Chapter Event Update
May 21, 2009
Upcoming Events
May 29: Oregon STEMI Summit
May 30 – 31: Oregon Cardiovascular Symposium
May 30: Mississippi Chapter Meeting
June 4: Minnesota Chapter Meeting
June 5: Second Annual Cardiac Care Associate Symposium 2009
June 5 – 7: Alabama Chapter Meeting
June 19: Rhode Island Practice Administrator Coding Round Table
June 20: Iowa Chapter Meeting
Summary of Past Chapter Meetings and Activities
Arkansas Chapter Meeting
The Arkansas Chapter met on April 25, 2009 at the Embassy Suites in Little Rock to host an American Board of Internal Medicine (ABIM) Maintenance of Certification Learning Session. Twenty-two ACC members participated in the Cardiovascular Disease 2008 Update. Ralph J. Verdino, MD, FACC served as facilitator and is currently an Associate Professor of Medicine at University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine. James T. Dove, MD, M.A.C.C., Immediate Past President, ACC, provided an update of ACC activities to attendees. Dr. Dove noted that this was, “the best meeting that they (AR ACC) had ever had.” Chapter members ended with a lunch meeting and discussed how the chapter might better meet the needs of its members.
Georgia Practice Administrator Meeting
The Second Annual Practice Administrators Seminar was held May 7-8 at the Ritz Carlton Lodge at Lake Oconee in Greensboro, Georgia. The Seminar was combined with a meeting of the Chapter's Council and attended by 38 administrators and 18 physicians. There were also six vendors in attendance.The seminar featured outstanding presentations on such topics as practice consolidation and integration, operational effectiveness, PQRI & E-Prescribing and technology trends for the cardiology practice. The keynote presentation was delivered by ACC's IT Task Force member Dr. James Tcheng.
Following the President's Reception and Dinner, Donald Palmisano, legal council and legislative director for the Medical Association of Georgia discussed the outcomes of the recent legislative session.
Indiana Mission Lifeline
The Indiana Chapter-ACC and AHA partnered to conduct a highly successful Mission: Lifeline kickoff meeting in Indianapolis on April 23. Dr. Richard Kovacs, FACC, chaired the event that was attended by more than 100 cardiovascular providers from all regions of Indiana. The output from that meeting is being used to form workgroups that will tackle the issues facing EMS, STEMI-accepting and STEMI-referral hospitals, with a goal to provide door to balloon times of less than 90 minutes to all Hoosiers with STEMI.
Michigan Cardiology Fellows Society Spring Meeting
The 2009 Michigan Cardiology Fellows Society Spring Meeting received rave reviews. The half-day seminar featured "The Most Important Lecture of Your Career: Choices, Contracts, Negotiations" by Steven Almany, MD, FACC. Practice Administrator, Ruth Fisher, MBA, revealed national, regional and local trends and statistics and provided valuable advice on interviewing. A panel of cardiologists representing private practice, hospital-based practice, and private practice described their career paths and gave their "words of wisdom" to fellows who are embarking on their careers. The panel also included a fellow who recently passed the boards. He shared his strategy and advice on preparing for the boards. Chapter president Hank Rosman, MD, FACC, concluded the program by describing the College's Quality First campaign and how important it is for fellows to be active in the College's advocacy efforts.
Illinois Chapter Meeting
The Illinois Chapter of the American College of Cardiology (IL-ACC) held its sixth annual Practice Management Symposium on May 8, 2009, at the University Club in Chicago. This year's program focused on the adoption and implementation of Electronic Health Records (EHR). The chapter is pleased to report that it recorded its largest attendance to date. More than 100 people came to listen to national thought leaders and expert speakers, including: Janet Wright, M.D., F.A.C.C., Vice President of Quality and Science for the ACC; Michael Mirro, M.D., F.A.C.C., Board of Trustee Member of the ACC; Alyssa Ray, Executive Director, Certification Commission for Healthcare Information Technology; James Dove, M.D., F.A.C.C, Immediate Past President of the ACC; and many more. Numerous attendees commented on the outstanding program and valuable information that they were bringing back to their practice. The Illinois Chapter of ACC thanks the planning committee, faculty speakers, and sponsors for their support and contributions to this program. Planning has already begun for the 2010 Symposium.
