You're in all Blogs Section

From the President: MASA Governmental Affairs Conference Summary

Posted on February 9, 2012 by admin — No Comments ↓

Dear Colleagues,

President-Elect Steven Lloyd and I have just returned from the Medical Association of the State of Alabama (MASA) Governmental Affairs Conference. This is an annual event much like the ACC Legislative Conference but this conference deals with issues relevant to all areas of medicine rather than the practice of cardiology alone. The conference allowed the attendees a day of advocacy education followed by time on Capitol Hill where we as a group met with both our Senators and individually with our respective Congressmen. The event began with a President’s Council Meeting where all the society presidents were able to interact and our MASA lobbyists brought us up to speed on the issues relevant to the practice of medicine currently before the state legislature. Fortunately, there are no specific issues directly relative to the practice of cardiology being addressed by the Alabama legislature at this time. The two major issues of concern overall for the practice of medicine in Alabama currently relate to the scope of practice for physical therapists and the generation of unintended consequences for our obstetrical colleagues due to the recent passage of abortion laws. The latter issue deals with the fact that even an emergent life saving procedure for an ectopic pregnancy is labeled an “abortion” under the current Alabama law and has to be reported as such.

There are several national issues with pending bills that were discussed during our day of education and then brought to the attention of our Senators and Congressmen. I will discuss them separately:

1. SGR – this of course was the number one priority. The latest “patch” will end later this month and will result in a 27% cut in reimbursement if not addressed by Congress. The overall impression Dr. Lloyd and I received is that the SGR will be “patched” again but the new “patch” will be effective only through the end of this year. The consensus is that little of major consequence will be done this year due to the fact that it is an election year. Congress will continue to “kick this can down the road” for the foreseeable future.

2. Medicare Empowerment Act – this is addressed by H.R. 1700 and S.B. 1042. The crux of this issue is that the bills would allow Medicare patients and their physician to enter into private contracts without penalty. This would enable the physician to bill over and above what Medicare allows – a concept which currently is illegal. The passage of one of these bills into law would immediately increase the number of physicians who will continue to accept Medicare and preserve Medicare as patient-centered care for elderly and disabled patients.

3. ICD-10 – the newest update of the ICD codes will increase the number of codes from 14,000 to over 65,000. This would be extremely challenging to institute with physicians already dealing with the rigors of EHR, Meaningful Use, and the always busy practice of medicine. The members of MASA in attendance requested that Congress seek a ruling from HHS and CMS to halt implementation before 10/1/12 and for our Congressional delegation to support legislation to stop ICD-10 when such legislation becomes available.

4. IPAB – the Independent Payment Advisory Board is the most onerous portion of the Affordable Care Act and would allow a panel of non-physicians to arbitrarily reduce physician reimbursement without Congressional oversight. This would become effective on 1/1/14 and the changes made by the IPAB could not be challenged in court. The MASA members in attendance requested a commitment from our delegation to support the repeal of the IPAB.

5. Federal Medical Liability Reform – this issue is addressed by H.R. 5 and S.B. 1099. It is well recognized that the Alabama Medical Liability Act of 1987 is one of the strongest medical liability laws in the nation and is uniformly seen as a group of six statutes that tilts in the favor of physicians over plaintiff lawyers. It has been requested that Congress pass legislation that sets reasonable statutes of limitations and puts limits on non-economic damages in medical liability suits. It was made clear that any federal medical liability reforms should not conflict with current state liability laws in place in the individual states. There is actually some movement toward this in Congress for the first time ever that I am aware of.

6. Affordable Care Act (ACA) – MASA opposes the ACA because it is felt that “it did not make the kinds of meaningful reforms necessary to increase quality and reduce cost.” The U.S. Supreme Court is set to begin hearing the lawsuit against the ACA in March and will likely issue a ruling on the constitutionality of the law by mid-summer.

