The American College of Cardiology: Your Professional Home
Prezi Companion Scripted Talking Points for Presenters
Visual
Talking Points
<Introduce yourself, thank attendees for coming or thank the hosts for inviting you>
Health care is undergoing significant and rapid change.
(note: the wording comes up in groups of three to minimize clicks)
Influx of Information from Various Sources
o Email and information overload
o Need for a centralized, trusted source of information for both patients and CV professionals.
Changing Patient Care Environment
o Growing number of patients with, or at risk of CV disease (Aging Baby Boom generation; Affordable Care Act
impacts)
o Transition away from fee-for-service to a care model that focuses on patient outcomes
o Greater focus on patient involvement in care decisions and treatment
Changing Practice Environment
o Care team members asked to take on expanded roles
o Continuing trend towards hospital integration
o Changing reimbursement models
Changing Education Requirements
o New MOC and CME requirements
o Performance Improvement (Data/Patient Outcomes Analysis)
o Time management struggle to meet more frequent demand

The ACC recognizes these changing times and the inherent opportunities that go along with them. We also recognize
the consequences associated with inaction.

As a result of these changes, the ACC’s role as the professional home for the entire cardiovascular care team is more
important than ever.

We are here for you no matter your specialty, where you are in your career, or where you are in the world.
<this is the entire environment of the prezi so that the audience can see where we are headed in the presentation>

The ACC represents the cardiovascular profession, spanning the entire care team.

We are an expanding network of cardiovascular professionals, all of whom have a shared commitment to transforming
cardiovascular care and improving heart health.

Our members are from around the entire globe.

We are a community of nearly 50,000 cardiovascular professionals, working together to advance cardiovascular
medicine, learn from each other, and ensure patients living with, or at risk of, heart disease have access to the care
they deserve.

Our constantly growing and diverse membership base is what makes us strong. When the ACC speaks, others listen.

Attaining ACC membership—and the FACC or AACC designation especially—is widely recognized as a professional
milestone that marks the end of a rigorous educational pathway.

Our membership represents 90 percent of Board Certified Cardiologists in the US.

We represent 85 percent of practicing cardiologists overall and a growing number of nurses, nurse practitioners,
pharmacists, CV technicians, CV administrators and other members of the care team.

Health care is a team sport, and today's health care challenges are making it even more so.

Our membership structure is built to mimic the team-based care model.

With all members of the care team present, we ensure all perspectives are heard as we work together to improve
patient care and move the ACC—and cardiovascular care—forward.

Our members are engaged and happy to be a part of the ACC and find tremendous value in our offerings.

We have overwhelming satisfaction among membership, with the majority of members (8 out of 10) recommending
membership to their peers.

With more than 80 Chapters worldwide – including Chapters representing every state in the U.S., plus Washington, DC,
and Puerto Rico – the ACC is on the ground where you live and work.

ACC Chapters offer even opportunities for localized education, networking with peers, career and leadership
advancement, collaboration on important local health policies and issues, and more!

By getting involved in your local Chapter, you can:
- Take advantage of local clinical education opportunities
- Be on the ground floor of quality care initiatives
- Influence local legislative and regulatory efforts affecting your practice and your patients

We help you connect the voice of your community within the larger house of cardiology.

The College’s unique member sections make it easier for you to connect, learn and grow with members in your specific
clinical area(s) of interest.

Over the past five years, the ACC has grown from just 3 member sections to over 16 in order to meet the needs of
members.

Sections, segments and councils include (but are not limited to):
- Academic cardiology
- Cardiovascular imaging
- Early career
- Federal
- Geriatric
- Interventional
- Peripheral Vascular Disease
- Sports and Exercise Cardiology
- Women in Cardiology
Adult congenital and pediatric cardiology
CV team
Electrophysiology
FIT
Heart failure and transplant
International
Prevention
Surgeons
<back to the main screen before you move on to the next hub>

We have designed our organization to work for you – to make your professional life and the lives of your patients better
through resources, tools, programs, education, and more.

The Man Helping Man statue, which sits outside ACC’s “Heart House” headquarters in Washington, DC, symbolizes
ACC’s mission and purpose – and the noble profession we all have chosen. It is also representative of our commitment
to you – our members. (Note: Man Helping Man was donated by Past President Dr. Dreifus.)

