Log in to MyACC
Fellows in Training Section | The September Issue of Cardiology, YOUR Member Magazine, is Live! Read it All Online!
The September 2018 issue of Cardiology, YOUR member magazine, is now live! Cardiology provides cardiovascular professionals with comprehensive clinical, professional and health policy news; feature-length articles on the top trends and innovations in cardiovascular medicine; expert commentary from leaders in the cardiovascular field; quick-read summaries of the latest research from the JACC Journals and other major cardiovascular journals; profiles of ACC members, like you; and so much more!
Tweet #CardiologyMagEditor's Corner | Prediabetes and Cardiovascular Health: Prevention Starts With Children
Along with the increase in the frequency of obesity, we’re experiencing an increase in the incidence of prediabetes. As the incidence of diabesity rises, so does the risk for complications. While in cardiology we emphasize the cardiovascular risk associated with chronic metabolic derangements, leading to coronary and peripheral vascular disease, nephropathy and retinopathy, there is also significant disability and death from noncardiac complications.
Cover Story | ACC Prepares to Embark on Next Strategic Plan
Increasing the ACC’s 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 are the four driving goals of the College’s next Strategic Plan.
The result of countless hours of thoughtful discussions with ACC members, stakeholders, staff, partners and others, these goals weren’t developed overnight. Rather, the 2019-2013 plan is intended to guide the College over the next five years on a path that best meets the growing and changing needs of cardiovascular professionals around the world given new and emerging technologies, latest trends in learning and education, as well as a continuously evolving health care landscape.
“With cardiovascular disease still holding as the #1 cause of mortality worldwide, an aging population, increasing complexity of patients, a changing cardiovascular workforce, and a turbulent health care environment – being a cardiovascular professional today can be challenging,” wrote ACC President C. Michael Valentine, MD, FACC, ACC Vice President Richard J. Kovacs, MD, FACC, and ACC Strategic Plan Board of Trustees Liaison Dipti Itchhaporia, MD, FACC, in a recent leadership page in the Journal of the American College of Cardiology. “We are confident that our next Strategic Plan will place us on a path towards our vision of a world where innovation and knowledge optimize cardiovascular care and outcomes.”
From the Members Section | Taking Up the Mantle: Advocacy By FITs and EC Professionals
This summer a bipartisan bill called the South Asian Heart Health Awareness and Research Act of 2017 (H.R. 3592) addressing the higher prevalence of heart disease in this population was introduced in the U.S. House of Representatives by Rep. Pramila Jayapal (D-WA) and co-sponsored by 18 other House members, including Rep. Joe Wilson (R-SC).
An Early Career (EC) professional, Sandeep Krishnan, MD, and a Fellow in Training (FIT), Jill M. Steiner, MD, were crucial to the introduction of this bill.
In this interview, Hussein Abu Daya, MD, chair of the ACC FIT Council Advocacy Workgroup, talked with Krishnan and Steiner about their experience with advocacy and what’s involved with becoming an advocate.
Cardiology Web Exclusive | Return to The Himalayas: Serving the Medical Needs in Northern India
In this month’s Cardiology web exclusive feature, witness a cardiac echocardiogram performed at nearly 15,000 feet in the Himalayas (that’s a bit more than 10 Empire State Buildings), which may well qualify as the world’s highest altitude echo! Sandeep Krishnan, MD, FACC, shares this story and more in his multimedia travel blog, which covers the 18-day medical expedition in northeastern India in July, with breathtaking photography and video galleries.
Krishnan and 20 medical students, residents and attending physicians, traveled to the Spiti region and served 995 patients. At the same time a training experience for the students and residents, overall, the team performed 40 echos during their trip – providing lifesaving consultation and treatment to several patients.
Along with breathtaking mountain views and stargazing amongst the clouds, Krishnan shares the joy of performing an obstetric ultrasound that allowed a woman to see her unborn child and the challenges of providing high-quality care in a low-resource remote setting. Read the web exclusive feature to learn about extraordinary challenges they faced and follow along with their travels in each day's photo gallery!
Feature | ESC Congress 2018: Our Editors’ Picks
What have we learned from ESC Congress 2018? Among the Hot Line trials, clinical trial updates and late breaking science, there are new findings regarding aspirin, rivaroxaban, lorcaserin and much more. Here’s a roundup of results most likely to influence clinical practice selected by Cardiology’s editors-in-chief.
