The American College of Cardiology, Haymarket Medical Education, and myCME Drive Change in Clinician Prescribing Behavior for Treatment of Chronic Heart Failure

RightSTEPS Blended-Learning Initiative Provides Comprehensive Education to Empower Clinicians to take the RightSTEPS to treat the right patients with the right drugs at the right dose at the right time.

WASHINGTON--()--To address the 75 percent of chronic heart failure (HF) patients who do not receive optimal doses of guideline-recommended drugs, the American College of Cardiology (ACC), Haymarket Medical Education (HME), and myCME have joined forces to develop RightSTEPS: Optimizing Medical Therapy for Chronic Heart Failure. This long-term education initiative aims to help clinicians follow prescribing guidelines to reduce hospitalizations and readmissions and to improve patient outcomes.

Launching in 2017, with additional education to be added regularly throughout the year, the program is overseen by leading experts in HF treatment, including Akshay S. Desai, MD, MPH, FACC (Director, Heart Failure Disease Management, Cardiovascular Division, Brigham and Women’s Hospital and Associate Professor of Medicine, Harvard Medical School). The curriculum includes American College of Cardiology/American Heart Association guideline-driven medical therapy, and it enables clinicians to:

  • Learn via a dedicated online Cardiology Learning Center on myCME offering self-paced, personalized educational activities that are eligible for up to 16 continuing medical education (CME)/continuing nursing education (CNE) complimentary credits, including individualized treatments for various gender and racial/ethnic populations
  • Practice during face-to-face live meetings at regional healthcare systems, with parallel sessions for patients and caregivers at Veterans Affairs hospitals
  • Perform and receive customized online coaching that qualifies as a Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) Quality Payment Program Improvement Activity under the new Merit-based Incentive Payment System (MIPS)

“Improving heart health is at the core of the ACC’s mission,” said ACC RightSTEPS Chair and Course Director Akshay S. Desai, MD, MPH, FACC. “With RightSTEPS, medical professionals treating heart failure patients have easier access to the tools they need to make informed, guideline-driven decisions and provide their patients with the highest quality care.”

“Successful treatment of chronic HF depends on both medical knowledge and ongoing dialogue,” said Priya Wanchoo, MD, Medical Director of myCME. “We’re pleased the education we develop with the ACC for RightSTEPS will have a dedicated home on myCME. We believe it will provide clinicians a support center for their efforts in providing optimal patient care.”

Supported by an independent educational grant from Novartis Pharmaceuticals Corporation, the curriculum is designed for the range of clinicians who provide care for patients with chronic HF, including cardiologists, internists, primary care physicians, nurses, nurse practitioners, and physician assistants. To further close the circle and improve performance, it includes education geared for patients with chronic HF and their caregivers.

To see the RightSTEPS: Optimizing Medical Therapy for Chronic Heart Failure website, visit: myCME.com/RightSTEPS.

Heart failure is recognized as a global epidemic. Americans account for more than 22 percent of the 26 million worldwide HF population—a shocking 5.7 million adults.1-2 Despite great progress in improving outcomes in other cardiovascular diseases,3-4 American clinicians show only limited success in HF prevention and management. Inadequate or inappropriate medical therapy, regional variations in quality of care, cardiovascular differences between men and women, disparities in communities of color—including African Americans, Hispanics, and Native Americans—and inconsistencies in after-hospitalization management5-9 all contribute to a compelling need for HF education to engage and encourage collaboration among clinicians, patients, and caregivers to create practice change and improve patient outcomes.

About the American College of Cardiology

The American College of Cardiology is a 52,000-member medical society that is the professional home for the entire cardiovascular care team. The mission of the College is to transform cardiovascular care and improve heart health. The ACC leads in the formation of health policy, standards, and guidelines. The College operates national registries to measure and improve care, offers cardiovascular accreditation to hospitals and institutions, provides professional medical education, disseminates cardiovascular research, and bestows credentials upon cardiovascular specialists who meet stringent qualifications. For more, visit acc.org.

About myCME and Haymarket Medical Education

Recognized as a global leader of CME, myCME and HME reach 2.2 million healthcare professionals with relevant, engaging, and actionable education that positively impacts clinical performance and patient outcomes.

With top-quality courses across multiple specialties and award-winning education that inspires at the learner level, myCME and HME provide scientific and medical knowledge designed to elevate the performance of both practitioner and practice. In addition, HME is an Accreditation Council for Continuing Medical Education–accredited provider of CME.

To learn more about myCME and HME, visit mycme.com or haymarketmedicaleducation.com.

References:

1. Bui AL, Horwich TB, Fonarow GC. Epidemiology and risk profile of heart failure. Nat Rev Cardiol. 2011;8(1):30-41.

2. Mozaffarian D, Benjamin EJ, Go AS, et al. Heart disease and stroke statistics—2016 update: a report from the American Heart Association. Circulation. 2016;133(4):447-454.

3. Go AS, Mozaffarian D, Roger VL, et al. Heart disease and stroke statistics—2014 update: a report from the American Heart Association. Circulation. 2014;129(3):e28-e292.

4. McCullough PA, Philbin EF, Spertus JA, et al. Confirmation of a heart failure epidemic: findings from the Resource Utilization Among Congestive Heart Failure (REACH) study. J Am Coll Cardiol. 2002;39(1):60-69.

5. Yancy CW. Heart failure in African Americans: a cardiovascular enigma. J Card Fail. 2000;6(3):183-186.

6. Rathore SS, Masoudi FA, Wang Y, et al. Socioeconomic status, treatment, and outcomes among elderly patients hospitalized with heart failure: findings from the National Heart Failure Project. Am Heart J. 2006;152(2):371-378.

7. Yancy CW. Heart failure in African Americans. Am J Cardiol. 2005;96(7B):3i-12i.

8. Brown DW, Haldeman GA, Croft JB, et al. Racial or ethnic differences in hospitalization for heart failure among elderly adults: Medicare, 1990 to 2000. Am Heart J. 2005;150(3):448-454.

9. Deswal A, Petersen NJ, Urbauer DL, et al. Racial variations in quality of care and outcomes in an ambulatory heart failure cohort. Am Heart J. 2006;152(2):348-354.

Contacts

Haymarket Media, Inc.
Alyssa Maher, 646-638-6070
Corporate Communications Specialist

Contacts

Haymarket Media, Inc.
Alyssa Maher, 646-638-6070
Corporate Communications Specialist