What's in Store for You at the Fall CV Transforum

Saturday, June 22, 2019 | Lori Walsh

Last week we posted the first-look agenda for our Fall CV Transforum. This week, I thought I'd give you some insights about the sessions we're planning.

We do a number of things to ensure the content at each conference is compelling and relevant for members. We review the conversations from the listservs. We listen closely during the closing session at each conference, during which attendees ask questions and share ideas and challenges. We survey attendees at the end of each conference and our consultants continuously identify current issues while in the field.

So I feel confident that this is the agenda you've asked us for, in one way or another. And if it doesn't inspire you to register, I hope the location will. The Monarch Beach Resort in Dana Point, CA is nothing short of spectacular.

Thursday October 24

Although we're not quite ready to announce speakers and details about the pre-conference sessions, one of them will be focused on patient access, and the other will dig into dyad leadership models with a couple programs sharing their experience. Stay tuned for more information, we will be adding speakers and a detailed description in the next week.

Thursday afternoon will open with these outstanding general sessions:

• State of Cardiology - This session will provide a broad brush of the big picture and the important trends that are shaping our specialty and programs over the next 3 - 5 years. If you are thinking that you can barely make it through today, let alone worry about what might happen in three to five years, we feel your pain. At the same time we feel it's important - our duty actually - to focus on the future so that you can strategically prepare for new delivery models, new technologies, and collaboration with other systems. This is a don't-miss-it session for the future of your program.
  
  
• CV Commercial Bundles – [Alternative: Don’t think you need to learn about bundled payment arrangements (like BPCI)?  Don’t think Costco is going to start bundling heart cases?  Maybe, or maybe not!] What if you don’t want to participate in BPCI Advanced? What if you'd rather go directly to Costco and contract for their open heart cases? This session will give you the state of the state about what’s happening with commercial bundles, what the opportunities look like and where there are threats. You'll hear insights from programs and companies doing this, as well as see some of the early data.
• Legal Update - We'll deliver the latest legal perspective on several new case rulings related to anti-kickback statutes. Specifically, several hospitals lured physicians with high salaries that violated fair market value (FMV) statutes. We'll give you the details and how these rulings might impact you.

After the opening sessions we'll introduce our industry partners and give you some time to talk with them and understand their offerings. After that, we'll round out the day with two more general sessions.

• Group Value in FMV Testing - MedAxiom's Joel Sauer along with an FMV analyst will cover the changes in both the individual FMV and the group FMV and discuss the impacts on RVUs and compensation packages. Will cardiologists fare better as individuals or group members? Joel will discuss the pros and cons of both.
• Population Health - We know this is still a nebulous topic for many of you, but we also feel in our marrow it’s going to be impacting us all soon. This session will feature Dr. Khurram Nasir, Director Population Health & Health Systems Research at Yale University School of Medicine. He'll give us a perspective on where he sees cardiovascular services getting population health right - and wrong - and what to do about it. 

Friday October 25

Friday morning is focused around our Pod sessions, after which we'll facilitate case study discussion with some of MedAxiom's industry partners. General sessions begin after lunch.

• Caring About Your People - We’ll share how a health system's culture of putting people first could be the difference in just getting by and roaring success. Among other things, this session will cover decreased turnover and increased employee satisfaction.
• Cardiology Advocacy Alliance (CAA) Update - Our legislative arm will present updates that include what we can expect in CMS' Final Rules.
• The Challenge of Digital Transformation in CV Care - How can we as a specialty leverage the advantages of telehealth, remote patient monitoring platforms, and other new technologies? How do you decide when to hold off, and when to jump in? John Rumsfeld, MD, PhD, FACC will take us through an interesting discussion about the impact of technology on CV services.

Following these sessions and a break to visit with industry partners, there will be eight breakout sessions to choose from throughout the afternoon. These are framed as nuts and bolts courses, case studies, or interactive discussions so you get a deeper dive on focused topics and trends. From TVU Model Case studies and How to Use Your NCDR Data, to Addressing Quality Concerns in the Practice and Hospital, there's a lot to choose from. You can review the list of eight sessions in the agenda.

Saturday October 26

We structured the final sessions to end in time for those of you who live in Midwest and East Coast time zones to catch your flights. We hope that boosts the number of you who stay for the breakouts, which end at 11:15am.

There will be two general sessions on Saturday:

• Governance and Leadership Structures That Work -The number one problem we see in programs is the lack of effective governance and leadership. This session will offer several examples of what has worked and what hasn’t. There is something for everyone in this session, no matter the size of your organization.
• Successful CV Hospitalist Programs - What are the best practices needed to make these programs work? Again, we've got real-life scenarios and examples that illustrate the initial need for the program, what worked, what didn't, and what is being done by the organization to improve how you work with your hospitalists.

Four breakout session options follow, covering value-based compensation models, CV scorecards, transitional care pathway programs, and appropriate staff levels.

Finally, our unstructured, open discussion between MedAxiom consultants and members starts at 10:30am and concludes at 11:15am. Since making this a final session several years ago - when only ten members attended - this discussion has become a favorite closer. About eighty-five of you attended at the spring conference and the conversation was lively. We hope you'll stick around for the dialogue.

All in all, it's a hearty agenda for fall. We'll send updates as details are confirmed. Meanwhile, I hope you'll REGISTER as well as book your room soon, our room block is filling up fast at  The Monarch Beach Resort in Dana Point, CA .  See you in October!

 

Illustration: Lee Sauer

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