Update from Dr. John Strobel

July 2010

Indiana-ACC Update
John S. Strobel, MD, FACC

Indiana-ACC

President's Message

Colleagues,

These are frustrating times for cardiologists. Between 1996 and 2006, the death rates from coronary heart disease have declined by 36.4%. Our "reward" for delivering high-quality life-saving treatments has been a significant reduction in reimbursement for virtually every aspect of care that we deliver. For many of us, we have had to change our practice environment to adapt to these cuts in reimbursement.

Certainly it is easy to blame our government for this, but I believe that it is time for us to accept some of the responsibility. Our elected officials in Washington are bombarded with requests from groups who each have their own interests. It is important that we allow our voice to be heard above the din. We must be able to get the message across that we are delivering excellent care and that we are as focused on improving quality and saving lives as we are on affecting reimbursement. They must be told that access to cardiologists is being threatened by their shortsighted legislation.

There are many ways to get this message out. I'm sure many of you have received requests to call or email your senator or representative, but this takes time...something many of us don't have a lot of. An alternative is to contribute to the ACC Political Action Committee. The thought of supporting lobbyists (and politicians) likely evokes negative connotations for many of you. Whether you like the idea or not, it is time for us to "play the game" better than we have in the past. When you look at the contributions that other PACs have made, it is easy to see why trial lawyers and our colleagues in other specialties have fared better than us. In Indiana, only 1.2% of our members contribute to the ACC PAC. The good news is that we can easily change this. If every member of the ACC contributed $100 to our PAC, we would very quickly get the attention of our leaders in Congress.

Even though it is easy to feel demoralized and frustrated, keep in mind that we deliver very important care to our patients, and the Baby Boomers are just now turning 65. I am asking you to contribute $100, or even better, $1000, to the ACC PAC this year, and every year. You can do this by visiting their web site (www.accpacweb.org). Your login is the first letter of your First Name followed by your complete Last Name. Your password is your ACC ID number. If you cannot remember your ACC ID, you can retrieve it on the website or email pac@acc.org for assistance.

I am available for you and welcome your comments and feedback. You can contact me at jstrobel@ima-md.com.

In This Issue

Travel Awards

A.A.C.C. Designation

Practice Managers

Medicare 2011 Proposed Rule

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Calendar of Events

PLAN TO ATTEND!
October 30, 2010
Indiana-ACC 14th Annual Meeting
Indianapolis Marriott Downtown

Travel Awards Available for ACC Legislative Conference

The ACC Legislative Conference is September 12-14, 2010, in Washington, DC. Don't miss out on this important and exciting meeting. There are travel awards available to help defray the cost of your attendance.

The Indiana-ACC is offering two travel awards in the amount of $1000 each for CCAs. Apply today! Deadline: July 23.
FOR FITs: The ACC has made a select number of travel awards available to cover up to $1,000 in airfare, hotel and other expenses for Fellows-in-Training. If you would like to nominate someone from your training program, please send an email to kventura@acc.org by July 10 with their full name, address (including email), and year of training. Applicants may also nominate themselves by sending the same information via email as listed above. Award recipients will be announced by July 23.
FOR CCAs: The ACC will offer ten $1,000 travel awards to Cardiac Care Associates (CCAs) planning to attend the 2010 Legislative Conference. If you are interested, please send an email with your name, address and contact info to Kelli Bohannon at kbohanno@acc.org. You will be entered in a random drawing to receive a travel award. Deadline is July 31.
For Practice Managers: The American College of Cardiology is offering travel awards for ACC practice manager members (must be ACC member to qualify for travel award) to attend the ACC Legislative Conference. Send an email with your contact information (name, address, email, phone number) to Lisa Chambers at lchamber@acc.org. Questions? Call Lisa at 202-375-6607. The deadline is July 27, 2010.

New A.A.C.C. Designation

The Associate of the American College of Cardiology designation was approved by the ACC's Board of Trustees in March 2009, to recognize those CCAs who, through advanced education, training and professional development, have dedicated themselves to providing the highest-level of cardiovascular care. Learn more.

Attention Practice Managers!

You are invited to join the ACC. We want you to get involved.

Medicare Proposed Rule for 2011

The proposed rule is out! The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) late Friday released its proposed 2011 Medicare Physician Fee Schedule, which includes both payment and payment policy proposals for all physician services. Overall, the rule does not include any egregious policy proposals on the scale of those included in the 2010 rule. That being said, while there were some positives, cardiovascular professionals will continue to feel the downstream impacts of policies that were finalized in the 2010 rule. As in past years, increases and cuts for cardiovascular services are dependent on the services provided by the practice. Find out more.