What do US cardiologists and electrophysiologists REALLY think about the American College of Cardiology's (ACC) heavily-promoted collaboration with the American Board of Internal Medicine (ABIM) to create their "Continuous Maintenance Pathway" (CMP) for continually maintaining their ABIM board certification?
That's a question I wanted to know, so I helped create a quick 5-minute survey on the matter open to US cardiac electrophysiologists, cardiologists, and heart failure specialists.
I hope to have the results compiled by the Heart Rhythm Society in May, 2019.
I look forward to your responses and thoughts. Additional comments regarding the CMP program not covered in the survey can be left in the comments on this blog post.
Thanks-
-Wes
15 comments:
Not to influence anyone . . . but the jury is out on the American College of Cardiology.
A.C.C. ProPublica Non-profit explorer.
Self-wheeling/dealing
College
After
Money
ACC has a wealthy foundation with accelerating profits/revenues annually.
ACCF has a related (for profit) LLC involved in property management.
There are two related (for-profit) C corporations, which are consultancies, one in DC and the other in Shanghai's free trade zone. ACC also makes policy/influences policy in DC and elsewhere.
FISCAL YEAR ENDING DEC. 2016 PDF
990 Total Revenue $113,934,622
Total Functional Expenses $116,418,365
Net income -$2,483,743
Notable sources of revenue Percent of total revenue
Contributions $16,131,836 14.2%
Program services $83,416,332 73.2%
Investment income $632,759 0.6%
Bond proceeds $0
Royalties $12,301,628 10.8%
Rental property income -$135,655
Net fundraising $0
Sales of assets $1,587,722 1.4%
Net inventory sales $0
Other revenue $0
Notable expenses Percent of total expenses
Executive compensation $6,154,091 5.3%
Professional fundraising fees $0
Other salaries and wages $33,213,437 28.5%
Other
Total Assets $231,442,569
Total Liabilities $134,655,015
Net Assets $96,787,554
https://projects.propublica.org/nonprofits/organizations/135641985
Schedule R ACC Foundation
https://projects.propublica.org/nonprofits/organizations/135641985
(1)American College of Cardiology 2400 n st nw washington,DC20037
31-1781555 SEE VI DC 501(C)(6) ACCF
Yes
(a) Name of related organization
(b)Transaction
type (a-s) (c)
Amount involved (d)
Method of determining amount involved
(1) American College of Cardiology
C 692,686 ACC net income
(2) American College of Cardiology
E 15,937,411 Cost
(3) American College of Cardiology
N Cost
(4) American College of Cardiology
P Cost
PART I, COLUMN (B) ACC LLC 1 PRIMARY ACTIVITY: PROPERTY MANAGEMENT
PART II, COLUMN (B) American College of Cardiology PRIMARY ACTIVITY: Advocate and influence policy for quality cardiovascular care SCAI/ACC Scientific Meeting Corporation PRIMARY ACTIVITY: Conduct interventional science & education meeting
PART IV, COLUMN (B) ACC Services Inc PRIMARY ACTIVITY: Consultancy for medical education
https://projects.propublica.org/nonprofits/organizations/135641985/201732839349301758/IRS990ScheduleR
What's up with ACC's Consultancy/C Corporation in Shanghai, China? Where does the membership money go for this "member-driven" society?
Department of Consumer and Regulatory Affairs, DC Government
7005225 AMERICAN COLLEGE OF CARDIOLOGY FOUNDATION, expires 8/31/2019
Charitable Solicitation 2400 N ST NW 102, WASHINGTON, DC 20037
https://www.china-briefing.com/news/shanghai-business-registration-online-platform-foreign-invested-enterprises-launched/
And how about that ACC Foundation C Corporation soliciting business/creating policy out of offices in Washingston, DC?
The American College of Cardiology [ACC] should consider changing its name to reflect reality. Maybe at one time ACC used to be a "college" comprised of academic and clinical physicians, but now it is plain to see that it is a "corporation" of executives consulting in business deals, mergers and acquisitions, political affairs and medical policy.
