July 29, 2016

What works best in your Chapter for member/patient benefit?

This week's BOG Update is brought to you by BOG Chair A. Allen Seals, MD, FACC.

Heading in to Next Week's BOT Meeting

As I gear up for next week's Board of Trustees (BOT) meeting in Oregon, I am eager to share with the BOT our many recent accomplishments from the BOG – both at the national and state level. Specifically, I plan to update the Board on our many points of progress to date this year, including the news of our new Best Practices area of the Leadership Portal, updates on the Chapter Health Index, NCDR eReports ICD Registry Dashboard and upcoming dashboards later this fall, and our completion of individual Chapter goals.

The "Big Four"

Dr. Chazal has asked the BOT to focus on four hot topic areas – MOC, MACRA, Governance and Accreditation. In addition to the BOG report above, in a very important supplemental report, I will be asked to deliver the BOG perspective on each of the "Big Four". Of course, we all recognize that each of these four areas is a work in progress, and the BOT is very interested in hearing about what is happening with each from the "front line". What are your members saying? What communications from your Chapter office have addressed any of these four areas? Accordingly, please email me directly with your insight, opinions, and observations on MOC, MACRA, Governance, and Accreditation.

The Big Four Talking Points and Slide Deck

It is critical that as leaders we are all speaking from the same page when we address colleagues, Chapter members, other specialty societies and lawmakers. That is why this hot topic talking point deck and slide set are so important. As ACC leaders, we should be well- versed in the language and positions of the College and these resources should help arm us well. For example, the MACRA portions of both the slide deck and talking points were recently updated to include the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services recently released Proposed 2017 Medicare Physician Fee Schedule and Hospital Outpatient Rules. Another example is that the talking points on Governance were recently altered to reflect the changes to the BOT to be more member-voice inclusive. The new language in the Governance talking points reads that "In a concerted effort to listen to members as part of the critical continuous feedback loop and to course-correct the transformation plan as needed, the BOT also approved the Governance Committee's recommendation to add two additional positions to the Board – BOG Chair-Elect and Membership Committee Chair. This brings the total number of BOT members this year to 20 and will bring the total number of BOT members from 11 to 13 when the transformation is completed in 2018, a change from the original proposal of 11 Board seats. These changes reflect the understanding that the College is a membership organization and member representation on the highest and most strategically driven body of the College is critical.

The BOT meeting will take place over three days and will center on strategic and thoughtful discussion about many issues, including not only the "Big Four" but also issues related to Member Value, Population Health Management, and more. The BOG will be represented well at the Board meeting by not just me; I am pleased to state that I will be joined by BOG Chair-Elect Hadley Wilson, MD, FACC as well as Past BOG Chair and now new Membership Committee Chair Bob Shor, MD, FACC.

I hope to provide you with some notes following the BOT meeting via a short BOG Update briefing. Stay tuned and please send me emails on your comments and questions. This is your opportunity to ask me, Hadley, and Bob to carry your message to the BOT meeting and to get your issue addressed at the BOT level.

Finally, I want to say thanks all that have lent their voice in the past few months for these weekly BOG Updates. I know each of you has an interesting story to tell. Whether it is one of success or of failure that can be marked as an excellent lesson learned; it is my hope that more Governors will send in their thoughts so that knowledge and best practices from across our great states can be shared. Please send in your brief contribution to both me and Miriam Surdin (msurdin@acc.org) that answer the question: What works best in your Chapter for member/patient benefit?