ACC Holds 2008 Legislative Conference

About 250 ACC members gathered in Washington, D.C., on Sept. 14-16 to educate Congress about ACC’s important work in improving quality and promoting evidence-based care. Participants held nearly 250 meetings with their national representatives to discuss the need for health system reform and incentives to encourage the adoption of health information technology. In addition, participants communicated the importance of long-term reform to the Medicare physician payment system. During the meeting, the ACC held a press conference and panel with Reps. Joe Barton (R-Texas) and Lois Capps (D-Calif.) that discussed how to better integrate quality into the health care system. In addition, the ACC released the results of a health care reform public opinion survey. To view the survey findings, click here.

In conjunction with the conference, the ACC this week held a print and online advertising campaign for the Quality First campaign. The print ads ran in CongressDailyAM, CQ Today and Roll Call, three Capitol Hill newspapers. An online version of the ad was featured on the Web sites of National Journal, Politico and The Hill, three print publications specializing in political coverage, until Sept. 16. View the print ad here.

House Committee Marks Up HEART for Women Act

The House Energy and Commerce Committee on Wednesday marked up the Heart Disease Education, Analysis Research and Treatment (HEART) for Women Act, which would require any application for approval or for investigation of a drug, device, or biological product to include information stratified by sex, race and ethnicity. The bill would require the secretary of the Department of Health & Human Services (HHS) to withhold approval of any application if it does not include the stratified information, and to make that information available to the public. It would also require the HHS secretary to report to Congress on the quality of and access to care for women with heart disease, stroke and other cardiovascular disease. In addition, the bill authorizes appropriations for the Well-Integrated Screening and Evaluation for Women Across the Nation program in all states and territories. The full text of the bill is available here.

HHS Proposes ICD-10 Implementation in 2011

The Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) has proposed a new rule that would mandate the use of the International Classification of Diseases Version 10 (ICD-10) on all health care transactions starting on Oct. 1, 2011. This would replace the 13,000 existing ICD-9 diagnosis codes with more than 68,000 ICD-10 diagnosis codes. ICD-10 codes are a different format, and thus would require all codes to be reformatted. The proposed rule does not include a transition period during which both sets of codes may be used.

Although use of the ICD-10 classification system could result in more precise descriptions of diseases that would improve public health reporting and pay-for-performance reporting, it might also result in significant costs and administrative problems for hospitals and offices. The ACC is currently examining the proposed rule and considering a response that will attempt to examine the cost/benefit analysis prepared by HHS. The proposed rule can be found in the Federal Register here.

FDA News Updates

FDA has granted 501(k) clearance to two devices by MiCardia that offer intra-operative percutaneous or noninvasive treatment for patients with mitral valve regurgitation. The two products, the Dynaplasty Annuloplasty Band DR, which is intended to recast the fibrous tissue at the annulus, and the Annuloplasty Ring DR, which is intended to be implanted around the annulus to pressure flexibility and shape, are the first of the company’s Dynaplasty products to receive FDA approval.

Physio Control has issued a recall of LifePak CR Plus Automated External Defibrillators (AED) because the device instructs the responder by voice prompts to press the shock button, which is not visible because it is covered. This makes the responder unable to provide shock therapy. The device should be removed from service or the manufacturer-provided diagram should be consulted to remove and discard the shock button cover. Read more at the FDA Web site here.

ACC Awarded “Stay in Circulation Community Service Award” from PAD

The Peripheral Arterial Disease (PAD) Coalition recently presented its National Stay in Circulation Community Service Award to the ACC. The Stay in Circulation Community Service Award recognizes a national organization whose activities have focused on increasing awareness about PAD to high-risk populations, patients and/or the health care community. The College received the award for its extensive efforts to educate health care professionals and to advance the quality of care for people with PAD.

Among its many contributions, the College is spearheading the PAD Guidelines Implementation Task Force that is working to put the ACC/AHA 2005 Guidelines for the Management of Patients With Peripheral Arterial Disease into practice. In addition, the ACC currently is bringing together multidisciplinary stakeholders to develop PAD performance measures and clinical data standards, and is coordinating the PAD GAP Alliance Demonstration Project, a PAD quality improvement project.