Inappropriate stent use made the news again last week, after a Pennsylvania hospital announced it plans to review two cardiologists accused of implanting 141 stents inappropriately. The article came out just two days after the Maryland State House held hearings on new legislation that underscores the need for accreditation & certification of catheterization labs. The bill, the Maryland Cardiovascular Patient Safety Act, was drafted by the ACC, the Maryland Chapter of the ACC and SCAI following meetings with state policymakers. We have been working to get this bill introduced.

Maryland has been at the forefront of the stenting controversy. Larry Dean, M.D., F.A.C.C., SCAI president, Sam Golderg, M.D., F.A.C.C, Maryland Chapter governor, and Mark Turco, M.D., F.A.C.C., Maryland Chapter governor-elect, and I wrote a President’s Page for the Feb. 17 issue of JACC that addressed how we see the situation of procedure overuse, which is neither confined to the state of Maryland or the field of interventional medicine. To be perfectly clear, the ACC does not condone inappropriate use of coronary stenting, overuse or misuse of any cardiovascular technology or therapy.

That said, what’s happening in Maryland is a prime example of how a negative situation can be turned into a positive opportunity to improve quality and appropriateness of care. Working with Maryland lawmakers, we were able come up with a solution that allowed state officials to feel that quality in cardiovascular care will being ensured, while allowing physicians to determine the specific manner in which that can best be achieved.

“We are all in the same boat in a stormy sea, and we owe each other a terrible loyalty,” wrote English author G.K. Chesterton. How we react to this overutilization storm will determine our future. We must take stewardship for the health care system into our own hands, so that society will view us as true professionals who can be trusted to practice appropriate use of resources because we are basing our treatments on the latest and best scientific evidence.

You can read more about what the ACC, ACC Maryland Chapter and SCAI have been working on in Maryland in this previous blog post; in particular, the comments section offers great insight into the views of ACC members.