Feature | Teaching Tomorrow’s Teachers: The 3T Experience
Who was your most influential teacher during medical training? Do you remember what skills distinguished her or him from everyone else? The need for medical educators continues to grow, yet protecting time for Fellows in Training (FITs) to learn and practice this skill set has been challenging. The Teaching Tomorrow’s Teachers (3T) program is ACC’s investment in developing FITs as medical educators to bridge this gap.
Quality Improvement for Institutions | PINNACLE Registry Celebrates 10 years of Quality Improvement
For Sam Kojoglanian, MD, FACC, ACC’s PINNACLE Registry helped him to reach a “new level of interaction” with his patients. Before using PINNACLE, Kojoglanian, an interventional cardiologist, often relied on a primary care doctor for lab results, like HbA1c levels for his patients with diabetes. Once his practice started measuring and tracking patient data through the PINNACLE Registry, Kojoglanian noticed he was missing this vital information for many patients. So he started ordering the lab work himself and reviewing results with patients.
“When I started implementing PINNACLE, it changed the dynamics completely,” Kojoglanian says. “The registry inspired me to get even more involved with my patients. In one year, I saw dramatic drops in my patients’ HbA1c that I’ve never seen because I had been relying on another doctor’s report or relying on my patient’s reports.”
Conversations With Kohli | Are We Ever Really Out of Office?
As I clicked the final “sign encounter” button and looked at my completely empty Epic In Basket, I felt as if a weight had been lifted off my shoulders. Next up: 10 days of vacation! I was liberated for 10 whole days from the jarring, repetitive beeping of my pager and from watching the clock the entire day in the clinic to make sure I don’t fall too far behind. Ten days without my Epic In Basket. I set my “out of office” message, promptly turned off my pager and logged out of Epic. Disconnected. But… was I?
Pulse of ACC | In Memoriam; BOT Approves Officers and Trustees; JACC Ranked Highest in Cardiology
This month's quick-read articles include: ACC BOT Approves 2019 Slate of Officers and Trustees; In Memoriam: Joseph D. Babb, MD, FACC; Updated Guidance For Treating ACHD Patients Released; and Google Scholar Metrics Ranks JACC #1 in Cardiology.
The Pulse of ACC Feature Interview | Meet ACC’s New CEO Timothy W. Attebery, MBA, FACHE
ACC’s new CEO, Timothy W. Attebery, MBA, FACHE, has been on the job for nearly a month. But he’s been an ACC member for many years and brings more than 30 years of health system and cardiovascular service line leadership.
Attebery talked with Cardiology about his leadership philosophy, vision for the future of the College and more.
Number Check | National Cholesterol Education Month
This month's full page information graphic breaks down the numbers of National Cholesterol Education Month.
Innovation at ACC | How Can Physicians Contribute to Health Care Innovation?
The focus on innovation in health care is accelerating. More funding, engagement from large organizations and speedier U.S. Food and Drug Administration processes are all contributing to this boom. For many physicians, standing on the sidelines is not enough. They want to participate in the entrepreneurial economy and experience the adrenaline associated with innovation. There are a variety of paths that can lead to helping shape the future of the health care industry.
Innovation at ACC | The Wheel and The Hub
The journey of becoming an innovator begins with a simple question: Is the status quo of health care acceptable? Innovators are more likely to say no.
This answer does not negate the phenomenal progress over the last several decades in understanding cardiovascular disease and providing more effective treatments. It does affirm a steadily diminishing return on “investment” in the current state of knowledge.
Feature | ACC's Industry Advisory Forum
Given the unprecedented change in the health care environment, rapid advances in science and technology, and extraordinary challenges and opportunities for cardiovascular medicine, it is paramount for the ACC and other leading organizations in health care to engage a broad range of stakeholders when developing strategies for the future.
To that end, the College recently held its inaugural Industry Advisory Forum (IAF) that featured robust and healthy discussions on topics ranging from developing purposeful education to shaping cardiovascular care through innovation.
Member Profile | Educators in Cardiology: Shaping the Future of Medicine
Linda D. Gillam, MD, MPH, FACC, is one of the many the educators in cardiology devoted to helping cardiovascular professionals reach their full potential. The author of over 100 peer-reviewed published articles in the fields of echocardiography, heart disease in women and valvular heart disease, Gillam has given lectures both nationally and internationally on these topics. She is the chair of the department of cardiovascular medicine at Morristown Medical Center and medical director of the cardiovascular service line for Atlantic Health System in Morristown, NJ.
