Thoughts from the NLA Presidents: Letter from the President

It is an exciting time to be the president of the National Lipid Association as we celebrate our 15th Anniversary. The successes and accomplishments of this and the past years are built on the strong leadership and counsel that we have enjoyed from the inception of the organization. An appropriate way to measure our growth and development this year is to visit the Mission Statement and Goals of the NLA, which were established by the Southeast Lipid Association and adopted by the NLA Steering Committee in 2002 at the initial NLA Board Meeting. The mission statement “To enhance the practice of lipid management in clinical medicine” remains the driving force of the organization today and adherence to our initial objectives has provided a framework for maintaining this goal.

I have listed those objectives and highlighted many of our accomplishments over the past year which support our dedication to our mission:

1. To promote the growth of lipid specialty practice as a defined discipline in clinical medicine

a. NLA is leading an ABIM Exploration Task Force with the ABCL regarding clinical lipidology being recognized as a specialty under the assistance of Dr. Carl Orringer

b. In 2016, the NLA was granted joint accredited provider status by the Accreditation Council for Continuing Medical Education (ACCME), the Accreditation Council for Pharmacy Education (ACPE), and the American Nurses Credentialing Center (ANCC) to provide continuing education to the healthcare team through November 2020.

2. To enhance awareness of the emerging knowledge of metabolism, pathogenesis and the genetics of lipid disorders

a. The inaugural Junior Faculty Research Award program has been implemented

b. In a collaborative effort with the Familial Hypercholesterolemia Foundation and others, a new diagnostic code for Familial hypercholesterolemia (E78.01) and Family history of FH as Z83.42) were established

c. The Project Review Committee has been established as the gatekeeper for projects and initiatives

d. Currently under development is a purpose statement and charge for the Past Presidents Council. The suggested focus areas, include maintenance of the NLA core curriculum, exploration of new NLA markets (e.g., international), outreach to medical education and training programs, and support in incorporating clinical lipidology in training/fellowship programs.

3. To improve knowledge and professional skills in the diagnosis and treatment of lipid disorders

a. The NLA Self-Assessment Program (NLA-SAP) was revised under the leadership of Dr. Carl Orringer and was reaccredited in 2016. The program contains 384 questions and is available in a web-based format that provides realtime feedback after each question. The entire program offers 85.5 hours of CME/CE credit and each module provides between 12 - 21 hours of CME/CEcredit.

b. Dr. Carl Orringer will represent the NLA along with ACC and others for the development of new clinical guidelines.

c. The impact factor of the Journal of Clinical Lipidology (JCL) increased from 3.94 in 2014 to 4.906 in 2015.

d. The Early Career Development Committee has developed a mentoring program

e. The Practice Tools & Clinical Care Committee created numerous tear sheets and has revitalized the core competencies project focusing on discipline specific guides for the NLA membership.

4. To foster a multidisciplinary team approach to lipid management and the prevention of cardiovascular

disease

• The NLA elected its first Nurse Practitioner President
• Enhanced collaborations with several other like-minded external organizations including:
  • Women Heart
  • American College of Cardiology (ACC)
  • Preventative Cardiovascular Nurses Association (PCNA)
  • Association of Black Cardiologists (ABC)
  • National Forum for Heart Disease & Stroke Prevention
  • American Society of Preventive Cardiology (ASPC)

In order to best comply with the requirements of the Joint Accreditation and the interprofessional integration requirement, as well as best practices, the Scientific Meetings Committee, has been charged with ensuring a longer-term roster of planners for continuity for meetings, with participants having varying terms. This starts with the planning of the 2017 Fall Clinical Lipid Update. The Scientific Meetings Committee will now include: A standing chair for the term of three years to allow for consistency in programming. The current NLA President (for 1 year consistent with term), Chief Scientific Officer (consistent with term), physician, pharmacist, nurse/nurse practitioner, and dietary representation for a three year term, as well as chapter presidents (consistent with term & only for the meeting cohosted by their chapter,) and ad hoc presidential appointees consistent with the term of the President.

The name of the Continuing Medical Education (CME) committee has been changed to the Inter-Professional Continuing Education (ICE) Committee to accurately represent the professional diversity of the NLA and to support Joint Accreditation.

Further accomplishments include:

1. A task force was assembled under the chairmanship of Dr. Michael Davidson and consisting of members of all of NLA disciplines, to evaluate and make recommendations for the Management Contract with Compass Management & Consulting, which was scheduled for renewal by Dec. 31, 2016. The multidiscipliary task force evaluated the contract and subsequently made recommendations for renewal of the contract for a period of five years. This task force represented the first of this nature and proceeded smoothly; therefore, this type of process will be utilized in the future.

2. A Selection Task force was also established to make recommendations for a new Editor-in-Chief of the Journal of Clinical Lipidology since Dr. Virgil Brown will be retiring effective in December of 2017. Candidates were considered and vetted with a recommendation made to the Board of Directors. Dr. John Guyton was approved as the new Editor-in-Chief.

3. The term of the first Chief Scientific Officer will end in May 2017; therefore, we accepted nominations from the membership to fill this role. We were delighted to have three excellent candidates that were interviewed by the Executive Board with a recommendation to continue with Dr. Peter Jones

for another three-year term. This was the first time this process was utilized and will continue for future appointments. Reviewing many of the accomplishments of the NLA during this past year demonstrates a concerted and ongoing effort toward meeting the objectives and mission of the organization. We are grateful for the framework that was set forth by our original leadership, which has assisted us with current development as we celebrate our 15th anniversary. Having the honor and privilege of serving as the President of NLA during this year has been the highlight of my professional career for which I will always be grateful. And so now we move forward with the confidence that indeed the notion for the development of the NLA 15 years ago was an appropriate and bold first step toward the NLA, as we know it today, the go-to organization for all things lipid.