscientious effort to identify, engage with and train the next generation of cardiovascular leaders and ensure a diverse and inclusive profession.

Additionally, the Lifelong Learning Oversight Committee continues to move forward with the new Collaborative Maintenance Pathway option for Maintenance of Certification using the College's SAP products, while the Assembly of International Governors is leading efforts to expand the ACC's footprint around the world, with the goal of improving health equity and global heart health.

Growing ACC Accreditation Services and finding ways to integrate NCDR and cost data to improve patient outcomes and adherence to evidence-based care in hospitals across the U.S. are among the activities taking place to improve care delivery. ACC Health Affairs Committee members have been leading the charge on Capitol Hill to improve care delivery by reducing administrative burden, improving clinician well-being and ensuring health policies protect patient access to appropriate cardiovascular care.

Collaboration with partner cardiovascular societies, industry and payers, and ACC's new company MedAxiom, has and will continue to play an important role in this area, allowing for the leveraging of collective strengths to drive change.

Last, but certainly not least, maintaining organizational sustainability is critical to ensuring the enduring legacy of the ACC. Implementation of the new governance structure and principles is ongoing and leadership development at both the member and staff levels continues to remain a priority.

The College's upcoming Campaign for the Future will help provide important funding for ongoing leadership development, as well as diversity and inclusion and global health projects. In addition, more than 100 future projects have been identified that will further advance the College towards fulfilling its mission.

"The work that was started earlier this year with the launch of the 2019-2023 Strategic Plan and continues thanks to the efforts of the dedicated individuals who sit on ACC committees, councils and task forces is not only resulting in early, short-term successes, but positioning the College and the profession for future success as well," says ACC President Richard J. Kovacs, MD, FACC. "The work that has been done to date is teamwork at its finest."

Keywords: ACC Publications, Cardiology Magazine, Goals, Committee Membership, Global Health, Anniversaries and Special Events, Trustees, Health Policy, Leadership, Social Change, Government, Health Promotion, Accreditation

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