The Alabama Congressional delegation was very supportive of the requests by the MASA membership and shared our concerns about the SGR and the IPAB in particular. They clearly understand the ramifications of these untenable laws on their constituents. “Patient access to care” is a phrase that is well received by our elected leaders from Alabama and they share our concern about the continued decrease in the number of physicians in Alabama who will accept new Medicare patients.

Please do not hesitate to email or call Dr. Lloyd or me if you have any concerns relative to these issues. I continue to urge all of you to be politically active in your Congressional district. Advocacy will play a critical role in shaping the practice of medicine in the upcoming years – let us do our part to shape it in a way that best serves our patients in this Great State of Alabama.

Phillip L. Laney, MD, FACC
President, Alabama Chapter of the American College of Cardiology

Posted in From the President
You're in all Blogs Section

Your Membership is Critical–Please Support the CV Care Team

Posted on December 8, 2011 by admin — No Comments ↓

Dear CCA Member :

There has never been a more exciting time to be a member of the ACC.  Each year there more opportunities for involvement and inclusion in the work of the College, in the promotion of patient-centered cardiovascular care; keeping pace with research and practice; and in taking advantage of  renowned educational programs and products.  Your support is critical so that we can continue to grow our membership and influence within the College.

To bring your membership up to date, you need only pay your 2012 CCA membership dues. You can renew online at www.cardiosource.org/dues.  Your ACC User Name = your email address, and Password = your ACC record number or if you had customized it, the password you entered.  If you experience difficulty renewing online or have questions about your membership status, please contact the ACC Resource Center at (800) 253-4636, ext. 5603, Monday-Friday,8 a.m. – 6 p.m., EST.

Your membership support allowed the Cardiovascular Team Council & Section to accomplish many objectives that continue to benefit the CCA community, including:

  • Establishment of the Cardiovascular Team Council – Advisory council to the ACC’s Board of Trustees on issues affecting our practice.
  • Launch of the Cardiovascular Team Section in 2010; providing CCAs with significantly increased opportunities to gain experience leading working groups and participating in initiatives that address the specific career and professional needs of CCAs.
  • The Associate of theAmericanCollegeof Cardiology (A.A.C.C.) professional designation – developed specifically for cardiovascular nurses, physician assistants and clinical pharmacists.  AACC designees are recognized, along with Fellows of the ACC, during Convocation at the Annual Scientific Session.
  • Appointment of first nurse to the ACC’s Board of Trustees – Eileen Handberg, Ph.D., A.R.N.P., F.A.C.C.
  • Workshops co-sponsored by the ACC’s Cardiovascular Leadership Institute, including a session on nurse-lead, collegial research at ACC.12 and a session on health policy specifically for care team members with speakers from AANP and AAPA.
  • Inclusion of CCA researchers in the ACC’s Young Investigators Awards Program.
  • CCA-authored response to theInstituteofMedicine’s Future of Nursing Consensus Report.
And remember, membership includes an online subscription to the JACC journals, full-access to clinical content on CardioSource.org, education discounts, and a special registration rate for the Annual Scientific Sessions.  Member savings and discounts for Cardiac Care Associate membership is over $1,300!

Please let me know if your have questions or if I may be of further assistance.  And, please renew your membership now!

