Bringing Clinicians and Health Systems Together to Transform Cardiovascular Care

Healthcare is in flux. Hospitals, health systems and clinical practices are rethinking care delivery amidst the push toward value-based care. Patient expectations for healthcare are evolving. And clinicians face changes in payment models as pressure to be more efficient continues to rise. As value-based care takes hold, better care coordination and collaboration among health care providers is essential.

More specifically, there is a great need for cardiovascular clinicians and health systems to come together in the midst of building value-based care models to understand trends and opportunities in clinical outcomes, cost and quality performance, and care delivery usage patterns. This information will be central to clinical practice going forward – necessary both to survive and to thrive in the future of healthcare.

This is the impetus for a new strategic collaboration between the American College of Cardiology, the professional home for more than 52,000 members spanning the breadth and scope of the cardiovascular care team, and Premier, a leading healthcare improvement company with an alliance of 3,900 hospitals and 150,000 other provider organizations, including non-acute healthcare facilities, as well as thousands of clinicians.

Together, ACC and Premier plan to explore ways to develop comprehensive and relevant solutions focused on assessment, implementation and sustainability. Our combined tools and resources, including ACC’s NCDR clinical data registries and Premier’s population health management expertise and services, can help support clinicians, practices, hospitals and health systems in their efforts to develop the capabilities needed to succeed in value-based care models. By combining resources, we can better understand care delivery opportunities in cardiology and seamlessly address clinical transformations to support alternative care delivery and payment models.

The evolving healthcare environment presents challenges, but also opportunities. Clinicians, hospitals and health systems must harness these opportunities to overcome the challenges and ultimately help the industry transform. We think cardiovascular care is a prime opportunity area of focus and look forward to improving care coordination, enhancing efficiencies, lowering costs and improving patient outcomes, together.