American College of Cardiology

High-Demand Specialists’ Compensation Continues to Increase
The average compensation packages for specialists in high demand, including cardiologists, increased from 2001-02, according to a recently released report from medical staffing firm Martin, Fletcher. Results from Martin, Fletcher’s survey show that the average cardiologist's compensation package grew by 12 percent from 2001 to 2002, increasing from $290,000 to $325,000. Demand for interventional cardiologists is driving this growth, the report found, due to new devices such as drug-eluting stents and other technological breakthroughs.

Cardiology remains in the top two income-generating specialties for rural hospitals and in the top five for urban hospitals, leading the firm to predict continued increases in cardiologists' income at or above 2001-02 levels.

Martin, Fletcher studied data in 18 medical specialties from 5,200 medical practices and health care facilities nationwide. The study notes that physicians in many states are suffering from runaway malpractice insurance costs but it did not correlate liability insurance costs to compensation gains. For more information, click here.

College Flexes Its Advocacy Muscle to Improve CV Practice Environment
A recent survey of final-year medical residents in a variety of specialties revealed that more than half of the respondents were concerned about how they would deal with the business aspects of cardiovascular practice, namely managed care and medical liability (click here for full survey results). Participation in the College’s Advocacy program, however, helps fellows in training become more knowledgeable about compliance and can enable them to help affect positive changes to the practice environment of the future.

“Advocacy is such an important part of what the College is all about,” says ACC Advocacy Committee Cochair John Schaeffer, MD, president of the North Ohio Heart Center. “Whether on the state or federal level, College leaders work hard to ensure that the laws and regulations help improve the quality of care, not hinder its delivery.”

The College’s Political Action Committee (PAC), which has been in existence for less than two years, is a prime example of how the College is making strides in its advocacy efforts. “Much of politics is about access and getting valuable minutes with legislators to educate them about how policy decisions they make affect the practice of cardiovascular medicine,” says ACC PAC Chair Steve West, MD, a cardiologist with the South West Florida Heart Group. “Since the establishment of the PAC, the College’s profile with legislators and other key players on Capitol Hill has risen significantly.”

In addition to the College’s top two advocacy priorities for 2003—both of which involve improving reimbursement for cardiovascular services—the ACC is focused on other important issues that directly affect the day-to-day practice of medicine, including ensuring appropriate Medicare coding and relative values for cardiovascular specialty services, promoting quality of care, and influencing local payer policies and national Medicare coverage decisions. (Click here for greater detail.)

The College is a founding member of the Alliance of Specialty Medicine (ASM)—12 physician specialty societies committed to strengthening the voice of specialty medicine on Capitol Hill. ASM has gained quick acceptance on the Hill and has met with key Congressional leaders on both Medicare reimbursement and medical liability reform issues. Through regularly scheduled “fly-ins,” ASM provides physician leaders opportunity to meet one-one-one with legislators to discuss important issues. More information on the most recent ASM fly-in is available on the ACC Web site.

Full information on medical liability activity, legislative and Medicare reimbursement issues, including news updates, tools and resources, and other communications tools, is available on the “Advocacy Working for You” section of the ACC Web site.

New York Cardiovascular Symposium Offers Travel Awards to Fellows in Training
An annual highlight of the CME season, the New York Cardiovascular Symposium draws top cardiologists to New York City—as presenters and attendees—just as the city reaches its most festive, colorful heights. Directed by Valentin Fuster, MD, PhD, the symposium has attracted over 1,500 registrants from several continents in past years. Eight fortunate fellows in training will attend the symposium through the generosity of the Henry I. Russek Foundation, which is supporting eight travel awards so that fellows in training may attend this program.

This year’s agenda addresses Major Topics in Cardiology Today and includes a faculty packed with the best and brightest minds practicing cardiology at teaching hospitals all around the nation. The program will be opened by ACC CEO Christine McEntee, with ACC President Carl Pepine, MD.

Topics under discussion during the program include, for example, the challenges of acute coronary syndromes presented by Eric J. Topol, MD, of the Cleveland Clinic Foundation; challenges in coronary artery disease presented by Robert M. Califf, MD, of Duke University Medical Center; and a new focus on diet and obesity with a session on the genetic/molecular bases of obesity and new neurogenic pharmacological approaches presented by Pi-Sunyer, MD, of St. Luke’s–Roosevelt Hospital Center in New York City.

The Russek Foundation travel awards cover the reduced A-I-T registration fee of $535 and up to $465 in travel and hotel costs. Training directors are encouraged to submit the name of a trainee via e-mail to be selected in a random drawing on Oct.15. Nominations for travel awards should be sent to cdavis@acc.org.

A-I-Ts who attend the symposium without the benefit of a travel award are entitled to the reduced fee of $535. (ACC members who attend the symposium will pay a registration fee of $735.) For more information on the agenda, presenters, and logistics, click here.

