president's page: back to the future

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FROM THE ACC Presidents Page: Back to the Future A year ago the American College of Cardiology (ACC) embarked on an effort to develop a digital strategy that would allow the College to not only meet the digital needs of its members and patients now, but also be poised to take advantage of the inevitable changes in technologies expected in the future. I facilitated the development of this digital strategy as the cornerstone of my presidential year, aligned with my theme of Innovation in Technology and Education.This comprehensive digitalblueprint for the future was developed in partnership with member volunteers, patients, and staff and focused on our shared mission to transform cardiovascular care and improve heart health. As I noted in one of my earliest Presidents Pages, There are tremendous opportunities for the College to reach cardiovascular professionals and patients around the world faster and more effectively than we could have ever dreamed(1). Over the past year, I have made it my presidential mission to ensure that the College takes advantage of these opportunities and builds on the ACCs legacy as a global knowledge organization that continues to innovate and engage with its members in a mutually benecial way. College leaders, staff, and members have made unbelievable strides toward enriching the member experience and achieving the primary objectives of the digital strategy: 1) improving how we communicate; 2) encouraging patient education; and 3) enhancing the ability to obtain continuing education at the point of care. On the communications front, our biggest project, which was to transform CardioSource. org into a user-friendly online home for cardiovascular professionals around the world, is nearly complete. The team of staff and members charged with this Herculean task spent the past year listening to members discuss what they want in an ACC website and then translating these needs into a functioning system. We are now in the home stretch, with the actual building and design of the web site under way. Be ready to be amazed later this year! The College also continues to enhance its mobile offerings to help ACC members better interact with each other, as well as with their patients. More than 5,000 members have downloaded the CardioSmart Heart Explorer mobile application in the last year, and the Anticoag Evaluator and the brand new ASCVD Risk Estimator application are also getting great reviews from members. The College also continues to focus on ways to enhance re- lationships and communications with key member groups, including Fellows in Training, International fellows, cardiovascular team members, and hospitals. For example, the ACC most recently launched its new Quality Improvement for Institutions program, which combines under 1 umbrella the power of the National Cardiovascular Data Registry with hospital-focused quality improvement programs and tools, such as Hospital to Home, the Door-to-Balloon Alliance, and Surviving MI. I would be remiss if I left out social media from the communications discussion. The ACCs social media platforms like Facebook, Twitter, and LinkedIn have allowed us to more quickly disseminate breaking news, share case studies, and network with colleagues. In the past year, the ACCs Facebook page has grown from 13,500 fans last March to more than 30,000 today, and its @ACCinTouch and @Cardiology Twitter feeds have grown from John Gordon Harold, MD, MACC President, American College of Cardiology The College has spent the last 65 years looking ahead and being on the cutting edge of science and education. As I prepare to close out my year as president, and hand over the reins of the College to the capable hands of Patrick OGara, MD, FACC, I am condent in saying that the state of the cardiovascular union is sound. Journal of the American College of Cardiology Vol. 63, No. 8, 2014 Ó 2014 by the American College of Cardiology Foundation ISSN 0735-1097/$36.00 Published by Elsevier Inc. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.jacc.2014.01.013

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Page 1: President's Page: Back to the Future

Journal of the American College of Cardiology Vol. 63, No. 8, 2014� 2014 by the American College of Cardiology Foundation ISSN 0735-1097/$36.00Published by Elsevier Inc. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.jacc.2014.01.013

FROM THE ACC

President’s Page: Back to the Future

John Gordon

year ago the American College of Cardiology (ACC) embarked on an effort to Harold, MD,MACCPresident, American

College of Cardiology

The College has

spent the last 65

years looking ahead

and being on the

cutting edge of

science and

education. As I

prepare to close out

my year as

president, and

hand over the reins

of the College to the

capable hands of

Patrick O’Gara,

MD, FACC, I am

confident in saying

that the state of the

cardiovascular

union is sound.

Adevelop a digital strategy that would allow the College to not only meet the digital

needs of its members and patients now, but also be poised to take advantage of the

inevitable changes in technologies expected in the future. I facilitated the development of

this digital strategy as the cornerstone of my presidential year, aligned with my theme of

“Innovation in Technology and Education.” This comprehensive “digital” blueprint for the

future was developed in partnership with member volunteers, patients, and staff and focused

on our shared mission to transform cardiovascular care and improve heart health.

As I noted in one of my earliest President’s Pages, “There are tremendous opportunities

for the College to reach cardiovascular professionals and patients around the world faster and

more effectively than we could have ever dreamed” (1). Over the past year, I have made it my

presidential mission to ensure that the College takes advantage of these opportunities and

builds on the ACC’s legacy as a global knowledge organization that continues to innovate

and engage with its members in a mutually beneficial way.

College leaders, staff, and members have made unbelievable strides toward enriching the

member experience and achieving the primary objectives of the digital strategy: 1) improving

how we communicate; 2) encouraging patient education; and 3) enhancing the ability to

obtain continuing education at the point of care.