Sincerely,
Summer B. Langston, DNP, ACNP-BC, CRNP
Alabama ACC CCA Representative

Posted in Membership
You're in all Blogs Section

ALACC Blue Cross Blue Shield Update

Posted on October 5, 2011 by admin — No Comments ↓

The ALACC BCBS Committee had the opportunity to sit down for a two hour dialogue with several representatives of BCBS on September the 26th. The discussion was cordial, educational, and candid. The goal from the standpoint of the committee is to foster a relationship with BCBS over time that will allow the ALACC to have input in some of the policies that will be implemented in the future. There will be value based incentive programs for cardiologists in the future and we want to be able to have a role in shaping those programs. It is not legal for us to specifically discuss fees per se and thus the focus of the discussions has to be in the areas of adding value to patient care, controlling health care costs so that BCBS can continue with a stable business model that allows for fair reimbursement to health care providers, and formulating new reimbursement methods that reward sustained quality care and overall excellence in the practice of medicine. It has always been my belief that if BCBS knows and trusts our leadership that they will be less likely to leave us out of any discussions where our input would be useful. I realize the recent cuts in myocardial perfusion imaging were nothing short of draconian and stated as much in those exact words. It was quickly pointed out however that the BCBS fee schedule is still quite favorable as compared to the vast majority of private payors throughout the country – a fact that cannot be denied. Please find the following brief summary of the major topics that were discussed:

Myocardial SPECT imaging reimbursement – the history of this was discussed at length during our meeting. The original concept of bundling all three components was based on a nationwide trend that BCBS followed. The original reimbursement was based on adding the three individual amounts of payment together. BCBS looked at this and realized that their reimbursement amount was substantially higher than the rest of the country for this CPT code. The reimbursement was just over 450% of Medicare reimbursement and the stated goal of BCBS is to be at roughly 200% of Medicare for most of their reimbursement amounts over time. It was felt that to decrease the reimbursement by this amount would be too drastic and thus the current amount of approximately 300% of Medicare was set. It would seem that over time imaging may be in for more changes in reimbursement based on this concept. Clearly, there has been an increase in cardiac nuclear imaging over the past few years but the ALACC contingent pointed out that the numbers in cardiology practices have been relatively stable and we believe that a significant amount of the proliferation is due to the use of non-accredited mobile labs operated by non-cardiologists. We continue to urge BCBS to consider more rigorous standards for reimbursement to cardiac imaging labs with the stated belief that this will limit the number of poor quality studies that often do not meet the ACC’s Appropriate Use Criteria (AUC) for performance of the test. Various concepts were discussed with the largest barrier being recognized as the difficulty in implementing this concept and the desire of BCBS to avoid limiting the scope of practice of a physician based on their given area of expertise. One obvious area that we suggested be explored is the requirement of accreditation of the imaging facility, since obtaining accreditation demonstrates a commitment to quality, safety, and reliability; this alone may significantly limit the mobile lab proliferation.  I am concerned that over time BCBS may require more onerous precertification of nuclear testing with radiology benefits managers (such as CareCore) which would unnecessarily delay appropriate testing of our patients. I am hopeful that a proactive stance encouraging both point of care use of the AUC and reimbursement of only accredited nuclear labs will allow BCBS to avoid further sharp cuts in reimbursement for the appropriate imaging of our patients in the future.

Coronary CTA Restrictions – it was pointed out that coronary CTA has a higher sensitivity for the detection of coronary artery disease as compared to myocardial SPECT imaging yet BCBS makes it much more difficult to utilize this study when indicated. Personal experience of ALACC members has shown that smoking and the diagnosis of diabetes often results in denials for coronary CTA imaging due to the patient being classified “high risk where catheterization should the evaluation of choice” even in cases where clearly an invasive procedure was not in the patient’s best clinical interest. The BCBS members in attendance pointed out that BCBS’s direct instructions to CareCore were “to follow ACC criteria for approving or denying the study” and there may be a problem with the implementation of this concept. BCBS will review this issue and address it. A second issue is the coverage of coronary calcium scoring. BCBS has determined that this procedure should not be covered when used as a general screening tool. However, many CCT users will perform a calcium score prior to administering IV iodinated contrast in order to determine if patients have a very high calcium score which may limit the diagnostic value of a contrast enhanced CT angiogram, and elect (properly) to not perform the CTA on those patients. BCBS has not covered the calcium score on these patients but is open to further discussion since this calcium score procedure requires definite work for the provider plus actually saves BCBS money as compared to paying for a CTA which may yield nondiagnostic results. The Chapter will continue to follow up with BCBS on this issue.