Complimentary Cardiovascular Investigative Careers Program Tailored to A-I-Ts
“How to Become a Cardiovascular Investigator,” will be presented at Heart House, Bethesda, Md., free of charge to fellows in training from Nov. 21–22, 2003. Cosponsored by the Council on Clinical Cardiology of the American Heart Association and the ACCF, the program is held in cooperation with the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute of the National Institutes of Health. The program is directed by Valentin Fuster, MD, PhD, director of the Mt. Sinai Cardiovascular Institute, and dean of academic affairs at Mt. Sinai School of Medicine, New York City. Dr. Fuster is best known for investigations that primarily focus on the roles of platelets and various clotting factors in producing atherosclerotic plaques. His research has resulted in more than 700 publications.

Elizabeth G. Nabel, MD, scientific director of clinical research at the National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute at the National Institutes of Health, will join Dr. Fuster as the guest speaker at a dinner held on Nov. 21. They will address “The Future of Young Investigators—What’s Ahead of You?”

“This complimentary program is intended to encourage cardiovascular fellows to remain in academic medicine,” says codirector Robert O. Bonow, MD, chief of the cardiology division at Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine, Chicago, and also president of the American Heart Association. The syllabus covers choosing a research project, a mentor, identifying funding opportunities, and discussion of specific subspecialty research pursuits.

For more information about registration, the faculty, the agenda, and other logistics, click here. To register, contact cdavis@acc.org.

College Establishes New Fellowship Award
The ACC Foundation, the Foundation for the Advancement of Cardiac Therapies (FACT), and the College’s Florida Chapter have established a new award opportunity to support a fellow in training in Florida for one year in heart failure research. The award, called the ACCF/FACT Florida Heart Failure Fellowship Award, was established to encourage the development of investigative careers in heart failure. The new fellowship begins July 1, 2004, and ends June 30, 2005, supported in the amount of $40,000.

Eligible applicants must currently work in an adult cardiology, pediatric cardiology, or cardiac surgery fellowship training program in Florida, recognized by the Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education or the American Osteopathic Association. Applicants must also submit the recommendation and agreement of their program’s training director to conduct the required project during the additional, projected year of supported research fellowship training. All eligible applicants must be members of the American College of Cardiology.

Applications are available for downloading here.

Physician Recruitment Incentives Highest for Specialists in Demand
The latest survey on recruitment incentives, undertaken and released by physician search consultants Merritt, Hawkins & Associates, found that since 1997, demand for specialists has centered on four specialty areas, including cardiology. These specialties accounted for 36 percent of all physician searches the group undertook during that period.

In the last four years, the survey found growth in the number of signing bonuses used as a hiring incentive—36 percent in 2003, compared to 24 percent in 2000. The average signing bonus amount in 2003 was $15,000, a number which has remained fairly consistent over the last four years.

Paid continuing medical education (CME) and paid relocation are two more incentives also commonly offered to physicians in medical specialties.

The 2003 report is based on 2,405 physician searches undertaken by Merritt, Hawkins in 46 states on behalf of medical groups (39%), hospitals (13%), solo practitioners (18%), partnerships (22%), associations (4%), and unspecified others (4%), from April 1, 2002 to April 1, 2003.

To see the full report, click here.

ACC Practice Opportunity Line Draws Praise From Employers
The College’s online job matching service, the Practice Opportunity Line (POL), is a powerful and precise tool to pull from your arsenal of artillery as you shoot for that perfect position in cardiovascular practice. Prospective employers frequently use the site in place of or in combination with recruitment firms.

“We received several excellent candidates and actually made offers to two of them,” says Anne Paone, practice administrator at Great Valley Cardiology in Scranton, Pa. “[The ACC] service certainly attracts some highly qualified individuals,” she told College staff.

It’s no secret that cardiology is a tough specialty to recruit for with few or no candidates available for many opportunities. However, it’s important that fellows in training be able to choose wisely, and that is precisely what the POL enables them to do with numerous opportunities posted online, free of charge to prospective applicants.

“[The College’s] Web site has actually been a better source of candidates for us than our recruitment firm,” says Sarah Terry-Rost, manager, information systems and special projects at South Central Wisconsin Heart, in Madison. “We received responses from many qualified candidates.”

Many advertisers have no need to renew their ads once placed on the POL as good matches are often found within a period of two to three months. Browse the POL by going to www.acc.org and clicking on the Practice Opportunity Line icon in the lower right-hand corner of the home page.

Deadline Season Approaching for Award Applicants
Click here to see deadlines for a variety of award programs designed to support academic and research careers for cardiology fellows.

Awards available include:

• Young Investigators Awards Competition;
• ACCF/Bristol-Myers Squibb Affiliate Travel Awards to ACC’04;
• ACCF Career Development Awards in Acute Coronary Syndromes, Arrhythmias, Cardiovascular Disease, Heart Disease Prevention, and Hypertension and Peripheral Vascular Disease;
• ACCF/Merck Adult Cardiology Research Fellowship Awards; and
• ACCF/Pfizer Post Doctoral Fellowship in Cardiovascular Medicine
• ACCF/FACT Florida Heart Failure Fellowship Award.

Job Opportunities
Seeking that perfect job? Check out the wide selection of job opportunities available for cardiologists throughout the United States.