September 2005 FINAL CALL: Diabetes Education Initiative The Diabetes Education Initiative (DEI) will be held this Saturday, September 10, from 7.30 to 11.30 am at the Orrington Hotel in Evanston.  Registration will now be accepted on Saturday at the registration desk which will open at 7.00 am. This program is being presented the first time nationwide by the Illinois Chapter and ultimately will be featured by other ACC Chapters in the months ahead.  Please mark your schedule and plan to attend. Hotel parking is available for $10. The program and registration information can be located on the chapter website: www.ilacc.org. KATRINA FOCUS OVERSHADOWS ALL OTHER ACC ACTIVITIES AT PRESENT: IDEAS SOUGHT A communication dated Friday, September 2 from ACC President Pamela S. Douglas MD, FACC stated "The ACC is extremely concerned about our members, their families and communities after the storm. We hope they are all safe and our thoughts and prayers are with them and all the victims of this tragedy. Additionally, we are extending an offer of assistance to the chapter and members in the affected areas during the following months. We are ready to send communications, assist with administration, meeting details, newsletters, or other chapter business activities that will allow your colleagues to focus on personal concerns at this time. The ACC staff is currently compiling ideas on how to assist our members and others that have been devastated by the hurricane. Let us know if you have suggestions. We encourage you to contribute to the relief efforts and more information on how to assist will be forthcoming. Please contact, Kristin Try, Director, Chapter Affairs, at 301.897.2696 or by email at ktry@acc.org, if you have any questions or need assistance. Please keep your colleagues, their families and staff, and the communities in Alabama, Florida, Louisiana, and Mississippi in your thoughts." AHA RELEASES NEWLY UPDATED HEART FAILURE GUIDELINES The American Heart Associate has announced a release of newly updated hear failure guidelines.  They are available at www.americanheart.org/statements.  In conjunction with the release of the guidelines, a live educational web conference will be held on Thursday, September 29 @ 2.00 pm Central Time.  Dr. Gregg Fonarow, UCLA, will lead a discussion on changes to the heart failure guidelines and how they may impact patient care.  The conference is available free of charge and will last one hour.  Register online to attend  at americanheart.org/getwiththeguidelines. CMS SEEKS TO REIN IN NUCLEAR MEDICINE SELF-REFERRAL In the August 8, 2005, Federal Register, CMS proposed a rule to prohibit physicians self-referal for nuclear medicine services and supplies with which physicians have a financial relationship. This proposed rule extends long-standing Stark prohibitions to diagnostic and therapeutic nuclear medicine services.  Jonathan S. Batchlor, AuntMinnie.com staff writer notes in an article dated 8/31/2005 that "Unless CMS can be persuaded to not go through with the rule change, the impact on planned facilities with referring physician ownership is pretty clear: their development will likely be terminated or at least halted until a new, Stark-compliant structure can be put in place".  The proposed rule is open for comment until September 30 with a final rule to be published by CMS later this year.  The chapter solicits comments from members on this issue by September 15.  Comments will be sent to CMS via ACC prior to the September 30 deadline.  The Batchelor article is available at AuntMinnie.com. ACCF IN FINAL DEVELOPMENT STAGES OF  PAY-FOR-PERFORMANCE (P4P) PRINCIPLES An action alert has been sent by the American College of Cardiology Foundation to members of the ACC Board of Governors regarding a draft "ACCF Principles to Guide Physician Pay-for-Performance Programs For the Delivery of Cardiovascular Care." ACCF wants reviewers to sign off on this document. It will soon be distributed to all ACC members.