A new merger between healthcare groups aims to improve cardiovascular patient care.

Last week, it was announced that the American College of Cardiology and the Society of Cardiovascular Patient Care completed a merger that will combine SCPC’s accreditation processes and expertise with ACC’s data registry services, education, and quality initiatives.

“This partnership leverages the strengths of both organizations and will build upon our shared goals of transforming cardiovascular care and improving heart health,” SCPC Chief Executive Officer Wil Mick said in a statement. “We have a lot to learn from each other, and together we can continue to make hospitals and hospital systems better to deliver evidence-based care to patients.”

Under the partnership, SCPC will operate as a business unit within ACC.

“The nice thing about this merger is that there aren’t any redundancies,” ACC Chief Executive Officer Shal Jacobovitz told Associations Now. “They are an organization that has the capability that we currently don’t have, and we have all these capabilities that they don’t have, so putting this together actually creates an incredibly powerful organization because of all of the synergies.”

SCPC, for example, wanted to expand its accreditation programs, which currently include areas such as chest pain, heart failure, and atrial fibrillation, but it lacked the resources to do so. By joining forces with ACC and leveraging its educational and advocacy capabilities, both organizations hope to grow the accreditation programs into areas that include catheterization and electrophysiology labs.

The move is complementary and strategic, said Jacobovitz.

“If you look at a merger, especially in this case, in the member association or nonprofit space, it has to be that way because it’s not like in the for-profit world where you can slash and burn and reduce cost,” he said. “This is not about reducing cost. This is about can we take two organizations, put them together, and create something even bigger than there was previously in order to meet the mission of both organizations.”

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