At ACC.18, the Gifted Educator award was bestowed on Gillam for her outstanding teaching characteristics, mentorship and contributions to education in the field of cardiovascular medicine. Previously she was recognized by the ACC with the Gifted Teacher award, the first woman to receive the award. Gillam shares with Cardiology how she began her career in cardiology, her approaches to education and how the ACC has helped her achieve professional success.
JACC in a Flash
Featured topics and Editors’ Picks from all of ACC's JACC Journals. This month's articles include: JACC Health Promotion Series: Healthier Diets; Tobacco-Related Heart Disease; Is Edoxaban Safer Than Warfarin in Asian AFib Patients?; Cardiac Monitoring in High-Risk Breast Cancer Patients; and ACC Prevention Council Perspective Explores Food Trends.
Journal Wrap
The hottest research from various peer-reviewed journals are summarized in this monthly feature – all handpicked by the ACC.org Editorial Board led by Kim Eagle, MD, MACC. This month's articles include: Are Young Soccer Players at Greater Risk For Sudden Cardiac Death?; Further Lowering of LDL-C Safe, Effective; NCDR Study Finds No Association Between Carotid Artery Disease, Stroke Risk in TAVR; and Poor Nutritional Status Associated With AVR Mortality.
Heart of Health Policy | ACC Comments on Changes to E/M Services, QPP Updates in CMS’ Proposed PFS Rule
On Sept. 6, the ACC submitted comments to the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) on the 2019 Physician Fee Schedule (PFS) proposed rule. The comments address many important proposals but devote special attention to documentation changes to evaluation and management (E/M) visits and updates to the Quality Payment Program (QPP) among other key areas.
The ACC appreciates the agency’s focus on reducing clinicians’ documentation burden by proposing changes to documentation standards for E/M services; however, the College urges CMS not to finalize this package of proposals in its entirety for implementation on Jan. 1, 2019. The ACC believes CMS could move forward with several of its proposals to reduce documentation burden without also making dramatic, comprehensive and disruptive payment policy changes.
Heart of Health Policy | ACC Grassroots Advocacy Roundup
In 2018, ACC Chapters ramped up collaboration with the College’s Advocacy staff on a wide variety of grassroots advocacy efforts at the state level, fostering many legislative and regulatory successes for clinicians, practices and patients.
This feature article includes a sample of these successes, highlighting state advocacy accomplishments in several of the College’s key focus areas.
Heart of Health Policy | ACC Joins Group Effort Supporting Bipartisan ACE Kids Act
On Sept. 5, the House Energy and Commerce Subcommittee on Health held a hearing to consider the Advancing Care for Exceptional Kids Act of 2017 (ACE Kids Act). The bill has earned broad bipartisan support in both the House and Senate as it has moved through the legislative process.
ACC’s Adult Congenital and Pediatric Cardiology Advocacy Work Group has historically supported this piece of legislation that would improve care coordination for children with medical complexities on Medicaid, especially in instances when they would need to visit multiple providers across state lines.
Heart of Health Policy | FDA Approves Generic Version of Ticagrelor
On Sept. 4, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration’s (FDA’s) Center for Drug Evaluation and Research approved a “first generic” ticagrelor tablet – 60 mg and 90 mg doses – for post acute coronary syndrome management.
Harold on History | The Legacy of James T. Dove, MD, MACC, and Health Care Reform
The 27th annual ACC Legislative Conference, held this month in Washington, DC, brings together ACC members from across the country to advocate for the cardiovascular care team and their patients. Key among the discussions expected to take place with lawmakers: how to ensure cardiovascular professionals can continue to provide the most appropriate care for their patients in an evolving health care environment focused on value vs. volume.
Nearly a decade since the passage of initial health care reform legislation, we can have these discussions and be heard thanks to the visionary leadership of former ACC President (2007-2008) and health reform pioneer James T. Dove, MD, MACC.
Dove was the founding partner of Prairie Cardiovascular Consultants of Springfield, IL, in 1979. This pioneering medical group, based around providing “quality, compassionate, personal care,” was on the forefront of electronic health record adoption, quality improvement and integrated, team-based care.
CV Calendar September 2018 Cardiology
Browse upcoming meetings, events and educational opportunities.