CRNP Reimbursement – BCBS agreed with the value of our CCA membership and recognizes the important role they play in the care of our patients. BCBS pays for these services but points out that numerous companies self-insure and may choose to exclude payment to physician extenders. This is the choice of the individual company and this issue should be addressed to those specific companies. One of the larger examples of this is PEEHIP which covers the active and retired education employees in our state.

Chantix – one of our council members asked that we address insurance coverage for this medication. BCBS recognizes the benefit of this medication and covers it. However, many companies that contract with BCBS for their health insurance subcontract with other non-BCBS drug plans which do not cover this medication. This is the choice again of the individual company and is not the decision of BCBS.

Quality Incentives – it was brought to my attention that BCBS is already offering a 5% incentive to primary care providers for using services such as electronic billing, maintenance of board certification, providing call coverage, and documentation of generic drug utilization. BCBS has been upfront in their desire to find methods to more adequately compensate primary care providers who are struggling in today’s difficult environment. It is the stated hope of BCBS that this might lead to a decline in some of the alternative ways many primary care providers have utilized to supplement their income. These incentives are not available to any providers outside of primary care at this time but BCBS assured us that it will extend this opportunity to the subspecialists in the future. The continued open line of communication between BCBS and the ALACC will be critical to insure that the incentives chosen are ones we as a specialty society agree are reasonable, add value to our practice, and promote the delivery of quality care to our patients.

BCBS has been, and is very likely to remain, the dominant provider in our state. They will continue to feel the dual pressure of declining enrollment and the upcoming mandates set forth by the Affordable Care Act. We believe this affords a unique opportunity for mutually beneficial interaction between BCBS and our Chapter. We are pleased that they are willing to work with us, and other physician groups, to try and improve the quality of care while at the same time keeping rising costs under control. Our goals and objectives should be in harmony. Physicians must continue to be appropriately compensated for the difficult and challenging work that we do and for the years of preparation and sacrifice required to become the health professionals that we are.

 

Sincerely,

Phillip L. Laney MD FACC
President, Alabama Chapter of the American College of Cardiology

 

Posted in BCBS, From the President
You're in all Blogs Section

ALACC’s Trip to Washington – September 2011

Posted on September 15, 2011 by admin — No Comments ↓

I have just returned from a Board of Governors Meeting followed by the 20th Annual ACC Legislative Conference in Washington, DC. The latter conference was attended by approximately 400 members of the cardiovascular care team from all over the United States. The conferences were both very educational with a large amount of material to digest – I will summarize the most pertinent points of each conference and then update you on the Alabama ACC contingent that visited Alabama’s congressional delegation on September 13th.

I. Board of Governors Meeting

Two very important pieces of information relative to the practice of cardiology were brought to attention. First, the ACC has partnered with the Managed Care Advisory Group (MCAG) to bring eligible ACC members assistance in claiming incentive payments available through the Medicare and Medicaid Electronic Health Records (EHR) Incentive Programs. Eligible ACC members who have an EHR system that meets Meaningful Use (MU) in their office can claim up to $44,000 per physician over 5 years from the Medicare Incentive Program or up to $63,750 per physician over a 6 year period from the Medicaid Incentive Program. It is important to note that enrollment must begin in 2012. MCAG will work with the ACC member to make sure their EHR system meets MU criteria and then will assist the physician in applying to CMS for payment on their behalf. The charge for the service from MCAG is a small percentage of the recovered funds. MCAG will also prepare their clients for a Medicare audit as part of the service. This assistance would be especially useful to smaller groups and solo practitioners who do not have the time or funds to apply for the money they deserve. If you are interested in this service please contact the ALACC through our website at www.alacc.org. Finally, I am sure you are aware that radiology benefit managers (RBM’s) are a growing problem throughout the country. The national ACC is working to replace the RBM’s in these areas with the ACC’s Appropriate Use Criteria (AUC). The Delaware Insurance Commissioner recently fined BCBS of Delaware $325,000 and ordered the insurance company to immediately implement the ACC’s FOCUS program or face an additional $300,000 fine. I would urge all of you to review the ACC’s AUC as this may well spread to other areas of the country including Alabama.

