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The Pulse of ACC | New SAPs released; MOC Update; and More
New SAPs released; MOC Update; and More.
A "Catalyst" for Innovation
With Denver, CO, increasingly recognized as a hub for health care innovation, the ACC is excited to join Catalyst Health Technology Integrator (HTI), a full-city-block development that brings together stakeholders from across the health, wellness and health care industries to accelerate innovation in the health care space.
The ACC joins more than 50 technology companies, hospitals and health care organizations, innovative startups and academic institutions. Others on the list: Kaiser Permanente, Prime Health, Hitachi Consulting, the American Heart Association, University of Colorado Innovations, and Allscripts, to name a few. Recent ACC technology partners in innovation, like AngelMD and cliexa, are also part of the Catalyst HTI family.
"Joining Catalyst HTI is a major move for the ACC and part of our strong commitment to innovation," says ACC CEO Timothy Attebery, DSc, MBA, FACHE. "We are excited about the opportunity to explore the new frontiers of health care in collaboration with some of our existing cardiovascular and innovation partners, as well as other advocacy organizations, startups, medical schools and global technology companies."
The ACC Innovation office in Catalyst HTI will be home base for ACC Chief Innovation Officer John Rumsfeld, MD, PhD, FACC. "Catalyst HTI's goal to bring stakeholders together to create, develop, refine and bring to market cutting-edge health care innovations is in line with the ACC's mission to transform cardiovascular care and improve heart health," says Rumsfeld. "This further advances the ACC's position on the front lines of innovation."
Breaking Down Barriers to Leadership
Between 2008 and 2017, presidential leadership at physician-led medical societies was held predominantly by men, according to a recent research letter published in JAMA Internal Medicine. Data showed men served as presidents in 82.6 percent of years compared with women who served in 17.4 percent of years.
"Society leadership has a role in academic advancement, and leaders may exert considerable influence on their organizations and specialties," wrote Julie K. Silver, MD, et al. "We suspect that barriers to equitable representation of women within societies may have affected women's ability to ascend to presidential leadership."
The ACC's presidential leadership has been predominantly male over its 70-year history, with only three women having served as president to date. However, a dedicated group of members are working to change this paradigm. ACC's Diversity and Inclusion Task Force Chair Pamela S. Douglas, MD, MACC, who served as ACC's second woman president from 2005-2006, notes that diversity of leadership is a priority of the ACC and leadership development is an essential part of the College's diversity initiative.
Already the College is seeing change, with Athena Poppas, MD, FACC, assuming the role of ACC Vice President in March, putting her in line to be the second woman president in a span of four years. Mary Norine Walsh, MD, MACC, served as president from 2017-2108. "We look forward to a time when diversity and inclusion are fully imbedded in our culture and the success of other societies around the globe, and when we will no longer need to 'count,'" says Douglas.
The Latest With MOC
ACC President C. Michael Valentine, MD, FACC, SCAI President David A. Cox, MD, MSCAI, FACC, HRS President Thomas F. Deering, MD, FHRS, FACC, and HFSA President Randall C. Starling, MD, FACC, provide guidance to cardiovascular professionals seeking to navigate Maintenance of Certification (MOC) in 2019 and beyond as part of a joint Leadership Page published in the Journal of the American College of Cardiology.
They provide an overview of the American Board of Internal Medicine's "Knowledge Check-In" option as an alternative to the traditional 10-year exam and outlines a third option known as the Collaborative Maintenance Pathway that ABIM and the ACC (with the strong collaboration of SCAI, HRS and HFSA) have initiated with the purpose of marrying the concept of lifelong learning to the assessment requirement of MOC.
Meanwhile, the ACC recently responded to a request for public comment on continuing board education from the Vision for the Future Commission.
The letter includes 15 specific recommendations based on the following general principles:
- continuing certification should constitute an integrated program with standards for lifelong learning and assessment
- patients are best served by physicians participating in a formative, not summative, maintenance of certification process
- the MOC process should limit its scope to medical knowledge of patient care and not practice improvements or other areas outside this scope; and
- the cost of the MOC process, including time away from practice, remains an issue for physicians.
The Commission will submit its final report to the American Board of Medical Specialties this month.
New Versions of ACCSAP, CathSAP and EPSAP Just Released
The College has released three brand new self-assessment programs: ACCSAP, CathSAP, developed in collaboration with the Society for Cardiovascular Angiography and Interventions, and EP SAP, developed in collaboration with the Heart Rhythm Society.
Users will now get five years of access and all three products have moved to a continuous update model, with new science and guidelines added yearly.
Each product includes learning material and practice questions that offer both CME credit and MOC Medical Knowledge points. Plus, ECME credit and Canadian MOC credit are now available for users outside the U.S.
Keywords: ACC Publications, Cardiology Magazine, American Heart Association, Leadership, Health Care Sector, Schools, Medical, Self-Assessment, Goals, Specialty Boards, Societies, Medical, Certification, Patient Care, Biomedical Technology, Coronary Angiography
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