经过60多年的发展,ACC拥有超过39 000成员,分布在世界各地。ACC始终如一地关注心血管从业者和患者的需求,吸引着越来越多的国家和地区的专家、学者的注意力。
在卫生保健面临着前所未有的机遇和挑战的今天,ACC有义务为提高心血管疾病医疗质量指引方向。ACC的建立是基于科学与教育,这也有助于改善患者预后。然而,现在与未来,ACC将更关注促进科研成果应用于医疗,加强以学习者需求为指向的教育,允许卫生保健团队持续地进步。
More than 60 years ago, the American College of Cardiology (ACC) began with 14 charter members and a mission to meet the educational needs of the practicing cardiologist. Today, with more than 39,000 members around the world, the ACC remains steadfastly focused on the needs of cardiovascular practitioners and their patients and its reach continues to encompass an increasingly large number of specialties, countries and regions of the world.
During this time of unprecedented challenges and opportunities in health care, the ACC has the privilege of helping to steer the ship of quality cardiovascular disease care. Part of ACC’s foundation from the beginning has been science and education, which are not only the core principles of member value, but also the best way to optimize patient outcomes. The ACC today and beyond will move toward promoting and producing tools that foster application of science at the point of care, enhance education aimed at learner needs, and allow the health care team to constantly reevaluate and improve performance with vital clinical guidelines, standards and appropriate use criteria, as well as quality improvement initiatives and registries.
We also look to move in concert with cardiovascular professionals around the world to identify strategies for optimizing integration of new technologies, such as electronic health records, into all practices for the benefit of all patients.
Everything we do is designed to advance and improve the quality of care our members deliver to patients. Our initiatives today, more than six decades after our founding, still include the foundation of outstanding education. The principles of education rely increasingly on learner needs, which are at the heart of learning. Cardiovascular professionals rely on the College for the very best in educational programs and digital cardiovascular content.This is a time of tremendous opportunity as health care reform becomes a reality. The ACC advocates for providers and their patients as a leader in the health policy arena, working closely with legislators at the state and national level to ensure that all members continue to provide the highest quality care.To continue on the road to guide that process, we must build upon the efforts of past College leaders – continually striving for the best in cardiovascular care. There is much work to be done, but with ACC’s focus on science, education and innovation, we can together move toward a health care landscape in which we are the medical home for patients with cardiovascular disease.
Sincerely,
David R. Holmes Jr., MD, FACC
President, 2011–2012