President's page: the state of cardiology is sound: a president's perspective on leaving office.

摘要

The past year has been a challenging one for medical professional societies like the American College of Cardiology (ACC), particularly as a result of health care reform and an increased focus on cutting costs as a result of the economic downturn. It certainly has not been for the "fainthearted."When it comes to cardiology, no one has been immune to the changes. Private practices across the U.S. are making decisions on whether to integrate with hospitals or brave new business models, while academic medical centers are dealing with new research guidelines, dwindling funding sources, and a decreasing number of new recruits. New health care delivery and physician payment models have everyone scrambling to understand and plan for the inevitable transitions that will occur as we move away from a system focused on volume of services to one that is more focused on quality and outcomes.