As part of a cooperative agreement between the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and the Council of Medical Specialty Societies (CMSS), the ACC, along with six other specialty societies will collaborate to implement targeted quality improvement strategies and activities to increase immunization rates in high-risk adults. Other collaborating societies include the American Association of Clinical Endocrinology (AACE), American College of Occupational and Environmental Medicine (ACOEM), American Geriatrics Society (AGS), American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO), American Society of Nephrology (ASN), and the American Thoracic Society (ATS). 

“Physicians look to their specialty societies for up-to-date clinical guidance that shapes practice and drives improvement,” said CMSS CEO Helen Burstin, MD, MPH, MACP. “We are very pleased to partner with CDC and our member societies across the house of medicine to improve vaccination for high-risk adults.” 

The five-year cooperative agreement includes $22 million in funding in the first year (with an estimated $55.5 million over five years) to support increased COVID-19, influenza, and routine vaccinations in high-risk adults with chronic medical conditions, including patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, asthma, diabetes, heart disease, cancer, and chronic kidney disease, as well as older adults and staff in occupational health settings. According to CMSS, the initiative will leverage the “remarkable reach and extensive expertise” of the seven specialty societies in implementing national quality improvement initiatives and targeted continuing education and outreach, as well as the groups’ long-standing relationships with health systems and clinics.

“Cardiovascular disease patients are at higher risk of complications from many viruses for which there are safe and effective vaccines, including influenza and COVID-19, but many of the most vulnerable patients are not regularly receiving these immunizations” said ACC CEO Cathleen C. Gates. “Together with our fellow health care societies we are eager to help educate the most at-risk patients and increase access to life-saving vaccines.”

Clinical Topics: COVID-19 Hub, Geriatric Cardiology

Keywords: Medical Oncology, Renal Insufficiency, Chronic, Heart Diseases, Asthma, Neoplasms, Pulmonary Disease, Chronic Obstructive, Diabetes Mellitus, Cardiovascular Diseases, COVID-19, Quality Improvement, Nephrology, Environmental Medicine, Influenza, Human, Geriatrics

< Back to Listings