This post was authored by Patrick T. O’Gara, MD, FACC, ACC president-elect.

What role will the ACC play in public and population health? How can we help cardiovascular professionals around the globe efficiently and demonstrably achieve and maintain the highest levels of patient care? These were some of the questions that the ACC’s Assembly of International Governors (AIG) came together to tackle while attending the ESC Congress 2013 in Amsterdam this week.

As the College works toward developing and finalizing a new strategic plan that will chart the course of the College for the next several years, it’s critical that we get input from all stakeholders. With international membership one of the College’s fastest growing member segments, the AIG meeting provided a unique opportunity to hear from each of our global leaders about what they believe should be the College’s strategic priorities moving into the future, particularly in the areas of education, data and population health.

Not surprisingly, there was much consensus about the College’s need to engage in all three of these areas. In terms of education, it was noted that we are all teachers in some form or fashion. There was a large amount of support for critical elements of purposeful education, including personalized education, e-learning and cross-college integration of data and content.

The use of data was also a hot topic, with consensus leaning toward the ACC creating a collaborative environment that brings together existing registries. If done correctly, integrated registries could be powerful tools for identifying education and quality improvement opportunities both globally and at country-specific levels.

Public education and population health also generated much discussion. Whether it was providing support for global efforts to address non-communicable diseases, to partnering with local health systems and/or governments on campaigns addressing major cardiovascular risk factors like hypertension, obesity and smoking, there was a clear mandate that the College work along-side its International Chapters in these efforts. In particular, it was noted that the ACC can play a leading role in helping develop country-specific models that spell out the costs of cardiovascular disease and the costs associated with doing nothing to prevent it.

With these clear mandates to move forward, our next steps will be to clearly define the questions that need to be answered, identify potential partners where appropriate, and carve out where we believe the College and its members can have the greatest amount of engagement and impact. Witnessing the passion to take on global cardiovascular health among AIG members, I have no doubt we will be able to accomplish these steps in a way that will leave a meaningful mark on the world.

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