Indiana-ACC Newsletter, December 2022 |
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Dear Indiana-ACC Colleague,
As we approach the end of the year, I would like to express my gratitude for your support of the Indiana-ACC. The feedback received regarding our in-person annual meeting on September 10th was that it provided excellent education and also served to reconnect our chapter after several years of virtual meetings. The sessions covered cardio-obstetrics, guidelines, structural heart, lipids, ACC happenings, and the FIT oral competition. If you missed the meeting, you can take a look here for a complete re-cap.
Special thanks to our sponsors: Platinum - Philips, Bristol Myers Squibb; Gold - Bayer, GE Healthcare; Silver - Baptist Health, Cincinnati Children's, Janssen, Novartis.
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Indiana-ACC 2022 Poster Competition
Congratulations to our winners:
Oral Competition 1st place: Syed Hammad Jafri, MD, MMSc, (IU)
Oral Competition 2nd place: Wesley Anderson, MD, (IU)
2nd-year Case: Dr. Cody McCoy (IU)
3rd-year Research: Dr. Asad Torabi (IU)
Resident 1st place: Nihanth Damera, MD (IU)
Resident 2nd place: Roshan Kaphle, MD (St. Vincent)
Resident 3rd place: Bistees George, MD (IU)
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Solving the Mysteries of Split-Shared
We recently held a virtual meeting examining the Mysteries of Split-Shared: How Groups Have Adapted & What 2023 Holds. The goal was to learn: 1. What split-shared is and is not;
2. Practical deployment strategies; 3. Preparing for 2023; and 4. How the guideline increases your compliance risk.
The faculty included Atul Chugh, MD, FACC, Indiana Heart Physicians, Franciscan Physician Network; Linda Gates-Striby, CCS-P, ACS-CA, Ascension St. Vincent; Michael GeRue, MSN, RN, Parkview Heart Institute; Sandeep Joshi, MD, FACC, Ascension St. Vincent; Vijay Rao, MD, PhD, FACC, Indiana Heart Physicians, Franciscan Health; and Joel Sauer, MBA, MedAxiom.
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Understanding the Complexities of HCM
You are cordially invited to attend our next virtual meeting:
Date: Tuesday, December 6, 2022
Time: 7:00 PM – 8:00 PM ET
Location: Live Online!
This talk will cover HCM disease burden on patients – progression, lifestyle impact, and management of the disease; signs and symptoms that should trigger HCP suspicion and further evaluation; differential diagnosis – imaging techniques, provocation for LVOT obstruction; and current HCP management options as well as current guidelines.
Faculty
Onyedika Ilonze, MD, MPH, FACC, FHFSA
Advanced Heart Failure and Transplant Cardiologist, IU Methodist Hospital
Assistant Professor of Medicine, Cardiology
Indiana University School of Medicine
Indianapolis, IN
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Indiana-ACC Heart Failure Section
The Indiana-ACC will launch a heart failure section under the leadership of Maya Guglin, MD, FACC, PhD, section chair, and Sasikanth Adigopula, MD, section co-chair. The group will provide a forum for cardiologists and advanced practitioners, as well as other providers involved in the care of patients with heart failure and cardiomyopathy in Indiana, and will work on an overarching strategy for the implementation of current and upcoming diagnostic and treatment modalities including mechanical
circulatory support and cardiac transplantation. Contact us if you would like to learn more or join this section. |
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Contact Us
If you haven't had a chance to participate in the Indiana-ACC State Advocacy Day, please mark your calendars for Wednesday, March 8th. Join us at the Statehouse to meet with state legislators. We will be advocating both for our CV patients as well as our profession. No prior experience is necessary.
If Gwen Goldfarb, our chapter executive, or I can be of assistance to you, please let us know.
Sincerely,
Vijay
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Indiana-ACC Advocacy Day:
Wednesday, March 8, 2023
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Join the Indiana-ACC for a special legislative day in Indianapolis at the Statehouse to speak with Indiana legislators in a strong, unified voice about the importance of fighting heart disease. Attend a morning workshop and then put your skills to the test when you meet with your state legislators about policy priorities facing you and your patients. Building relationships with your state lawmakers will help ensure that the Indiana General Assembly remains aware of your important issues. There is no charge for the event, and appointments with your lawmakers will be made for you. We will also join the Tobacco-Free Indiana Coalition. |
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ACC Legislative Conference 2022
Indiana-ACC members joined ACC members across the country at the ACC Legislative Conference in Washington, DC, in October. We lobbied for:
Increasing Access to Patient Care: this topic addresses Medicare cuts and expands patient access to cardiovascular care through legislation like the Increasing Access to Quality Cardiac Rehabilitation Act of 2021.