II. Legislative Conference

The Legislative Conference consisted of a full day of education followed by a visit to the Hill for each of the ACC state delegations. The ACC asked us to focus on three topics and spent a great deal of time educating those members new to the process about these topics and how to be an effective advocate for the membership. I will briefly detail each of the topics discussed in the conference and subsequently presented to the Alabama Congressional delegation:

1. The Sustainable Growth Rate Formula (SGR) – the SGR is set to go in effect on January 1, 2012 unless Congress intervenes. This would result in a 29.5% reduction in physician Medicare payments and certainly cause massive disruptions in health care services for the nation’s elderly and disabled populations. It is estimated that averting the scheduled cuts would cost nearly $300 billion over the next ten years. The ACC strongly supports moving the current Medicare physician payment system away from a volume-based system and toward a value-driven system that aligns financial incentives and the performance of evidence-based medicine.

2. Medical Liability Reform – The Congressional Budget Office estimates that the practice of defensive medicine results in costs in the range of possibly $20 billion per year and that medical liability reform would result in cost savings to the federal budget of more than $50 billion over the next ten years. The ACC supports a system that increases patient safety and ensures that injured patients are compensated quickly and fairly, improves provider-patient communications, ensures affordable and accessible medical liability insurance, and ensures that federal reform efforts do not impact reforms already enacted and working at the state level. This latter aspect is especially important in Alabama where the tort laws are currently tilted in favor of medicine according to judicial experts.

3. Imaging and RBM’s – Medical imaging has been subjected to numerous expansive cuts over the past five years following the Deficit Reduction Act of 2005 and continues to be a target by CMS and by Congress for potential payment reductions despite data showing medical imaging to be one of the slowest growing services within Medicare. The number of outpatient diagnostic imaging services actually fell in 2010 as compared to 2009. The ACC is working to make sure that Congress and CMS realize that further payment cuts or restrictions on imaging services cannot be absorbed by physician practices without impacting quality and access to care. RBM’s have become an increasingly onerous issue for physician with the average physician spending nearly $70,000 annually dealing with the insurers and their RBM’s. The ACC is developing ways including the AUC to avoid inappropriate testing and to allow documentation of the appropriateness and quality of each test. The goal is to prevent the expansion of RBM’s nationwide where the focus would not be on appropriateness and quality but rather on cost savings to the insurance company.

I personally also made it a point to discuss the Independent Payment Advisory Board (IPAB) with each of our Congressional delegation members as this appointed board will have the ability to slash physician reimbursement with no congressional overview and without any significant method for physician appeal. This I believe is the most dangerous aspect of the Affordable Care Act (ACA) and this aspect of the ACA must be repealed before it is put into place in 2014.

III. Alabama ACC Contingent on the Hill – the Alabama ACC contingent consisted of a doctor of pharmacy specializing in cardiology care, a nurse practitioner, and four physicians. The use of all members of the cardiovascular care team is felt to be more effective than the use of physicians alone in terms of garnering the attention and support of the Congressional member. We met with Senator Sessions and his health legislative aide (HLA) and with the HLA of Senator Shelby. We also met with the following Congressmen and their HLA’s: Jo Bonner, Mike Rogers, Spencer Bachus, Mo Brooks, and Robert Aderholt. It is very unusual for a state ACC delegation to meet with this many members of Congress in one day and we were honored by the attempts of the members of our Alabama Congressional delegation to meet with us. We discussed at length all of the issues outlined above with each legislator and their HLA. Our Congressional delegation certainly seemed to grasp the concepts put forth and each member agreed to be “champions for our cause.” It was the general consensus of the Alabama Congressional members that the SGR would almost certainly be patched but not fixed, that tort reform to some degree will likely be enacted on a federal level in the future, and that imaging is still at risk for more cuts. The delegation all agreed that there would be no major changes in medicine at the federal level however until after the 2012 election cycle is completed.

