For the first time, the College is bringing NCDR and ACC Accreditation Services together for the inaugural ACC Quality Summit: NCDR and Accreditation Annual Session & Expo in New Orleans, LA. Nearly 2,000 registry professionals, administrators, clinicians and quality experts will gather for the three-day conference to discuss how registries, accreditation programs and quality campaigns work together to create high-quality cardiovascular programs that achieve the best possible patient outcomes.

"The ACC Quality Summit represents a natural merger of programs and people dedicated to high-quality clinical patient care," says Kathleen Hewitt, DNP, RN, AACC, co-director of Quality Summit. "As the second largest conference hosted by the ACC, it's heartening to witness the energy and enthusiasm as our attendees work together to improve care around the globe and at home."

On Thursday morning, Zubin "ZDoggMD" Damania, MD, will deliver the Ralph G. Brindis Keynote Lecture. In his talk, Damania will discuss the role of team-based, patient-centered care in a health care system focused on quality improvement.

As the health care system transitions to value-based models, the need to translate quality improvement initiatives into optimal care and patient outcomes is becoming more important than ever. The ACC Quality Summit is organized under four themes – NCDR, Accreditation, Quality Campaigns and Executive Leadership – all aimed at inspiring participants to provide optimal cardiovascular care, capture and leverage data, implement evidence-based care, and achieve excellent clinical outcomes.

Thursday's not-to-miss "ACC Quality Programs: What's New or Different? We Give You the 'Why,'" will cover new and developing features in NCDR and ACC Accreditation programs. Another not-to-miss session, "Real-World Teams Making a Difference For Our Patients," will focus on the role of team-based care in improving patient outcomes.

"This conference is a unique opportunity to meet with cardiovascular team members across the country who share the mission of delivering the right care to the right patient at the right time," says Frederick A. Masoudi, MD, MSPH, FACC, chair of the NCDR Management Board and NCDR chief science officer. "I learn not only from the remarkable group of invited speakers, but also the many participants who describe both their successes and failures in achieving this important goal."

In NCDR and ACC Accreditation sessions, attendees will hear front-line examples of how institutions have effectively maximized data and implemented new care processes to improve outcomes.

For the first time, the meeting will feature a track for NCDR's two outpatient registries, the PINNACLE Registry and Diabetes Collaborative Registry, explaining how the two outpatient registries help providers reduce data burden and make a seamless transition to the Quality Payment Program.

In Quality Campaign sessions, attendees will learn how ACC's Patient Navigator Program: Focus MI and Reduce the Risk: PCI Bleed use the power of NCDR to drive quality improvement through adoption of evidence-based best practices. Leadership sessions will cover the importance of physician engagement in achieving process excellence and the role of stakeholders in accelerating performance and research.

"The Quality Summit provides a unique opportunity to showcase how the ACC is leading the way in helping clinicians, hospitals and health systems harness clinical data and evidence-based best practices to meet the Quadruple Aim of better care, lower costs, improved outcomes and clinician well-being," says Summit Co-Director Ralph G. Brindis, MD, MPH, MACC. "In the ever-evolving health care landscape opportunities for cardiovascular professionals across the care team to come together and to learn from each other are more important than ever."

The annual awards ceremony on Friday afternoon will honor this year's poster winners. The ACC Quality Summit received nearly 90 poster submissions that showcased how institutions are using NCDR, ACC Accreditation programs and Quality Campaigns to drive clinical performance improvement. In addition, the award ceremony will recognize the 10 HeartCARE Center Pioneers that received the HeartCARE Center designation in 2018.

For the second year, the conference will close Friday with the interactive "It's ACC Quality Jeopardy!" Contestants will answer questions about NCDR, ACC Accreditation programs and Quality Campaigns, and in broader categories like quality improvement in the classic "Jeopardy" format.

Keywords: Quality Improvement, Leadership, Delivery of Health Care, Quality of Health Care, Accreditation, Patient-Centered Care, Registries, Patient Care, National Cardiovascular Data Registries, Quality Summit

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