On the communications front, our biggest project, which was to transform CardioSource.

org into a user-friendly online home for cardiovascular professionals around the world, is

nearly complete. The team of staff and members charged with this Herculean task spent the

past year listening to members discuss what they want in an ACC website and then

translating these needs into a functioning system. We are now in the home stretch, with the

actual building and design of the web site under way. Be ready to be amazed later this year!

The College also continues to enhance its mobile offerings to help ACC members better

interact with each other, as well as with their patients. More than 5,000 members have

downloaded the CardioSmart Heart Explorer mobile application in the last year, and the

Anticoag Evaluator and the brand new ASCVD Risk Estimator application are also getting

great reviews from members. The College also continues to focus on ways to enhance re-

lationships and communications with key member groups, including Fellows in Training,

International fellows, cardiovascular team members, and hospitals. For example, the ACC

most recently launched its new Quality Improvement for Institutions program, which

combines under 1 umbrella the power of the National Cardiovascular Data Registry with

hospital-focused quality improvement programs and tools, such as Hospital to Home, the

Door-to-Balloon Alliance, and Surviving MI.

I would be remiss if I left out social media from the communications discussion. The

ACC’s social media platforms like Facebook, Twitter, and LinkedIn have allowed us to

more quickly disseminate breaking news, share case studies, and network with colleagues. In

the past year, the ACC’s Facebook page has grown from 13,500 fans last March to more

than 30,000 today, and its @ACCinTouch and @Cardiology Twitter feeds have grown from

Page 2: President's Page: Back to the Future

JACC Vol. 63, No. 8, 2014 HaroldMarch 4, 2014:832–3 President’s Page

833

15,000 followers to nearly 25,000. LinkedIn has also seen

growth as a place for specialized ACC community discus-

sions around topics like women in cardiology, the cardio-

vascular care team, and NCDR research.

Social media has also been an important way to help

encourage patient education. Over the past year, social media

platforms have been integral to helping us reach the broader

public with not only basic heart healthy tips and educational

resources, but also specific information related to papers like

the ACC and the American Heart Association’s new pre-

vention guidelines, the Surgeon General’s 50th Anniversary

Report on Smoking, and more. It has also proven to be a great

way to work with partners like the National Heart, Lung, and

Blood Institute and Million Hearts, with patient-friendly

messages about aspirin use, blood pressure and cholesterol

management, and help with quitting smoking.

Of course, CardioSmart also continues to be our corner-

stone for patient education. Since the College revamped

CardioSmart.org last March, more than 1 million people

have visited the website for its interactive blood pressure and

activity trackers and more than 30 condition centers. Local

CardioSmart events like NASCAR track walks, Spirit of the

Heart, and Living with Afib have also proven to be great

ways to get heart-healthy messaging on the ground and in

front of patients and healthcare providers alike.

In terms of continuing medical education, the College’s

Lifelong Learning Portfolio (LLP) is living up to expecta-

tions. The unique online learning environment includes

advanced functionality for tracking individual education

activities; flexible formats to fit different learning styles; and

targeted programming for Fellows in Training, cardiac care

team members, and cardiovascular specialty areas. As the

LLP continues to grow, intelligent integration with an in-

dividual member’s learning profile and mobile offerings

pushed to the point of care will vastly increase the ease of

obtaining continuing medical education and, even more

importantly given new American Board of Internal Medi-

cine requirements, Maintenance of Certification credit.

Further, with increasing health policy discussions focused on

using data to tie together performance measurement,

physician payment, and educational requirements, the LLP

is positioned to play a key role as a source of educational and

quality improvement programming for cardiovascular

professionals.

All of the efforts mentioned above, as well as countless

others, form a solid foundation for the next big phase for the

Collegedimplementing the new, 5-year strategic plan that I

helped to facilitate. The new plan is focused on increasing

membership value and engagement, helping to transform

cardiovascular care, and meeting the “Triple Aim” of better

care, better outcomes, and lower costs. The plan also rec-

ognizes the ACC’s role in providing members with pur-

poseful education tools and ensuring that members are

empowered to serve as effective advocates for sound health

policies that allow patient access to the most appropriate,

high-quality care. Supporting members in their expanded

accountability to improve population health, as well as

recognizing the importance of data, information, and the

development of knowledge in both education and care

transformation, are also at the heart of the strategic plan. We

will strive to enhance global cardiovascular health through

sustained collaboration and the exchange of knowledge and

resources for cardiovascular care worldwide.

Peter Drucker said that “the best way to predict the future

is to create it” (2). I am excited to have had a hand in pre-

paring the College for the next great chapter of its

historydone that will not be etched in stone, or written on

paper, but rather viewed on a mobile device of choice. I am

honored to have had a hand, working with each and every

one of you, in preparing for the future. It belongs to all of us!

Address correspondence to:

John Gordon Harold, MD, MACC

American College of Cardiology

2400 N Street NW

Washington, DC 20037

E-mail: [email protected]

REFERENCES

1. Harold J, May D. President’s page: Tweet all about it: ACC charting thedigital future. J Am Coll Cardiol 2013;61:1926–8.

2. Peter Drucker. BrainyQuote.com. Available at: http://www.brainyquote.com/quotes/quotes/p/peterdruck131600.html. Accessed January 23,2014.