Following an entertaining evening with political power couple Mary Matalin and James Carville, courtesy of ACC Political Action Committee (ACCPAC), attendees got up-to-speed on the hot button issues facing health care providers and the health care system as a whole. ACC President Patrick O'Gara, MD, FACC, along with ACC Vice President Richard Chazal, MD, FACC, and Michael Lauer, MD, FACC, director of cardiovascular science at the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute, came together to discuss the latest in cardiovascular innovation and research. ACC's Advocacy Team participated in a panel discussion focused on educating participants about likely health care priorities in Congress this year. Experts from across the cardiovascular spectrum shared their thoughts on everything from team-based care as the answer to the tsunami of chronic cardiac disease, to leadership development to the importance of advocacy. Conference participants also participated in a series of breakout sessions focused on state advocacy in action, Medicare implementation of appropriate use criteria, and how to effectively meet with members of Congress. Finally, Margaret Hamburg, MD, Food and Drug Administration (FDA) commissioner, discussed the FDA's role in promoting health care quality and innovation, and Mark Miller, PhD, executive director of the Medicare Payment Advisory Commission (MedPAC), provided MedPAC's perspective on opportunities to improve quality of care.

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