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Health Leadership Profile
[May 4, 2018] May is Asian American, Native Hawaiian, and Pacific Islander Heritage (AANHPI) Month, devoted to commemorating the achievements and legacy of a culturally diverse ethnicity in the
United States. The American Heart Association pursues health equity by including the voices of our AANHPI employees, volunteers, and communities.

EUGENE YANG, MD, MS, FACC is the medical director of the UW Medicine Eastside Specialty Center and clinical associate professor of medicine at UW Medical Center.

Dr. Yang is also a volunteer for the American Heart Association in Seattle, providing media interviews and keynotes at conferences and working with the local AANHPI communities emphasizing that managing blood pressure is important for all individuals.

He supports the newly updated Association guidelines for high blood pressure and believes people should be educated about risks associated with high blood pressure and work with their health care providers to prevent cardiovascular-related health issues.

Watch Dr.
Yang’s media interview on cardiac care (recommend opening in Google Chrome).

http://bit.ly/2wdtsvF

Dr. Yang attended the University of Pennsylvania and completed his internal medicine residency and fellowships in cardiovascular disease and advanced cardiac imaging at Stanford University School of Medicine in California. He is board-certified in internal
medicine, cardiovascular disease and nuclear cardiology and specializes in diagnosing and treating various types of coronary artery disease.

WA ACC Letter to the Insurance Commissioner
To Mr. Jim Freeburg, Office of the insurance Commissioner

Respectfully submitted on behalf of the Washington Chapter of the American College of Cardiology by Tim Dewhurst, MD, FACC President.

[Excerpt]
December 28, 2016

Dear Mr. Freeburg:
Thank you for the opportunity to comment on the CR � 102 proposed rule regarding pre-authorization. These comments are submitted by the Washington Chapter of the American College of Cardiology which represents over 600 cardiovascular professionals providing care in Washington State.

Our active membership includes physicians, surgeons, advanced practice clinicians, pharmacists, practice administrators and cardiovascular technicians. Our goal is to improve the cardiovascular health of the residents of the state of Washington. We congratulate the office for trying to help streamline the prior authorization process. The current state law allows insurance companies to use pre-authorizations to try to control costs. However, pre-authorizations increase the costs of providing care by adding administrative work for health care providers. In addition, pre-authorizations cause delays in patient care, which are inconvenient for many patients and cause harm to some patients.

Read Full Letter

Help ACC Complete RUC Surveys
[March 23, 2016] Surveys related to the physician work to perform transthoracic echocardiography will be distributed to members in the next few days. If you are randomly selected and receive a survey, please take 15 – 30 minutes to thoughtfully complete it. Annual updates to the physician work relative values are based on recommendations from the Relative Value Scale Update Committee (RUC).

The RUC is an expert panel of the American Medical Association and specialty societies charged with developing relative value recommendations to Medicare. A key part of the RUC process is the completion of relative value surveys. Data from these surveys are used to establish the physician work that determines Medicare payment. Please contact James Vavricek at jvavricek@acc.org with any questions.

Read AMA Article

Mended Hearts In The News During Atrial Fibrillation Awareness Month
[September 14, 2015] The risk of an AFib-related stroke can change over time. Billie Jean King, 39-Time Grand Slam Tennis Champion, spoke about what people can do to help protect themselves.

Read more at MyAFibRisk.com
View Good Morning America Video Mended Hearts mention @ 2:57
Listen to HuffPost Live Audio Mended Hearts mention @ 24:12
Listen to Bloomberg Radio Mended Hearts mention @ 4:23

I am Cardio Smart
ACC’s CardioSmart team is in search of four inspiring individuals who are living well with heart disease. Do you have inspiring patients who have survived a heart attack or stroke, or who are living with heart failure, atrial fibrillation or a congenital heart defect? Encourage them to take part in ACC’s I am CardioSmart contest for a chance to win a $100 Amazon gift card and be profiled in Cardiology Magazine. Stories (no longer than 500 words) must be submitted no later than Nov. 30 to jjpierre@acc.org. For more details and contest rules, go to CardioSmart.org/IamCardioSmart.

Cardiac Rehab month