We are committed to your success. So how do we show that commitment?

The College is here for you whenever you need us – from the very early stages of cardiovascular training through
retirement.

Securing the future of cardiology is a major strategic priority. The ACC is committed to developing resources and tools
to help members face the unique set of challenges associated with the transition to full-time practice. Some key
programs and tools include:
o Help finding a mentor
o Specialized programs and Sections to support Early Career Growth
o Education to help you find answers on topics you don’t cover in your training
o Leadership training
o
Research awards / scholarships
Throughout your career, we provide you with:
o
Outcomes data to help you make better care decisions for your patients;
o
Tools to help you navigate changes in the field, such as MOC requirements, reimbursement models and
federal requirements.
o
Information to help you adapt to an expanded role within your practice
o
Specialized programs and print and digital communications tied to your interests and/or where you are in your
career.
As you become a more seasoned professional, or even approach retirement, we provide:
o Opportunities to be a mentor
o Opportunities to participate in College Leadership
o Expert Faculty Opportunities
o Emeritus member benefits

As a cardiovascular professional, you’re busy and always on the go.

We are here wherever you need us: on the go, online, at the patient’s bedside, and in a city near you.

Our offerings and tools aren’t one size fits all.

We diversify our offerings to ensure you’re able to get the support you need wherever you need us, in the method you
learn best.
ACC Offerings:
- Digitally—The ACC’s new website, ACC.org, is designed to bring a focused, in-depth and personalized to your online
experience. It will be optimized for mobile devices and provided easy, streamlined access to the trusted content you
expect from the ACC. (NOTE: members who update their profiles online will receive the most pertinent information—
the more we know about you, the better we can serve you)
- Mobile applications for use at the point-of-care (ex: CardioSmart Heart Explorer; Anticoag Evaluator, ACC Connect and
coming soon clinical guidelines apps.
- Email Newsletters
- Social media
- In-person with educational events/networking/connections
- Many more!

The ACC has developed a suite of tools and resources to support you in any aspect of your practice – from the clinical
side of cardiology, to the business side of practice ownership and management.

We understand the growing demands on CV professionals.

In this environment, we know that the best way to stay on top of things is to surround yourself with those who can assist
you and arm yourself with tools to conquer the new environment.
<back to the main screen before the next hub>

From JACC journals to clinical guidelines, ACC’s resources help our members stay at the forefront of their profession
CLINICALLY.

JACC journals: JACC is consistently rated the number one benefit of ACC membership. It is also the most highly cited
and influential cardiovascular journal in the world.

The ACC, working with the American Heart Association, has been developing clinical guidelines for the last 30 years.

Guidelines, coupled with Appropriate Use Criteria and other clinical documents ensure members are providing the most
appropriate, up-to-date, evidence-based patient care.

Robust, personalized online home (ACC.org) will include more than 20 clinical topic hubs containing the latest news,
expert commentary and educational offerings broken down by topic.

The ACC delivers the very best cardiovascular knowledge through its clinical educational offerings spanning 13 clinical
pathways.

From live courses to convenient digital content, self-assessment tools, audio products and educational accreditation
(MOC/CME), to the Annual Scientific Sessions and other live educational courses held throughout the year, the ACC
offers education tailored to the needs of every clinician.

Our education is built with one purpose in mind: to provide you support where you need it most.

With the ABIM’s changing certification requirements, the ACC has responded!

The ACC has been providing its members with navigation tools, free access to web-based MOC modules offering Part
II credit, and expanding Part IV MOC modules through ACC programs like our inpatient NCDR and PINNACLE
registries. The College is also working closely with ABIM to provide member feedback and facilitate important changes
to improve the process.

Our commitment to quality begins with our mission and trickles down through our programs and resources for
members.

These resources, ranging from specialized quality programs to mobile tools for use at the point of care, help
cardiovascular professionals bridge the gaps between science and practice

They also help ensure patient access to high-quality, appropriate and cost-effective care.

