The American College of Cardiology's Interventional Scientific Council & Section is pleased to present our new electronic newsletter. We hope this quarterly communication will serve to educate, inform, and stimulate conversation within the Section and College. Each issue will bring you updates on Section activities and its working group projects, the College's initiatives supporting the Interventional community and avenues for involvement and discussion. We hope this will also serve as a resource for information on products and programs geared toward maintaining your certification in this critical year, as well as advancing your career. We look forward to your comments on this new initiative!

JACC White Papers: An Avenue for Interventional Knowledge?

In the last few months, JACC Editor-in-Chief Anthony N. DeMaria, M.D., M.A.C.C., has been commissioning articles for a new department known as “JACC White Papers.” Spencer B. King III, M.D., M.A.C.C., Editor-in-Chief of JACC Interventions, plans to launch a similar feature in that journal soon. The White Papers, which will be published on a periodic basis, offer the opportunity for Interventional cardiologists to tap their professional experience and wisdom, to provide guidance to the cardiology community on a variety of important topics.

It has been an ongoing initiative of the year-old Interventional Scientific Council and Section to push for the development of outlets such as this for Interventionalists to provide their professional experiences as a platform for continued learning and progress within the subspecialty. It is the hope of the Section that these White Papers will act as a catalyst for progressive knowledge-sharing and as a guide for future decision making within the subspecialty and the College.

The interview with Drs. DeMaria and King continues on the Intervention Section Web site on www.acc.org/Cardiosource. Click here to read their additional comments on the interventional community and the advantages provided by the White Paper concept.

Maintenance of Certification

Did you certify in 1999? If so, it’s time to renew your certificate in interventional cardiology! Your current certificate is only valid through December, 2009. To recertify, you’ll need to register with ABIM now to begin completing your requirements including completing the Form Attesting Interventional Cardiology Practice, earning 100 combined MOC points in medical knowledge and practice improvement over the 10-year certificate period and completing the proctored exam. Click here to check out the ACCF MOC Toolkit for FAQs, articles, tools and other resources to help you get started today!

Clinical Documents in Progress

As a service to our Interventional Scientific Section & Council members, we’ve compiled a list of all clinical documents currently in progress.  We’ll keep you updated on their progress so that you can be aware of emerging clinical documents that affect you and your practice here.

Quality First

The American College of Cardiology (ACC) is committed to taking a leadership role in health care reform in a way that is centered on increasing the quality of care and ensuring greater patient value. To this end, the ACC's Quality First initiative is encouraging health care providers to act on their professional responsibility and transform health care from the inside out.

Given the focus on health care reform by Congress and the Obama administration, the ACC believes it can make major contributions in several areas of cardiovascular care in 2009 and beyond, including ensuring appropriate imaging; preventing hospital readmissions; reducing geographic variations in care; encouraging adherence to guidelines; and empowering patients to be involved in their care decisions. For more information, or to get involved in the ACC's Quality First efforts, visit: qualityfirst.acc.org.

We hope you have enjoyed reading this electronic newsletter. If you would like to continue to receive these emails, please become a member of the Interventional Scientific Section by clicking here or calling our resource center at (202) 375-6000 ext: 5603.