About the Blue Ribbon Panel

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Composed of physician and health care leaders, the mission of the ACC's Blue Ribbon Panel is to develop a policy that can serve as a model for health care provider involvement in health system reform. The Panel first convened during the 2008 Health System Reform Summit to determine areas that should be a focus during health system reform and to develop a set of principles that encapsulate these areas. Evolving from the Summit was a commitment to the following principles, which make up the backbone of Quality First:

Participants at the 2008 Health System Reform Summit
A focus on patient value
Coordination across sources and sites of care
Payment incentives for quality care
Health care provider professionalism and partnership with patients
Universal access to basic care
Public/private financing

Since the Summit, the Blue Ribbon Panel has met regularly to discuss how to move Quality First and the health system reform movement forward. They have met with lawmakers, payers and health care organizations to both refine and spread the Quality First message.

The principles originally conceived at the Summit have been further developed based on discussions and input from members. During ACC.08, the ACC conducted a member survey to determine physician feelings on health system reform. The results were impressive. The cardiovascular professionals sampled responded that all of the principles determined by the Blue Ribbon Panel are important, and only 8 percent offered additional principles to include.

In addition, the survey results speak to the current state of the health care system. For example, the results indicate inefficiencies in quality of care. According to the survey, at least one-in-ten cardiovascular professionals often encounter: unavailability of medical records; compromises in patient care; repeated tests/procedures; and inappropriate follow-up.

The results support the need for wide-scale health system reform. The Blue Ribbon Panel will meet again during next year's Health System Reform Summit to continue to refine the principles, reassess the current environment and determine how best to move forward in the future.