With the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, the 2020 ACC Quality Summit, originally slated to take place in Orlando, FL, pivoted to a completely virtual platform to provide attendees with insights and inspiration from foremost cardiovascular leaders and experts. More than 2,500 registry professionals, administrators, clinicians, and quality experts came together virtually Oct. 8 – 9 to discuss NCDR registry-specific and hospital industry knowledge, the value of accreditation, and ways patient data can drive process improvement initiatives.
The theme for this year’s Quality Summit was “Design, Lead, and Achieve.” The conference’s 18 sessions, ePosters, and on-demand content focused on diversity in healthcare, transformation of quality care in the COVID-19 era, and the role of ACC’s quality campaigns in transforming care and patient outcomes. Attendees joined the conference via a web platform. The technology was easy to use and navigate. Both on-demand and live sessions were available on a wide range of topics encompassing a majority of the NCDR registries. During the live-sessions, a chat feature enabled participants to ask questions and vote to prioritize which questions would be answered by the presenters and moderators. During the virtual break sessions, ePoster award winners presented their works and answered participant inquiries.
The conference commenced with the Ralph G. Brindis Keynote Lecture, delivered by Quinn Capers IV, MD, FACC, who spoke about the many disparities related to diversity and inclusion in our current healthcare system, setting the tone for this year’s meeting. Thursday’s live sessions included topics related to utilization of telemedicine in the current pandemic, and several registry and accreditation-specific topics. Some key highlights include discussion on understanding hierarchal risk modeling, what to expect with the ICD upgrade to version 2.3, and further insight on the relationship and transition between ACC and SVS for peripheral vascular registries. The first day of sessions wrapped up with an intriguing presentation on how to identify and overcome barriers to engage key leaders to cultivate a culture quality, with perspectives from three different roles in care delivery.
Friday’s content kicked off with sessions highlighting changes to both the TVT and Chest-Pain MI registries. The main focus for Friday’s session, however, was on the impact of the COVID-19 on healthcare quality. Sessions included insights from several healthcare quality experts across the country on how their hospital systems and teams navigated and overcame the challenges presented by the current pandemic. Attendees also heard discussion underscoring the potential positives that may materialize in response to these challenges, and how this may shape the future of quality initiatives in healthcare.
As this was quite a new experience for the ACC Quality Summit, overall the unprecedented format seemed to be well-received and provided the same level of content we have come to expect with this annual conference. Thank you to the moderators, speakers, exhibitors, technical support, and everyone who facilitated such a successful virtual experience.
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Resources:
https://www.eventscribe.com/2020/QSummit
ACC News & Views: ACC Quality Summit Recap. October 14, 2020.