Blog

Farewell message from outgoing President, David Wolinsky, MD, MASNC

As we say goodbye to 2015 I am proud to say that ASNC has had an extraordinarily successful year.  We have advanced the major pillars that have been the foundation of ASNC  - quality, education and advocacy.  New guidelines have been developed on Stressors and Tracers.  Existing guidelines have reached a far broader audience with translation into Spanish.  The ASNC ImageGuide Registry™, is up and running and is expected to generate its first set of quality improvement data early in 2016.  Our educational portfolio continues to expand with an expansive array of on-line educational opportunities.  Our Board Review Course continues to grow in popularity and our Annual Meeting has seen increased attendance and stellar reviews.
Advocacy efforts continue to be strong in facing threats to our field.  Private payers and radiology benefits managers push for test substitution and Congress has mandated CMS to require the use of decision support tools for nuclear cardiology testing.  ASNC has led a multi-society effort to protect patient access to quality testing.  We have begun a series of initiatives to educate referring physicians on the appropriate utilization of nuclear cardiology testing.  This will drive value for our patients not just increase testing volume.   

ASNC has developed a three to five year strategic plan and redefined its mission:
To improve cardiovascular outcomes through image-guided patient management. We will continue to promote improved quality by encouraging the incorporation of cardiac PET into appropriate venues.  Radiation exposure must be reduced.  This will require many labs to incorporate new cameras and/or new software and a switch to stress first /stress only protocols.  ASNC will continue to advocate for appropriate reimbursement to allow for incorporation of these new technologies.

I am grateful to everyone for allowing me to have led you this year. I want to thank the Executive Council, Board of Directors, and CEO Kathy Flood for all their help.
Happy New Year and I wish all of you the best in 2016 

Contributors