The American College of Physicians [ACP] might consider its outdated humoresque billboard masquerading as a "College" as well.
Both societies make a mockery of medicine, but primarily make fools out of themselves with their enamored embrace of MOC money and creating markets for themselves and their cronies.
MOC is the kiss of death for docs working in the trenches. But for the corporate executives/professional medical politicians at ABMS medical specialty boards it brings increased revenues. MOC lines their pockets and fills their investment accounts quickly, beyond an internist's wildest dreams.
FIGMD and ABMS/ACC Corporate CC/Data Partners
(MOC® and their New CLONE CERTLINK® - FigMD)
https://www.abms.org/media/119899/abms-selects-figmd-to-develop-certlink-platform.pdf
From ACC Tax Filings - reveals collusion with ABMS on a global scale and opaque tax-enhanced business relationships with ACC and FigMD. Sweet deal for the executive millionaires to upcode their casg payout and bennies each year. How much tax do these non-profit charities/I mean companies pay? Illinois-based companies that should be scrutinized by federal, state district, and municipal tax authorities.
ACC Independent Contractors (expenses)
Section B. Independent Contractors 1 Complete this table for your five highest compensated independent contractors that received more than $100,000 of compensation from the organization. Report compensation for the calendar year ending with or within the organization’s tax year.
(A)Name and business address (B)Description of services (C)Compensation
-Freeman Audio Visual Solutions,
4545 West David Street
DALLAS,TX75211
Annual Meeting A/V 1,540,084
-CIGNITI TECHNOLOGIES,
433 LAS COLINAS BLVD 1300
IRVING, TX 75309
NCDR REGISTRY 2,382,393
-FIGMD INC,
6952 ROTE ROAD STE 400
ROCKFORD,IL 61107
PINNACLE REGISTRY 1,773,545
-QUALITY INSIGHTS INC,
3001 CHESTERFIELD PLACE
CHARLESTON, WV 25304
DATA ANALYSIS 1,278,708
-THE CHOICE INC,
PO BOX 62408
BALTIMORE, MD 21264
TEMPORARY STAFFING 939,979
2 Total number of independent contractors (including but not limited to those listed above) who received more than $100,000 of compensation from the organization - 109
Form 990 (2017)
Schedule J (Form 990) 2017 Page 2 Part II Officers, Directors, Trustees, Key Employees, and Highest Compensated Employees.
(A) Name and Title (B) Breakdown of W-2 and/or 1099-MISC compensation (C) Retirement and other deferred compensation (D) Nontaxable
benefits (E) Total of columns
(B)(i)-(D) (F) Compensation in column (B) reported as deferred on prior Form 990
(i) Base
compensation (ii) Bonus & incentive
compensation (iii) Other reportable compensation
1 Shalom Jacobovitz
CEO (i)
(ii) 724,200
-------------
0 193,617
-------------
0 59,110
-------------
0 45,500
-------------
0 30,681
-------------
0 1,053,108
-------------
0 44,710
-------------
0
2 Cathleen C Gates
EVP, Chief Operating Officer (i)
(ii) 142,657
-------------
332,866 34,839
-------------
81,291 0
-------------
0 15,525
-------------
36,225 7,214
-------------
16,832 200,235
-------------
467,214 0
-------------
0
3 William Oetgen MD MBA FACC
EVP (i)
(ii) 461,035
-------------
0 108,377
-------------
0 0
-------------
0 45,000
-------------
0 4,207
-------------
0 618,619
-------------
0 0
-------------
0
