Nicole Lohr, MD, PhD, FACC

A recent fireside chat led by Brenton Bauer, MD, FACC, and Aaron Smith, MD, taught FITs about ACC's Legislative Conference and how to get more involved with advocacy at the ACC. The guest speaker was Nicole Lohr, MD, PhD, FACC, director of the Division of Cardiovascular Disease at University of Alabama, Birmingham and chair of ACC's Board of Governors.

How did you get passionate about advocacy with the ACC?
My story starts when I was in fellowship, and I was interested in starting a Women in Cardiology (WIC) section in my chapter. I reached out to the ACC Wisconsin Chapter governor at the time, Thomas J. Lewandowski, MD, FACC, and he invited me to the next Board of Councilors meeting. I was really impressed by how easy it was to get involved at the grassroots level, and there were so many opportunities to learn professional skills which are not part of fellowship. I learned how we were advocating at the state level, which was great because as physicians we have the capability and the knowledge to heal, but sometimes are limited by various barriers; we can either choose to be frustrated with them or be part of the solution. In working with the Center for Medicare and Medicaid Innovation payment models, I started to understand the business of medicine and why it's important for us to be involved with payers. At ACC's Legislative Conference, I learned about various real-world topics that we don't necessarily hear about from our employers, such as improving access to rural areas, cardiac rehab and more. I became enthralled and made a commitment to really think about how to get more people involved and engaged early in advocacy. The message is clear – if we want to be able to improve our lives and the lives of our patients, then we need to be there.

How does the ACC play a role in legislation?
The ACC is a nonprofit organization and has a Health Affairs Committee (HAC) which researches various hot topics that impact our members and patients. The political action committee (HeartPAC) is not directly affiliated with the College and supports legislators on both sides of the aisle to advance legislation and policies that improve care of our patients and support the cardiovascular team. Independent of political party, HeartPAC focuses on engaging who is supporting our mission and identifies prospects for engagement at the state and national levels to raise money and awareness.

Who sets the agenda for ACC's Legislative Conference?
The HAC is charged with identifying talking points for ACC's Legislative Conference. As a member of ACC's Board of Trustees (BOT),The HAC collects the content, raises awareness and evaluates appraises it. As a trustee, we receive get periodic reports of what is important in the landscape of cardiology and what are relevant, trending topics for our members (ex: restrictive covenants). Members of the College are also welcome reach out and request the HAC's review of current issues and legislation pertinent to their state, or at the national level. ACC staff thoroughly research thoroughly Our executive team researches each topic and report back to the HAC with their analysis so that the committee can make an informed decision about ACC's position. We've recently discussed legislation topics including but not limited to access to cardiac rehab, restrictive covenants, prior authorization, and physician safety and well-being.

What is your advice to FIT members attending ACC Legislative Conference 2023?
In the weekend leading up to Legislative Conference, some sections such as WIC and the CV Team will have independent meetings. If interested in any of these committees, attending these meetings is a great learning and networking opportunity.

On Monday, there will be educational and thought-provoking sessions featuring national leaders briefing attendees on the hot topics that impact cardiovascular professionals across the country. The message and acronyms are simplified into bite-sized pieces that attendees can understand, which helps them grasp what you are advocating for and why you are advocating for it.

On Tuesday, conference participants will join pre-arranged meetings with members of Congress and their staff to discuss ways to improve cardiovascular care and health policy. To convey the importance of the message, talk about how it affects your patients. Legislators want to hear stories of your experience with patient care, and how the legislation can ultimately affect the communities they are focused on. In the process of sharing your story, you may hear from other members within your state, who may not be in your own practice, telling similar stories. There's camaraderie in that, and it motivates you to go back and try to do something in your individual states to make a difference.

What should you do after ACC's Legislative Conference?
You can engage with your state chapter to ask what can be done in the interim until next year's Legislative Conference. Many states organize local legislative days. You may consider inviting a Senator or a member of the House of Representative to your institution to see firsthand how health policy impacts the delivery of care. ACC's State Government Affairs team can help organize state chapter lobby days, while the Congressional Affairs Team can help facilitate in-district visits with the federal lawmakers.

How can FIT members get more involved with Advocacy?

• Participate in Action Alerts – which provide immediate information to lawmakers and request they take action on legislation that impacts your local areas. By using ACC's action alert system, you don't have to worry about looking up legislators' contact information. View all live action alerts here.
• Read the ACC Advocate – ACC's weekly newsletter that summarizes updates on hot topics.
• Learn about Health Policies, and how the ACC is developing solutions to increase access, quality and value of patient care and improving clinician well-being.
• Get engaged locally! Talk to your state chapters and find ways to which to engage with your legislators and advocate for your patients locally.
• Contribute to HeartPAC!

This article was authored by Tripti Gupta, MD, a FIT at Vanderbilt University Medical Center and chair of ACC's FIT Section. @T_GuptaMD.