The outlook for medicine is still bleak due to the concerns over the deficit and the determined effort by Congress to find the means to reduce the deficit and entitlement spending. However, there are certainly bright spots for the medicine in general and cardiology in particular. It is imperative that we continue to have access to Congress which requires money for political donations and for lobbying support. I believe the most effective method of political donation is to support your own district Congressman and the ACCPAC. The trial lawyers have the largest PAC and this is one of the major reasons they are such a formidable opponent. I would urge all of you to donate – let us be “at the table rather than on the menu” as more consideration of further payment reductions to cardiology will certainly be forthcoming.

Thank you for allowing me to represent you during this critical time. Dr Lloyd, your President-Elect, attended all of the meetings in Washington, DC, and will be ready to assume the position fully up to speed when his term begins at the conclusion of ACC.12 in March 2012 in Chicago. Please do not hesitate to call on me if you have any questions or concerns.

Sincerely,

Phillip L. Laney, MD
President, Alabama Chapter of the American College of Cardiology

Posted in Uncategorized
You're in all Blogs Section

August 2012 – From the President

Posted on August 1, 2011 by admin — No Comments ↓

Dear Colleagues,

The year is now well past its halfway point and I hope it has been marked thus far by success, reward, and continued fulfillment in your pursuit of the practice of cardiology. The 2011 year has been another successful one for the Alabama Chapter. The year started out with our Chapter once again being recognized as one of the leading chapters in the nation. We received again as in the past several years recognition in multiple areas at the ACC National Award Ceremony in February in Washington DC. We received the “Spirit of Excellence Award” in Education and “Honorable Mention” in Membership and Community. This continued success is in large part due to the consistent guidance of Ms. Dee Mooty, our nationally recognized Chapter Executive. The Chapter also received national recognition through the advocacy work of Dr. Carl Gessler from The Heart Center in Huntsville, Alabama. Dr. Gessler was one of only three ACC members to receive the “National Advocacy Award” in recognition of his outstanding work in this area. Dr. Gessler was also recently named to the ACCPAC Board which stewards the financial contributions to the PAC and determines how best to delegate the financial resources available. I am proud to have recently been notified that the Alabama Chapter ranks fifth in the country in total donations to the ACCPAC despite the fact that our membership in terms of numbers is well below that. It is imperative during these difficult financial times that our voice continue to be heard by our national and state legislators. The contribution form to donate to the PAC is available at the Chapter website:  Click here to download.  The Cardiologist for a Day program is one way to engage your national Congressman. This involves inviting a Senator or district Congressman to your office to visualize in a hands on fashion the practice of cardiology and how national legislation impacts both the quality of and access to care in their district. Congressman Mo Brooks of the Fifth District visited The Heart Center in Huntsville and came away with a clearer understanding of the issues we have to deal with and the adverse impact recent cuts have had on the practice of quality cardiac care in Alabama. I would urge everyone to consider having their Congressman visit an office in each district in this fashion.