4 John Rumsfeld MD PhD FACC
Chief Innovation Officer (i)
(ii) 375,000
-------------
0 67,125
-------------
0 0
-------------
0 27,000
-------------
0 28,245
-------------
0 497,370
-------------
0 0
-------------
0
5 Michael A Votaw
CFO/DVP- FIN/IT & OPS (i)
(ii) 343,523
-------------
0 48,358
-------------
0 0
-------------
0 33,750
-------------
0 28,133
-------------
0 453,764
-------------
0 0
-------------
0
6 John Brendan Mullen
EVP (i)
(ii) 331,895
-------------
0 44,147
-------------
0 0
-------------
0 35,000
-------------
0 28,092
-------------
0 439,134
-------------
0 0
-------------
0
7 Julia Chang
DVP, Science & Quality (i)
(ii) 297,485
-------------
0 42,372
-------------
0 0
-------------
0 27,000
-------------
0 27,970
-------------
0 394,827
-------------
0 0
-------------
0
8 Lisa M Hix Esq
General Councel (i)
(ii) 268,462
-------------
67,115 0
-------------
0 0
-------------
0 2,492
-------------
623 18,840
-------------
4,710 289,794
-------------
72,448 0
-------------
0
9 Thomas E Arend Jr Esq CAE
COO & General Counsel (i)
(ii) 125,715
-------------
0 146,033
-------------
0 29,011
-------------
0 13,497
-------------
0 9,082
-------------
0 323,338
-------------
0 0
-------------
0
10 Janice Sibley
DVP, Education (i)
(ii) 271,185
-------------
0 19,390
-------------
0 0
-------------
0 27,118
-------------
0 2,242
-------------
0 319,935
-------------
0 0
-------------
0
11 Abraham Joseph
DVP, Accreditation (i)
(ii) 225,000
-------------
0 25,275
-------------
0 0
-------------
0 22,500
-------------
0 2,078
-------------
0 274,853
-------------
0 0
-------------
0
12 Henry Solomon
Bus.Dev Med Advisor associate (i)
(ii) 225,000
-------------
0 17,100
-------------
0 0
-------------
0 22,500
-------------
0 22,555
-------------
0 287,155
-------------
0 0
-------------
0
13 Kathleen M Hewitt
Team Ldr,S&Q Strat & innov. (i)
(ii) 218,600
-------------
0 22,483
-------------
0 0
-------------
0 27,325
-------------
0 16,342
-------------
0 284,750
-------------
0 0
-------------
0
14 Sharman T Kahn
Team Leader, HR, & Org. Dev. (i)
(ii) 214,500
-------------
0 25,735
-------------
0 0
-------------
0 4,281
-------------
0 26,813
-------------
0 271,329
-------------
0 0
-------------
0
15 Susan A Sears Hamilton
Team Leader, Annual Mtg & Prog (i)
(ii) 217,831
-------------
0 22,206
-------------
0 0
-------------
0 27,229
-------------
0 12,077
-------------
0 279,343
-------------
0 0
-------------
0
16 Lara E Slattery
Team Leader, NCDR (i)
(ii) 213,938
-------------
0 24,200
-------------
0 0
-------------
0 26,742
-------------
0 27,675
-------------
0 292,555
-------------
0 0
-------------
0
17 Joyce Donnellan
Team Ldr,digital/Live dev grp (i)
(ii) 215,432
-------------
0 21,898
-------------
0 0
-------------
0 21,543
-------------
0 22,974
-------------
0 281,847
-------------
0 0
-------------
0
18 Barbara Christensen
Team Leader, Registry Services (i)
(ii) 188,536
-------------
0 23,127
-------------
0 0
-------------
0 23,567
-------------
0 9,112
-------------
0 244,342
-------------
0 0
-------------
0
Schedule J (Form 990) 2017 Page 3
PART I, LINE 1A BUSINESS CLASS TRAVEL PERMITTED FOR INTERNATIONAL TRAVEL TO THE PRESIDENTIAL -TEAM AND THE CEO.
THIS TRAVEL IS NECESSARY TO CARRY ON THE BUSINESS OF THE COLLEGE.
