This post was authored by ACC President Kim Allan Williams Sr., MD, FACC.

When it comes to diabetes education and support everyone has a role! As November kicks off Diabetes Awareness Month, it’s a good time to be mindful of the ACC tools and resources available to help you, as clinicians do your part to prevent and treat this disease that affects more than 30 million children and adults in the U.S. alone.

The Diabetes Collaborative Registry is one of the most exciting and ambitious new initiatives the College is involved in. In partnership with the Joslin Diabetes Center, American Diabetes Association, American Association of Clinical Endocrinologists and the American College of Physicians, our goal is to change the way diabetes is understood and treated. We feel strongly that by uniting primary care physicians, endocrinologists, cardiologists and other diabetes care providers we can make significant improvements in diabetes care and patient outcomes. Anyone can join the Diabetes Collaborative Registry for free. For practices already participating in the ACC’s PINNACLE Registry, the process is even easier and uses the same registry interface.

The College also has a growing number of tools focused on diabetes and cardiometabolic disease for clinicians and patients alike. CardioSmart resources to help patients with diabetes manage their disease include infographics, educational fact sheets, special patient fitness challenges and more. Additionally, a special online clinical topic collection on ACC.org features the latest news, expert commentary and clinical guidelines related to diabetes and cardiometabolic disease. Through its Cardiometabolic Initiatives, the ACC also continues to bring together stakeholders around how best to prevent and treat patients in most efficient and effective way possible.

Prevention and management of diabetes are important steps in our mission to transform cardiovascular care and improve heart health. Educating patients about the disease, as well as educating ourselves and our colleagues in other fields about best practices and available resources, is critical to our success. This November – and throughout the year – let’s be mindful of our role(s) in diabetes education and continue to make an impact on this disease, and heart disease in general.

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