May 2012
Dear FCACC Members:

Another month has come and gone but handed us opportunities on several fronts...yet in other areas we wait.  See below for the action (or inaction).

SMARTCARE WAITING GAME
Medicare has still not announced the innovation grants as of this posting.  SMARTCare aims to specifically reduce variation of care and cost via patients with CAD by employing point of care proven tools with new payment models.  This month of additional waiting time has given me the chance to visit all the sites who are committed to the project and talk with more members who, upon hearing the details of the proposal, think they could jump in and also join us.  When the waiting is over I hope we will be one of the grants that will make a difference.  I encourage you to read this article from the Washington Post that outlines the thinking of Medicare in tying physician pay to quality metrics.  http://www.washingtonpost.com/national/health-science/medicare-moves-to-tie-doctors-pay-to-quality-and-cost-of-care/2012/04/14/gIQAFq3IIT_story.html

THALLIUM STRESS CORRECTION
We've worked with FirstCoast (FCSO) and from what we've heard from the membership in the past few weeks it appears the denials of thallium stress tests have been corrected.  Individual groups should contact FCSO to ensure the claims are being reprocessed.  Let us know if the claims are not coming back corrected.

CALL FROM WASHINGTON, DC
Last week, several advocacy leaders were able to talk directly to Representative Vern Buchanan who represents the 13th district (Bradenton-Sarasota).  Representative Buchanan sits on the powerful House Ways and Means Committee which has jurisdiction over health policy.  It was a very good discussion; we took the opportunity to remind him about the importance of the physician and patient relationship and how we are committed to being part of the change that will improve care through SMARTCare and our advocacy efforts.  Discussions such as this are important, especially as the health care law is implemented.  We hope to continue to engage more members of Congress as the election year continues.

YOUR CHANCE TO BE ON TV
ACC Media Relations Team is building a speakers database of members (physicians, nurses, PAs and PharmDs) who are fluent in Spanish and would like to be 'on call' for stories from Univision regarding cardiology.  Univision has a very large reach and it would be great to see FL members provide content so we know the public is getting evidenced-based, factual information from a cardiovascular professional.  If you are interested (especially if you've been trained and done any type of media outreach) contact our Executive Director, Jennifer, at jennifer@accfl.org

Catch you next month!

Juan Aranda
President Florida Chapter, American College of Cardiology