Welcome to the Interventional Member Section on ACC.org! As the largest section within the College, our goal is to provide a forum for Interventional Cardiologists and the cardiovascular care team within the ACC, and to serve as a College-wide resource for issues in Interventional Cardiology including clinical practice, quality improvement, government and third party payer relationships, training, and continuing medical education.

The field of Interventional Cardiology is at a crossroads with tremendous growth in new areas, and challenges to the status quo. We are engaging with other specialties as part of the team approach to cardiovascular disease that requires new ways of thinking about training and practice.

Through section meetings, work groups and ongoing discussions, section members participate in an organized way and develop a collective voice to advance and advocate priorities as well as increase educational opportunities within the ACC that correspond both to the College's mission and the Section's objectives.

Current workgroups include:

1. Structural Heart Disease (SHD) and CV Team Work Group: This group has been focused on a variety of topics involving SHD including educational workshops on best practices for building a functional Heart Team. We are working with the Surgeon's Council, Imaging Council, Adult Congenital Heart Disease Council, Geriatric Council, Cardiovascular Team Council, and Heart Failure Council to coordinate our efforts and define a path forward for the discipline.
2. Disparities in Care for Patients with SHD Sub Work Group: This group is spearheading an effort to better understand disparities in care for minority patients with SHD, outlining potential biological differences and barriers to care.
3. Publications Work Group: The section has been quite active with publications spanning a variety of topics, including the following:
1. Aortic Valve Stenosis Treatment Disparities in the Underserved: Current Challenges and Potential Solutions (JACC Review Topic of the Week 2019)
2. Impact of New Guidelines of Unscheduled and Scheduled Sedation for Cardiologists (JACC Council Perspectives 2019)
3. The Implications of Acute Clinical Care Responsibilities on the Contemporary Practice of Interventional Cardiology (JACC: Cardiovascular Interventions 2019)
4. Interventional Section Handbooks: The section has been instrumental in developing handbooks for a variety of topics independently and in collaboration with other councils. These handbooks include Transcatheter Heart Valve, Endovascular Interventions, Coronary Interventions, and Mechanical Circulatory Support.
5. Acute Care Work Group: The responsibilities of the interventional cardiologist in contemporary practice include substantial acute care clinical duties outside of the cardiac catheterization laboratory. This work group examines the ways in which these responsibilities are influencing the way in which the field is evolving and implications for training and manpower needs.
6. CHIP Work Group, Cardiogenic Shock: This group is focused around the issues of complex high risk intervention and management of cardiogenic shock. Areas of focus include mechanical circulatory support, large bore access, and advanced interventional techniques. A number of manuscripts have resulted from this work.
7. Communications Work Group: The communications group is working on a revamp of the Interventional Section Website to provide new content of interest to the interventional community and to concentrate on leveraging social media for the dissemination of pertinent news for the discipline (#ACCIC).
8. Interventional Training Work Group: The focus of this group is understanding the current state of interventional training in the US and to examine manpower needs in the next decade. Inclusive in this work is examination of the additional issues of structural heart and peripheral vascular training.
9. Imaging Work Group: With increasing evidence that use of intravascular imaging leads to improve outcomes for our patients, this group is examining the issues that might serve as barriers to use including training and economic constraints.

I hope that you will join us in making this a vibrant Section of the College. Any and all ideas are welcome. The Section is YOUR opportunity to become engaged with the College within your interest area. Please contact Michael Phillips at mphillips@acc.org for all questions, comments, and to get involved.

Sincerely,

Wayne Batchelor, MD, MHS, FACC
Director of the Interventional Heart Program, Inova Health System