A major issue has recently received significant attention through the Board of Governors listserve. The listserve is an email mechanism through which all the Governors throughout the country as well as the national ACC leadership in Washington DC can communicate. I receive upwards of 100 emails a week about various topics affecting the ACC. The more significant topics this year have included the intrusion of the Maryland state legislature into the practice of interventional cardiology in that state due to the alleged multiple unwarranted PCI’s by one of the state’s most prominent cardiologists, the draconian reductions in imaging reimbursement, and the national publication questioning the inappropriate implantation of ICD’s. The most recent topic has been the proliferation of the non-ABIM approved “mini-boards.” It is the belief of most of our colleagues that the interventional boards and the electrophysiology boards are understandable and reasonable. However, the ever growing list of these omnipresent “mini-boards” in all other facets of cardiology is considered an anathema by most of our members. The belief by most is that these tests represent a way for the various subspecialty societies to create an income stream into their coffers with the support of these tests coming from academicians or cardiologists practicing in a very narrow field of cardiology who wish to “protect their turf.” These tests could essentially invalidate the extra work of those who went to the effort to obtain level II or III training in various areas of cardiology during their fellowship. The insurance companies, including BCBS of Alabama, are already considering “rewarding” those with “board certification” in these narrow areas of cardiology but have admitted that over time the plan would be to penalize through payment reductions everyone else. The cost of a board review course, the “mini-board” itself, and lost revenue from practice time lost would amount to thousands of dollars per test. I have been actively involved in the dialogue and have urged the ACC leadership to address this issue. I have had several conversations with one of our national ACC leaders who is also on the American Board of Internal Medicine (ABIM). The ACC and the ABIM plan to address this issue over the next year. I have urged our national leadership to continue to understand the importance of maintaining excellence and standards through the ACC but in a way that adds value to the membership rather than burden. I will continue to monitor this important topic as it has significant implications for all of us who practice cardiology now and in the many years to come.

There are several national quality initiatives available to the membership. I know that several groups in the state, including mine, have taken advantage of these initiatives. These include FOCUS(Formation of Optimal Cardiovascular Imaging Utilization Strategies),H2H (Hospital 2 Home), and Mission: Lifeline. I would urge all of you to consider if these or other national quality initiatives might be useful for your practice.

I would request that all of you consider being active in our Chapter. There are many committees on which one can serve and have your voice heard. The ALACC web page (www.alacc.org) has the PowerPoint slide show of my President’s Report that was given at our Annual Chapter Meeting in San Destin. This slide show lists all of our committees and their respective chairmen. It also details the governance of the ALACC including our current Council Members as well as our Practice Administrator, CCA, and FIT representatives. Please take a moment and view this presentation if you have an interest in serving actively in our Chapter. Our web site also has our 20th Anniversary Video which was presented at our Annual Chapter Meeting. This is well worth your time to view.

Finally, it is worth noting several upcoming meetings. The national ACC Legislative Conference is September 11-13 in Washington DC. This is open to all ACC members and is a way to understand the national issues that affect us and to meet with our national legislators. I invite all of you to attend. Our Winter Meeting is upcoming in January 2012 in Birmingham. This meeting has been such a success that we plan to make it an annual event. It has been well attended both by CCA’s and FACC’s. The 2011 meeting was rated highly by the many who attended and I am sure our Educational Committee will again have an outstanding line up of local and national speakers. The national ACC meeting (ACC.12) will be held in Chicago March 24-27. This will mark the end of my tenure as ALACC Governor as Dr. Steven Lloyd will be “tapped in” as Governor during the commencement proceedings. Dr. Lloyd is spending this year as Governor-Elect attending all the national and local meetings hence insuring there will be no lost time in the transition phase should any critical issues arise early in his tenure. Lastly, our Annual Chapter Meeting will again be in San Destin in June. I come away every year from this meeting with the feeling that it is the best meeting in terms of education for time and money spent that I could possibly attend. I urge all of you to come to this meeting at least once – if you do so I promise you will walk away with the same impression. Details including registration for the Chapter Meetings can be found on our ALACC web site.

Please do not hesitate to call your district Council representative or me if you have any questions or concerns the remainder of this year. I wish the best to all of you in the service of our patients in the Great State of Alabama.