Some of these include:
CardioSmart patient resources (point of care apps, fact sheets, tools and trackers)
Quality programs for both hospitals and individuals (Quality Improvement for Institutions, Imaging in FOCUS,
Patient Navigator, Anticoagulation Initiative, LDL: Address the Risk, Surviving MI, Cardiometabolic Health Alliance,
Hospital to Home, Door to Balloon Alliance, and more!)
NCDR (The College is leading a number of efforts to leverage its 7 NCDR programs (6 hospital based and 1
ambulatory) to track and assess quality of care and outcomes associated with certain populations of patients with
cardiovascular disease in the United States and internationally. In addition, the ACC is using its registry data to
perform cutting-edge health outcomes research and identify gaps in cardiovascular care. The PINNACLE Registry is
also helping to generate meaningful clinical research and patient participation in clinical trials through the PINNACLE
Registry Research Alliance.)
<back to the main screen before the next hub>

We understand that the landscape of practices is changing and that the roles of cardiovascular professionals are
changing along it.

We have a robust set of offerings to help our members manage that constant practice change – and impact their
profession at a local and national level.

We help our members manage the BUSINESS side of cardiology, in the areas of Advocacy, Data, Finance, Workforce,
and Leadership.

Physicians are no longer solely health care practitioners. The market requires more of our members – to be up-to-date
on the business side of medicine.

Courses like ACC’s annual CV Summit offer sessions on better managing practice finances – including learning how to
create margins and manage practice profitability, how payment systems and the future of practice finance will affect
physicians, understanding new compensation models, how to handle contract negotiation and renegotiation, and much
more.

ACC Advocacy seeks to advance the College’s mission through interactions with Congress, federal government
agencies, state legislative and regulatory bodies, private insurers and other policy making groups.
We help our members and their patients by providing:
- Advocacy for patients around evidence based care, coverage policies, access to care, imaging
We help advocate for the CV care team through:
- Payment advocacy
- Medical liability reform
We advocate for the future of CV medicine through:
- Prevention
- Research
- GME funding
- System improvements
The ACC encourages Congress to further enable the development of a quality driven health care system in the following
ways:



Federal investment in the creation and development of clinical data registries while ensuring relevant medical
specialty society governance and oversight
Continued federal incentives to encourage the use of clinical data registries
Federal efforts to incentivize the expansion and application of AUC and practice guidelines for the performance of
diagnostic tests and procedures
The ACC urges Congress to facilitate practice stability by doing the following:
 Permanently repeal the sustainable growth rate formula (SGR) and replace the Medicare physician payment system
with one that incentivizes the delivery of quality care for patients in every setting
 Preserve the In-Office Ancillary Services Exception (IOASE) which recognizes that a referral within a group practice
promotes continuity of care in a setting that is best for the patient
 Continue to promote and incentivize the use of electronic health records with an emphasis on interoperability
 Enact medical liability reforms that guarantee the protection of patients, improve provider-patient communications,
and promote affordable and accessible liability protection, while adhering to successful reform efforts already in place
at the state level
The ACC encourages Congress to help secure the future of cardiology by supporting:
 Appropriation of $3.2 billion for the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute (NHLBI) for FY 2015 and adequate
funding for the CDC and other research entities
 Continued funding and support for HHS’ Million Hearts Initiative to prevent 1 million heart attacks and strokes by
2017
 Streamlined processes for developing and deploying new and innovative therapies while protecting patient safety
 Preservation of existing funding for Graduate Medical Education (GME) programs
You can get involved in ACC advocacy by:
- Hosting a legislator practice visit
- Attending the ACC’s annual legislative conference
- Contributing to the ACCPAC (US members only)
(Our Political Action Committee is ranked among the top 10 medical specialty PACs in the US and surpassed 1M in voluntary
individual contributions. Nearly 100 percent of Board of Governors and Board of Trustees contribute to ACCPAC)

Data, information and the development of knowledge play a significant role in both education and care
transformation and, as such, must be woven into all of the ACC’s efforts in order to accomplish the College’s mission.

The ACC is a trusted source of cardiovascular data collection, aggregation and reporting.

The ACC’s suite of data registries help cardiovascular professionals measure and improve the quality of cardiovascular
care they provide.

Six hospital-based registries (CathPCI Registry, PVI Registry, ACTION-GWTG Registry, IMPACT Registry, ICD
Registry, STS/ACC TVT Registry; 1 outpatient registry (PINNACLE Registry). The ACC is also partnering with the
American Diabetes Association, American College of Physicians and the Joslin Clinic on the Diabetes Collaborative
Registry.