Ohio-ACC: 2nd Annual CCA Cardiovascular Update
The Ohio-ACC convened its 2nd Annual CCA Cardiovascular Update on Wednesday, April 22, in Cleveland. Nearly 50 attendees participated, which is testimony to the success of both this program and the CCA membership category in Ohio. Ms. Melanie Gura and Dr. William Lewis were the course directors. Topics included cardiometabolic syndrome in cardiovascular disease; assessment of the ECG in a patient with an implantable device; pulmonary hypertension in heart failure; and peripheral vascular disease.
The CCA meeting segued into the 46th Annual Carl J. Wiggers Memorial Lecture, which began that evening with over 110 attendees. This year's guest lecturer was George A. Beller, MD, MACC, who spoke on Multimodality Imaging in Coronary Artery Disease. The reception prior to the lecture included a special Women in Cardiology Networking event. The networking was great for the female cardiologists in attendance, and we invited 8 NEOUCOM female medical students in the cardiology interest section -- they certainly enjoyed the networking and the lecture -- and gained further insight into potential cardiovascular careers.
Ohio Legislative Day
On May 5, the Ohio chapter held its second annual legislative day in Columbus. The event kicked off on May 4 with an attendee dinner that included two presentations from health care experts. The first was by Barbara Pryor of the Ohio Department of Health, who gave a sneak preview of the Department's forthcoming 157-page report entitled "The Burden of Heart Disease in Ohio." Also speaking was Tim Maglione, lobbyist for the Ohio State Medical Association (OSMA), who detailed the OSMA legislative agenda and provided input on three issues that the Ohio-ACC pursued at the lobby day: 1) A coordinated STEMI system for Ohio; 2) Ensuring there are no exemptions passed to the Smoke Free Ohio (SFO) law; and 3) Addressing legislation (HB 122/SB 98) that seeks to establish a physician ranking system for use by insurance companies. The 17 attending cardiovascular experts then met with nearly 50 legislators as well as staff for Lt. Governor Lee Perry. Photos and issue information can be seen at http://ohioacc.org/id46.html
Virginia Meeting
The 2009 VCACC Annual Meeting provided animated discussions, thought provoking topics and family fun at Kingsmill Resort in Williamsburg May 1-3. Our fellows-in-training kicked off the CME/CE on Saturday morning with a presentation on the clinical trials presented at ACC 09 then opened the floor for a lively debate amongst the membership that continued throughout the session topics. The chapter also debuted the Patient Center - a web portal for patients built by the chapter. This site will help patients become part of the advocacy debate on health care. All attendees were presented with cards to hand out to patients about the site. Families joined us every evening for fun and fellowship - making the meeting not only educational but enjoyable.
Janet Wright - Relevant topics delivered by excellent speakers
Pennsylvania Chapter: Cardiac Care Associates Educational Conference
On May 1, 2009, the Pennsylvania Chapter sponsored its first CCA Educational Conference in Hershey, Pennsylvania. We welcomed 50 attendees and 3 exhibit companies. The event kicked off with a Welcome Reception to meet and network with colleagues. Our excellent faculty presented on Atrial Fibrillation, Congestive Heart Failure, Lipidology, Acute Coronary Syndrome and Emotional Stressors and the Heart. Both CEUs and APA credits were awarded to the attendees.
Rhode Island Contracting 101 Meeting
A Rhode Island Attorney Zubiago met with a group of about 10 cardiology fellows, and provided his insight about wording of physician employment contracts, complete with written examples, caveats, pitfalls, and potential points of negotiation with employers derived from his own substantial experience. The meeting was highly interactive with many questions from the participants.