Health care is changing and the environment in which members of the entire care team practice is in a constant state of evolution. Hospital integration is the reality for many U.S. cardiologists, and while that change is an immense one for many, it is not the end of the changes for cardiovascular professionals in this era of health care. Other challenges facing ACC members include information overload, changing certification requirements, new business models, new mobile technologies, increased competition, workforce changes and reimbursement challenges, to name a few.

As the professional home for the entire cardiovascular care team, the ACC is committed to helping members succeed in this changing environment. On both a national and local level, the ACC has developed educational resources to ensure cardiovascular professionals understand the changes and are equipped to tackle them with strategies for success.

In just a few short months, the ACC in collaboration with the ACC Florida Chapter and the American Association for Physician Leadership, will host the annual ACC Cardiovascular Summit: Solutions for Thriving in a Time of Change, from Jan. 22 – 24, 2015 in Orlando, FL. Directed by Howard T. Walpole, Jr., MD, MBA, FACC, and co-directed by Pamela S. Douglas, MD, MACC, and C. Michael Valentine, MD, FACC, the 2015 event is divided into four primary sessions. The sessions are focused on successful operations and leadership; managing the new financial reality; achieving quality through effective use of data; and creating blueprints for progress through the intersection of operations, leadership, data and quality.

The success of the annual Cardiovascular Summit program has inspired ACC leaders who hope to bring similar educational content to their local ACC Chapters. This year, the Governors of ACC’s New York and New Jersey chapters, Smadar Kort, MD, FACC, and Ken Kutscher, MD, FACC, set out to hold their own local event aimed at addressing the business-side of medicine.

“With the continuous changes to health care, it is critical for cardiovascular professionals to be informed about the current state of the cardiovascular field and prepare them as much as possible for the future,” said Kort.

The Northeast ACC Mini Summit, held last May in Saddlebrook, NJ, began to take shape after Kort and Kutscher attended the ACC’s 2014 Cardiovascular Summit in Las Vegas. They were also inspired by a previously held local conference set in Fort Lauderdale and hosted by the ACC’s Florida Chapter. The mini-summit was a “true collaboration,” according to Kort and Kutscher, and they relied upon the assistance of their respective chapter executives, Nancy Weiner and Linda Bartolo, to ensure the details and logistics of the meeting were a success. “We held numerous conference calls amongst ourselves, and also with the leaders of the national Cardiovascular Summit,” said Kort. Hoping to attract attendees from both of their home states, as well as areas of southern Connecticut and northeastern Pennsylvania, the Governors determined that New Jersey would be the perfect location for their inaugural event.

The all-day, intensive program featured speakers who synthesized the status of health care reform and walked attendees through strategies to tackle changes in their personal practice settings. Some of the highlights of the day, according to Kutscher, were MedAxiom’s Vice President of Business Intelligence Solutions and Senior Consultant Denise Brown, who shared her perspective on practice management, along with Valentine who was dynamic in his presentation of the future of accountable care organizations and the direction of health care. “The presentations were very interactive, and provided a venue for attendees to participate and discuss specific issues related to them,” said Kort.

“Holding a local meeting similar in content to the College’s national program has proved to be a great member value for those in our chapters,” said Kort. Kutcher adds that “in times of coordinated care, hospital acquisition and integration of practices, and optimization of resources, local programming like this is critically important and timely for our members.”

Keywords: Cardiology Magazine, ACC Publications

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