VIDEO: Heart Rhythm Society shows support for new cardiovascular board, outpatient EP centers

Heart Rhythm Society (HRS) President Kenneth Ellenbogen, MD, director of clinical cardiac electrophysiology and pacing with Virginia Commonwealth University, spoke to Cardiovascular Business about two key initiatives for 2024-25. One involves the ongoing efforts to create a new, independent cardiovascular medicine board, and the other is focused on the movement toward more outpatient procedures being performed in office-based labs (OBLs) and ambulatory surgical centers (ASCs).

HRS supporting efforts to create an independent cardiovascular board 

For more than 80 years, cardiovascular medicine has been grouped under the American Board of Internal Medicine (ABIM) for certification. However, cardiology has evolved significantly over the decades into a clearly defined medical specialty distinct from internal medicine. The effort to create the new board came about mainly because the ABIM testing requirements do not match up with specialized training and work of cardiologists.

"HRS is partnering with the American College of Cardiology, theAmerican Heart Association, and all the other sister subspecialty organizations to try to change recertification so it's not a multiple choice test in front of a computer screen where every single cardiologist who wants to recertify has to take the same test. That's crazy. We all do very different things. Let's take something that improves our ability to take care of patients, improves our competencies and works in the areas where we actually work to take care of patients," Ellenbogen said.