ACC/AHA Mission Lifeline STEMI Update On December 1, 2009, leaders from the American Heart Association along with members from the PA-ACC met to discuss the Pennsylvania: Mission Lifeline program. Launched in July 2008, the national AHA: Mission Lifeline is an initiative that focuses on systems of care that serve to improve STEMI treatment. Co-chairs, Dr. James Blankenship and Dr. Steven Ettinger and Mr. Alex Kuhn (Vice President, Strategic Alliances and Initiatives for the AHA) organized the statewide conference that included participants from the healthcare field (EMS, Pa-DOH Office of EMS, hospital and Cardiovascular administrators, nurses, physicians and representatives from industry). Dr. Paul Casale attended the conference representing the Pennsylvania Chapter of the American College of Cardiology. Presentations by state healthcare providers and representatives from the national AHA served as a prologue to the conference and featured “STEMI systems” including an in-depth review of Mission Lifeline in Missouri, Ohio, and Maryland. Sessions featuring representatives from the PA Trauma Foundation and the PA-DOH Office of EMS highlighted the needs and requirements of a statewide STEMI program. Discussions centered on how best to organize the STEMI initiative in Pennsylvania and focused on the individual components of the Mission Lifeline program. An overview of the National Cardiovascular Disease Registry (NCDR) - ACTION Registry-Get With The Guidelines served to educate the group about an established database that would potentially serve to monitor ongoing quality of the newly created statewide STEMI program. The final session of the conference focused on the organization of the five committees that were created with co-chairs being identified for each group. Each committee will focus on a specific aspect of STEMI care including: i). EMS, ii). Non-PCI hospitals; iii). PCI hospitals; iv). Database and Quality; and v). Education. Moving forward the committee members have been tasked with drafting specific initiatives that will help create a statewide STEMI program. The time has come for all those interested in STEMI care to get involved in Pennsylvania: Mission Lifeline. If you are interested in getting involved in this statewide program please contact either Mr. Alex Kuhn (alexander.kuhn@heart.org); Dr. James Blankenship (jblankenship@geisinger.edu) or Dr. Steven Ettinger (settinger@psu.edu).   New ACC Registry Meets Requirements for PQRI Paul N. Casale, M.D., F.A.C.C. PaACC Chapter President PaACC Eastern Governor Over the past two months, I’ve been involved in an effort that will improve the way we practice cardiology by working with the American College of Cardiology Foundation to shape a national Quality Improvement (QI) initiative called the IC3 Program® that’s designed to help you thrive in a performance-based health care system. IC3 stands for “Improving Continuous Cardiac Care,” which is something we all strive for in our daily practice. Maybe you’ve heard about it. Now, I’m asking you to become a part of it. The IC3 Program® is designed to prepare clinicians to thrive in an outcomes-based reimbursement environment through the systematic practice, assessment and improvement of quality. The IC3 Program® makes it easier to apply the most current evidence-based care to your patients every time. The program is adaptable and right-sized for your practice with QI tools for all your team members, options for data collection that match your practice’s readiness, and decision support at the point of care delivery. In addition, if you choose the optional registry component, you can use your data within your practice for internal QI and feedback to team members, and confidential benchmarking to other practices. You may also choose to submit data to external sources for pay-for-performance or PQRI participation in 2009. There is no cost to your practice to participate in the IC3 Program® due to generous sponsorship by the Bristol-Myers Squibb/Sanofi Pharmaceuticals Partnership. Participation is open to practices caring for patients with cardiovascular disease, including internal medicine, family practice, and multispecialty groups. The one-page IC3 Program® Participant Agreement is available from our website www.pcacc.org and can be completed by any member of your office staff who will then become the primary contact for all correspondence. We have also posted a sample copy of the Data Collection Form for the optional benchmarking program. For practices ready to begin data collection, you’ll need to complete a registry contract in order to preserve protected health information (HIPAA). For more information and to receive a copy of the full registry contract, please contact ACCF at 800-257-4737. The IC3 Program® is designed to assist your practice in consistently performing at the high level you seek and to prepare you for reimbursement and recognition models that are based on that performance. I urge you to go to the IC3 Program® Web site at www.improvingcardiaccare.org and learn more about the program. Once you sign your Participant Agreement, the program staff will contact you to let you know about the resources and tools coming your way. On behalf of the American College of Cardiology Foundation, I commend your dedication to improving patient care and look forward to working with you. And if you have any questions, please call me. Download the IC3 Participant Agreement (PDF) Download the IC3 Data Collection Form (PDF)