I was honored along with several other cardiovascular team members to be invited to attend ACC's 2017 Managing CVD Risk in Diabetes Roundtable held on Tuesday, June 20 at ACC's Heart House in Washington, DC.

The purpose of the roundtable was to "explore the recent trial evidence for new antidiabetic drugs, their demonstrated improved cardiovascular outcomes and what that means for the cardiology community." The U.S. Food and Drug Administration recently approved an indication allowing the pharmaceutical makers of empagliflozin and liraglutide to add an indication to these medications that state they reduce cardiovascular death is some patients. Therefore, the ACC assembled a diverse group of multidisciplinary experts from many different stakeholder organizations – such as the ACC, the American Diabetes Association, American Heart Association, American Associations of Family Physicians, and the American Association of Nurse Practitioners – to review the evidence and discuss what it means for cardiology practitioners.

Many of the participants did express the opinion that these medications should be an option the cardiovascular practitioner could use when planning optimal care for patients with diabetes. The members participated in roundtable discussions and at the end of day compiled a list of action plans to transform "diabetes management from HbA1c centricity to comprehensive cardiovascular disease risk reduction." Among the suggestions were to design algorithms, treat using a team-based approach and develop an expert consensus document. Stay tuned to ACC's news and journals as the outcomes of this exciting meeting will be forthcoming soon.

This article was authored by Deborah S. Croy, DNP, RN, ANP-BC, AACC, chair of the CV Team Section's Communication Committee.