News from the Indiana Chapter of the American College of Cardiology
 Indiana-ACC Newsletter, April 2018
President's Message
Raymond E. Dusman, MD, FACC
Raymond Dusman, MD, FACC
Dear Indiana-ACC Colleague,

I would like to share some information about a QI project that the Indiana-ACC is undertaking. Please make sure to share this with all of your electrophysiology colleagues, including EPs, EP & Cath Lab leadership, and CV service line administrators.
 
The Good News
The Indiana, Michigan, and Ohio Chapters of the American College of Cardiology were awarded an ACC grant to support an innovative collaborative quality improvement initiative that utilizes de-identified data from the ICD registry to improve outcomes for patients undergoing ICD implantations. The project will catalyze development and sharing of best practices to improve care.

CMS Issues a Change
However, as you probably know, CMS (with considerable input from the Heart Rhythm Society (HRS) and the ACC) issued an updated ICD National Coverage Determination (NCD) on February 13, 2018. The details can be found on the CMS website: https://www.cms.gov/medicare-coverage-database/details/nca-decision-memo.aspx?NCAId=288. Included in the CMS NCD memo was the news that institutional participation in an ICD registry is no longer mandated.  We believe it is in the absolute best interest of our patients and our institutions for facilities to continue collecting and reporting data to the ICD Registry.
 
Your Reply Requested by April 30
Please deliberate carefully on the rationale presented below, and let us know how your hospital plans to proceed with ICD registry participation via our survey: https://goo.gl/forms/zxAqjViUN4OzwuTy2 .

Rationale for Continued Participation in the ICD Registry. 
  1. The data that is sent to the registry is reported back to our hospitals systematically and is always benchmarked to our region and the nation. It allows each hospital and each EP section to analyze and discuss the data from which QI can be tailored in a facility-specific fashion.
  2. It is, after all, the data from the registry that allows identification of potential areas for improvement state-wide and any assessment of improvement over time is best made by using the same registry-based methodology.
  3. Many of us have vivid recall of the events of circa 2012 when many institutions across the country faced significant financial penalties based on ICD implants which upon review were deemed to have had insufficiently supported indications. The hard-wiring of decision support followed by systematic analysis of registry data has appeared to be the absolute best way to mitigate that risk and assure our patients are being well-served by evidence-based decision-making.
  4. When, as a profession, we embrace QI through the collection and analysis of clinically-derived performance data, we advance our mission. Examples, including the Door-to-Balloon Initiative, the Blue-Cross Blue-Shield Consortium based state-wide efforts in interventional cardiology, cardiac surgery and peripheral vascular intervention, amongst others all were made possible by these methods. It is this moment in time when the state’s Electrophysiology Community can make a similar difference. Participation in the ICD Registry is, in our opinion, a critical part of the process.

Contact Us
If Gwen Goldfarb, our chapter executive, or I can be of assistance to you, please let us know.

Sincerely,

Ray

Congratulations to Our New FACCs
We would like to congratulate our members who recently attained their FACC designation:
Abdelkader Almanfi, MD, FACC
Nivas Balasubramaniyam, MBBS, FACC
Peter Chan, MD, FACC
Cam Choji, DO, FACC
Huda Elshershari, MB, BCh, FACC
Jarrod Frizzell, MD, FACC
Daniel Green, MD, FACC
Mohammad Hoque, MBBS, FACC
Kyle Hornsby, MD, FACC
Jose Improvola, MD, FACC
Abhishek Khemka, MD, FACC
Navneet Lather, MBBS, MPH, FACC
Mayank Mittal, MBBS, FACC
Muhamad Safiia, MD, FACC
Rishi Sukhija, MD, FACC
Anthony Voelkel, MD, FACC
Indiana-ACC Legislative Day &
Upcoming ACC Legislative Conference
Rep. Charlie Brown
The Indiana-ACC held a terrific Legislative Day with more than 20 members on February 27 at the Statehouse in Indianapolis. We advocated for House Bill 1380 Tobacco Product Purchasing Age (Raising the age of purchase from 18 to 21 for all tobacco products), Senate Bill 232 Access to Nutritious Food Program (SB 232 is an important first step toward the goal of ensuring that all Hoosiers have access to healthy & affordable food.), and House Bill 1143 Prior Authorization (provisions requiring electronic transmission of prior authorization requests and responses or, in certain circumstances, use of a standard prior authorization form established by the Department of Insurance.)

In addition, we honored retiring Rep. Charlie Brown for his years of service and tireless work on behalf of Hoosiers. We hope that you will become involved with advocacy!

ACC Legislative Conference
Mark your calendar for September 30-October 2, 2018 for the ACC Legislative Conference in Washington, DC! We are offering several travel stipends for FITs and Cardiovascular Team members. Apply now!
Dr. Donald Westerhausen: Candidate for
Indiana House District 5
Donald Westerhausen, MD, FACC
Donald R. Westerhausen, MD, FACC, medical director for the Cardiac Catheterization Laboratory, Heart Failure Clinic, and Anticoagulation Clinic at Elkhart General Hospital in Elkhart, Indiana, was recently elected as Indiana-ACC President-Elect.

His passion to advocate for patients, colleagues and communities has led him to run for Indiana House District #5 which includes the city of Mishawaka and the Granger areas. You can learn more about his campaign by visiting www.votewesterhausen.com or twitter.com/votedoctordon.
NW Indiana Engagement
Our Northwest Indiana members Constance Adams, MS, RN, CCNS, CCRN and Andre Artis, MD, spearheaded the Methodist Hospitals Heart Vascular Institute Cardiovascular Symposium 2018 in Schererville, IN, on April 7. The meeting included Indiana-ACC President Raymond Dusman, MD, on the agenda so that attendees could learn more about the ACC and its initiatives. Ms. Adams is the Indiana-ACC's CV Team Liaison-elect, and Dr. Artis is an Indiana-ACC council member representing NW Indiana.
Save the Date!
Indiana-ACC Annual Meeting on Oct. 13, 2018
Mark your calendar for Saturday, October 13, 2018! The Indiana-ACC will hold its 22nd Annual Meeting at the Crowne Plaza Downtown Indianapolis Union Station.

More details and registration information will be forthcoming.
Survey Seeks Input on
Future of Board Certification
The  Commission on Continuing Board Certification: Vision for the Future is seeking stakeholder feedback on the current state of board certification. The Commission, which is comprised of physicians, professional medical organizations, national specialty and state medical societies, hospitals and health systems, the general public and patients, and the 24 Member Boards of the American Board of Medical Specialties (ABMS), is working to assess the current state of continuing board certification and envision a framework for the future. ACC members are encouraged to take part in the Commission’s short survey between now and May 11. This is an important opportunity to help shape the future of board certification and provide input on the current challenges, benefits and opportunities for improvement. In addition, the Commission is encouraging that the survey to be shared with colleagues, family and friends, noting “the opinion of patients and the general public is valued along with those in the health care community.” Take the survey by May 11.