How about corporate charters/private jets for executivies
http://voices.washingtonpost.com/economy-watch/2008/11/gm_gets_message_to_sell_two_co.html
15 Royalties .. 379,121 379,121
16 Occupancy ........... 1,093,953 348,032 742,025 3,896
17 Travel ............ 5,839,722 5,375,189 464,031 502
18 Payments of travel or entertainment expenses for any federal, state, or local public officials . 0
19 Conferences, conventions, and meetings .... 4,515,860 4,383,745 132,115
20
Schedule J (Form 990)
From 990 Part VII
2. Total number of individuals (including but not limited to those listed above) who received more than $100,000 of reportable compensation from the organization - 235
(235 additional employees on top of the creamers making over 100K per year.)
https://cvquality.acc.org/NCDR-Home/reports/physician-dashboard
MOC is a big hoax. The ACC cunningly invested in a fake product/story invented by the ABMS and their associates -- along with the NCQA and their combined corporate stakeholders.
It seems like the ACC still has a large body of highly intelligent free-thinking cardiologists paying dues, but not enough of them are in leadership roles. Mostly we see corporate yes men.
In going after MOC money the ACC has unfortunately betrayed its membership. The ABMS may have pressured leadership in the wrong direction, targeting cardiologists politically, in fact, which is a low moral point for the executives in charge. Betrayal sits in the throat like a lump.
The ABMS lost any moral authority it had years ago. That was its only real currency. They lost trust by abusing its captive clients in mandating MOC and doing it with a bribe to older successful and more well off specialists. The ACC runs the risk of losing its support base, big time. That is certain. What good are all those award ceremonies when there is a bad taste left in the mouth over the way ACC's executives are cozying up with the ABMS -- the bad choice people. The mostly silent ones waiting it out, the ones who got it wrong in more ways than they will ever admit.
Let's hope the civil cases lead to some Federal investigation along with some individual indictments to bring the sensibilities and moral compass back into the medical societies to get back to the business of serving their membership, not ripping them off or turning a blind eye.
A complete and utter money grab, pure and simple. Thank you for all that you are doing. Recently multiple physicians "lost" their board certification at our hospital and we are scrambling to figure out what to do because our bylaws require board certification by ABIM to maintain privileges. Do we just kick everyone out because of this MOC scam? So we are taking up the idea of allowing NBPAS as an alternate path - but it will be an uphill battle I am sure. People are already saying if we don't require ABIM, we are watering down standards, our malpractice premiums will go up and we won't get reimbursed by certain insurance companies. We shall fight regardless. THANK YOU for all that you do. You certainly don't do it for yourself and as a practicing cardiologist six years out of fellowship, it is refreshing seeing somone in your shows fight for the greater good. THANK YOU, Dr Fisher!
Dr. Fisher has made extraordinary efforts to enlighten the community about the evils of MOC along with many others such as Charles Kroll, Kurt Eichenwald, NBPAS leadership/grassroots movements who understand the issue in depth. The quality issues are bogus, fraudulent. Made up by the ABMS and member boards along with an archipelago of NGOs such as the ACGME and NCQA.
It is telling that the real life stories of how MOC harms physicians and patients has had little airtime in the mainstream media.
Why the blackout and blackballing? Because billions of dollars are at stake in the healthcare industry associated with the MOC Ponzi scheme.
It is a revealing/damning statement about the ABMS when we see millions of MOC dollars are spent on aggressive PR campaigns to suppress the real facts and dispense disinformation (paid for by captive physicians/clients). The ABIM alone (the ABMS flagship) spends millions every year suppressing vital information that the public needs to know. Their inhouse studies are pseudo science. A throwback to the days of "snake charmers" and "street vendors."
Who'd have thought that the ABMS/ABIM and all the other 23 medical specialty boards would come full circle in support of a bogus tonic (MOC) that is poured down patients'/physicians throats by authority of who? An unaccountable archipelago of NGO scammers/industry stakeholders and special interests involved in the largest educational Ponzi scheme in the history of the United States.
It is unreal that we have to wake up to this devastating reality every day.
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