Over 18 million patient records worldwide

The ACC is partnering to pursue global CV related objectives in order to address the CV health of populations – and
help members make improvements in the health of those groups.

We encourage team-facilitated patient education.

We have a suite of patient tools via CardioSmart.

We support a system that focuses on value over volume.

We encourage the use of shared-decision making in care.

We advocate at the state and national lever for health policies, such as pulse oximetry screening for newborns and
smoke-free laws, that will improve the health of populations.

The ACC is helping members respond to changes in their roles and in shifts and changes within the workforce.

Regular webinars help to prepare members for expanded or changing roles they’ve been asked to take on with
hospital-practice integrations and consolidations and changing practice models.

Beyond that, the ACC is working to address other challenges and shifts within workforce:
The ACC’s Women in Cardiology Member Section works to address the gender gap in the cardiovascular workforce,
by creating and nurturing programs that encourage female physicians to enter the cardiovascular workforce
Continuing conversations surrounding how to address workforce issues including the supply and demand gap for
cardiovascular specialists—especially in rural areas that result in disparities in care.

We help physicians learn how to appropriately use members of the entire CV care team.

To meet these challenges and more, the ACC is dependent upon member leaders to drive the College and the
profession forward.

ACC leaders challenge norms. And they make an impact.

Everyday members can be leaders in many ways.

Members can begin to grow their leadership expertise for their own practices – or for use within ACC governance.
Here are some opportunities:
-
Getting involved in an ACC Member Section: from contributing to white papers, participating on a committee or
working group to working your way up to Member Section Leadership Council Chairmanship
-
Getting involved in your Local Chapter: from volunteering to work on a local chapter initiative, organize an event or
speaking at a local course, to working your way up the leadership structure to Chapter Governor
-
Volunteering your services for a national committee or work group to help move the College forward on a specific
initiative
-
Becoming a mentor to the next generation of CV professionals (or tapping into the wisdom of a mentor to grow
professionally)
-
Getting involved and meeting with legislators during a lobby day or the annual legislative conference to advocate for
our profession
-
Applying for national leadership on the Board of Trustees

The College has a proven 65-year history of leading the way in cardiovascular education, research and quality
improvement.

Today the ACC continues to be recognized as the voice of the cardiovascular profession and as a leading advocate for
quality cardiovascular care.

It wasn’t just our founders or early College leaders who “built” us.

We are continually being constructed, shaped, molded based on the changing health care landscape, the needs and
wants of our members.

You planted the seed and have laid the groundwork for the many successful programs and initiatives that have come
out of the ACC for the past 65 years.

You are our architects.

The College is constantly striving to find new ways to support you in your goals to provide only the best patient care
and to reduce the burden of cardiovascular disease.

Ensuring member value is a strategic priority for the College both now and looking to the future.

You help us evolve and move forward.

You influence the ACC’s activities and steer the College’s direction.

By participating in a committee, council or section—or by getting involved in your chapter or with ACC national—you
help the College to generate support systems that help make your professional life-and the lives of your patients-better.
Recently, members are helping the ACC:
-
Develop a digital strategy that leverages new technologies and includes the launch of a new ACC.org later this year
-
Best communicate with and meet the needs of the next generation of cardiovascular professionals. This includes the
launch of a new Mentoring Program to connect mentors and mentees with similar interests to one another in real time
-
Develop and launch online and live programs that provide members with education, self-assessment and networking
opportunities (ECCOA, new SAPs)
-
Forge partnerships to help members save money where they need it
-
Generate a resource to help members find research funding faster and more efficiently
-
….and much, much more!

The ACC exists because of our members who believe in the power of community, mission-focus and professional
growth to make a difference for our profession and most importantly, for patient care.

You are the ACC.

You work every day to fulfill the great vision of our founders.

As founder Franz Groedel said “we will meet the future not merely by dreams, but by concerted action and
unextinguishable enthusiasm.”

If you aren’t a member, we’d love to have you as part of our community.

If you are already a member, take the next step of involvement and join a section, or get more involved in your local
Chapter.

Attend our events. Network. Connect with peers and mentors. Learn.

You make the ACC what it is today – and your ACC works for you.

Thank you so much for your time today.

Please let me know if you have any questions about the ACC!