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2017 | HFSA

HFSA President's Blog: Holiday Reflections

Practice News President's Updates

December 17, 2017
HFSA President’s Blog Day 90

Photo1204--Christopher OConnor
HFSA President
Christopher O’Connor,
MD, FHFSA

Dear Friends and Colleagues,

Happy Holidays!

This is the time of the year to reflect on all that we are grateful for with our family and friends.

I am grateful and proud that the Heart Failure Society continues to advocate for the very best for our patients and the caregivers that we serve.  We are engaged in many exciting initiatives consistent with our five-year strategic plan.  I have outlined below some of the things we have accomplished over the last six months.

  • Education.  We have continued to have outstanding success with our annual scientific meeting and our review courses.  So much so that we are thinking about increasing the number and frequency of our review courses from annually to two to three programs each year.  Please send us suggestions on cities and venues where you think our state-of-the-art review courses might be informative and helpful to you and your colleagues. We welcome your input on content as well.
  • Awareness.  We are working with a third-party consultant to increase heart failure awareness across the country and around the world.  It is imperative that we enhance the understanding of heart failure among our patients, healthcare providers, our colleagues and lay people who support heart failure initiatives.  We are planning to roll out several strategies to accomplish this in the very near future.
  • Research.  The HFSA Network continues to gain momentum.  More than 600 of our colleagues have indicated that they are interested in becoming part of this investigative network.  We are working closely with private and public sponsors to develop an approach that provides value to the clinical research ecosystem.  More to come about this initiative in the future.
  • Advocacy.  Great work is being done in the advocacy arena.  We want to hear from you.  Should we embark on an effort to repeal the 30-day readmission penalties?  Should we promote sodium labeling in restaurants?  We also plan to take an aggressive stance on drug pricing and facilitate access to important new life saving therapies through a multifaceted approach that includes working with third party payers to expedite the approval of important new drugs and devices.
  • International Outreach. We are embarking on an international strategy to expand the brand and become more integrated with heart failure societies around the world.  In the coming months you will see a collaborative approach with our international colleagues and more outreach to countries across the globe that rely on our expertise to improve education, research and patient care.

As we conclude this calendar year, I want to assure you that the Heart Failure Society is fiscally sound and in a good position to invest in important activities that will grow our presence and influence in the heart failure community.  We will continue to be inclusive and employ a multidisciplinary theme-based membership and approach to heart failure research and patient care. We encourage all young heart failure providers to look to HFSA as a place for collaboration, education, research, and professional growth.  We hope that young colleagues will join the society and continue as active members in the coming years.  Our philosophy of Patients First is of paramount importance and will allow our society to continue to grow and advocate for the patients we serve.

I hope all of you will spend time with your family and friends and enjoy restful holidays.  We look forward to a vigorous 2018 and to continuing our initiatives to change the course and burden of heart failure.

Sincerely,
Chris
Christopher O'Connor, MD, FHSA
President HFSA
@coconnormd
Vision: To Significantly Reduce the Burden of Heart Failure