A new designation for "Adult Congenital Heart Disease (ACHD) Specialists" has been approved by the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS). The ACC requested this new designation code, which will allow CMS to distinguish ACHD Specialists from clinical cardiologists when billing for Medicare services.

Previously, no mechanism existed for CMS to accurately identify this category of physician for quality and payment programs. CMS will now take the necessary steps to create and implement the new code, which commonly takes six months or more to complete.

The College is closely monitoring the code's implementation and will share updates as they are available. Read more.