Phillip L. Laney, M.D., F.A.C.C.
Governor, Alabama Chapter of the American College of Cardiology

Posted in From the President
You're in all Blogs Section

A Rare Chapter Executive

Posted on August 1, 2011 by admin — No Comments ↓

Chapter, Council, and Current and Past Chapter Presidents Thank Dee Mooty for Her Stellar Years of Service to The Chapter

During Dee’s years of service as chapter executive, the chapter has been recognized over and over again for our stellar annual meeting, for our level of commitment by cardiologists in the state to the chapter, for outstanding advocacy on both a state and national level, for our PAC participation, and for our innovative public service projects.  She received a Waterford Crystal letter opener as part of a service award from the chapter on the occasion of our twentieth anniversary meeting, and a well-deserved expression of gratitude from the council. In addition, under the leadership of her first chapter president, Dr. Alfred W. H. Stanley, Jr., the current and past presidents pooled together to present her with a beautiful bracelet thanking her for her grace and effectiveness in steering us in the right direction and guiding the chapter toward national recognition.  Thanks Dee for our first twenty years!

Michael B. Honan, M.D., F.A.C.C.
Past Chapter President

Posted in Recognition
You're in all Blogs Section

Alabama’s Place at the Table

Posted on August 1, 2011 by admin — 1 Comment ↓

Dear Colleagues,

Please allow me to appeal to you for support for the ACC PAC, our best chance to be “at the table rather than on the menu”. Please don’t forget that advocacy has been useful to the College in the DPI and  coronary CTA Medicare NCD issues. And we finally have seen our CEO on Cspan to speak on our behalf to the Medicare Independent Advisory Board. So we are chipping away at things.

Can I guarantee no more imaging and interventional payment cuts? No, however we have one chance to influence Congress and it is now.  Advocacy grants us access to our elected leaders and they virtually all admit that they need our guidance with healthcare issues.

“Help me help you. Help me help you”. Please join the PAC. Again, it’s our best chance.  The contribution form is available at the Chapter website:  Click here to download.

Thank You,

Carl Gessler, Jr. , M.D., F.A.C.C.
Chapter Legislative Affairs Committee Chair
American College of Cardiology National PAC Board

Posted in Advocacy
You're in all Blogs Section

Education Committee Update

Posted on July 18, 2011 by admin — No Comments ↓

The highlight of the chapter’s educational activity is the Annual Meeting. The 20th Annual Meeting, held June 4-5, 2011 at Baytowne Wharf, was no exception and was a resounding success. There were 89 in attendance (64 physicians), representing adult and pediatric cardiology, CV surgery, and general medicine / family practice. Topics covered the range of preventive cardiology (including focus on obesity and tobacco prevention and cutting edge investigational approaches to treatment of hypertension); Interventional Cardiology; Arrhythmia; valve surgery; and imaging.  We were fortunate to have a wonderful array of expert speakers (Navin Nanda, MD, Jamy Ard, MD, William Hillegass, MD, Paul Tabereaux, MD, Suzanne Oparil, MD, Gene Parrino, MD, and Andrew E. Epstein, MD, who presented the Russell Lecture on “Further Risk Stratification in ICDs”). As always the case discussion session, facilitated by Drs. Ami Iskandrian and Edward Colvin, was a hit. The national ACC update was given by ACC President David Holmes, MD, and demonstrated how ACC is serving the membership in areas of quality, advocacy, and education.   The meeting also provided a wonderful opportunity for the membership and families to network and socialize at the Friday evening reception and the Saturday night buffet dinner (complete with karaoke and face painting!).

The support and enthusiasm from the membership was outstanding. Our industry partners also were well represented (47 exhibitors from a wide array of pharmaceutical, device, and professional companies and services), and available for demonstrating use of equipment and discussion of indications of diagnostic instruments, therapeutic devices, and pharmaceutical products, along with educational and consulting resources.

Lastly, let me say that I have had a wonderful and enjoyable experience helping organize this meeting over the past few years. Now, it’s time to move on and hand the reins over to Andy Miller, MD, FACC, and Fadi Hage, MD, FACC, who I know will continue to make each and every Chapter Meeting even better than the last.

Steven Lloyd, M.D., Ph.D., F.A.C.C.
Education Committee Chair

Posted in Education Committee