Improving Clinician Well-Being: this issue spans the need to streamline prior authorization practices and addresses workplace violence, where cases have notably increased under the strain of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Developing Public Health Initiatives: this topic centers around two key pieces of ACC-backed legislation that will help to address health inequities and promote preventive care. These bills are the South Asian Heart Health Awareness & Research Act of 2022 and the Cardiovascular Advances in Research and Opportunities Legacy Act.
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Take Action on the Supporting Medicare Providers Act of 2022 |
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On top of already devastating Medicare payment cuts in 2022, clinicians now face an array of significant reductions on January 1, 2023, due to a series of statutory reductions and other cuts to specific services proposed in the CY2023 Medicare Physician Fee Schedule Rule. These cuts ignore continued increases in practice expenses due to rising inflationary pressures, exacerbate financial uncertainty and further threaten patient access to care. Individually, each of these reductions would be painful; together, they are potentially devastating.
- 4.42% reduction in the Medicare Physician Fee Schedule (PFS) conversion factor
- Imposition of a 4% Statutory PAYGO sequester resulting from passage of the American Rescue Plan Act of 2021
In response to these drastic potential cuts, Reps. Larry Bucshon, MD and Ami Bera, MD introduced legislation, the Supporting Medicare Providers Act of 2022 (H.R. 8800), on September 13 that would provide an additional 4.42% to the conversion factor to avoid payment cuts associated with budget neutrality adjustments resulting from Medicare policy changes. Importantly, this legislation also provides an opening for Congress to address systemic issues through long-term reform. With cuts like these appearing at an alarming frequency on an annual basis, the need for reform has never been clearer.
While we work toward sustainable and long-term solutions for reform, the Supporting Medicare Providers Act of 2022 is an important springboard for addressing and providing short-term relief for all anticipated cuts to Medicare services scheduled to take effect in 2023.
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Bring Your Team to the Cardiovascular Summit
Bring your colleagues and discover how to align strong leadership with effective business strategies to improve cardiovascular care and patient outcomes at the Cardiovascular Summit! Register today to learn the latest information on physician compensation, emergence of private equity in cardiovascular practice, cardiovascular service line trends, and much more! Network with your colleagues, Feb. 16 – 18, 2023, in Washington, DC, and acquire innovative approaches and best methods for the delivery of care while aligning well-being for the entire team. Don’t miss this transformative educational experience designed for you and the entire cardiovascular team. Groups of two or more qualify for significant discounts on registration. Get the details.
The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) released the final 2023 Medicare Physician Fee Schedule rule. Of note, the conversion factor has been updated from $34.6062 to $33.06, and the overall reimbursement for cardiovascular services is projected to decrease by 1% compared with 2022, mostly driven by changes in practice expense payments. Individuals and groups will see different impacts depending on patient populations and services offered. The final 2023 Hospital Outpatient Prospective Payment System (OPPS) rule was also posted, indicating a 3.8% payment update for hospitals based on a projected increase in the hospital market basket of 4.1%, reduced by 0.3% for the productivity adjustment. Learn more.
Access a more detailed breakdown on the Medicare Physician Fee Schedule rule here. Your ACC staff will provide a breakdown of the final Hospital OPPS rule in the coming days.
Following intense advocacy efforts from your ACC, the Heart Rhythm Society, and other stakeholders, CMS altered its earlier proposed work relative value units for electrophysiology ablation services as part of the final 2023 Medicare Physician Fee Schedule rule. Access your ACC’s ablation explainer for more details.
With more than 6 million Americans with heart failure, patient education is key in managing and living with this condition. To help patients better understand and manage heart failure, ACC’s CardioSmart team has developed a package of tools and resources including a new Action Plan for Heart Failure With Preserved Ejection Fraction (HFpEF). The package also includes infographics, decision aids and updated tools teaching patients how to make the most of their follow-up visits, use checklists, daily trackers, and more. Download the tools for free.
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