NEW ORLEANS--American College of Cardiology (ACC) President Ralph Brindis, MD, MPH, sits down with Cardiovascular Business to discuss how cardiovascular providers will need to embrace appropriate use criteria, as well as better collection and reporting of their data, in order to demonstrate improvement in the quality of care within clinical practice. The discussion took place at the annual ACC scientific sessions.

NEW ORLEANSAmerican College of Cardiology (ACC) CEO Jack Lewin advised the cardiology community to begin preparing for a move away from the current fee-for-service model of the U.S. healthcare system during a presentation April 2 at the 60th annual ACC conference.

Despite the fact that 80 percent of all heart failure (HF) cases affect patients over the age of 65, elderly patients go underrepresented in ongoing clinical trials evaluating the condition, according to an analysis published in the March 28 issue of the Archives of Internal Medicine.

Sunday, April 5, 12:30-1:45 PM

In the 17 most recently published American College of Cardiology/American Heart Association clinical practice guidelines, conflict of interest (COI) reporting was prevalent but varied. However, the report, published in the March 28 issue of the Archives of Internal Medicine, suggests that there may be a large number of potential expert writers and reviewers with guideline writing experience that do not have COIs.

It can be difficult for cardiologists to adequately manage their practices when the state of reimbursement is either in flux or in a downward spiral. Earlier this month, the CMS received a recommendation from one of its advisory panels to boost payment to physicians and and hospital by 1 percent. While that might not seem like much, it could be a harbinger of things to come.

On March 10, the American College of Cardiology (ACC), along with more than 130 U.S. medical organizations and societies, sent letters to the House of Representatives and the Senate urging lawmakers to replace the flawed sustainable growth formula (SGR) with a workable system that keeps pace with practice costs and ensures high-quality care.

In 1625, an Italian physician measured body temperature by applying a numerical scale to his thermoscope. From that primitive thermometer to todays highly sophisticated surgical, portable and wireless telemetry monitors, patient surveillance has grown into a multi-billion-dollar industry. But the technology is only as good as the professionals who respond to them.