The American College of Cardiology (ACC) develops a
number of clinical policy documents to provide members
with guidance on clinical topics. Although clinical prac-
tice guidelines remain the primary mechanism for offer-
ing evidence-based recommendations, such guidelines
may contain gaps in their guidance regarding clinical
decision making, particularly when equipoise is present
in a topic. Expert consensus documents are intended to
provide guidance for clinicians in areas where evidence
may be limited, are new and evolving, or lack sufficient
data to fully inform clinical decision making.
In an effort to increase the impact of ACC clinical policy
on patient care, an ACC Presidential Task Force was
formed in 2014 to examine the processes and format of
ACC’s clinical documents. The main recommendation of
the task force was a new focus on concise decision path-
ways and/or key points of care, instead of the traditional
longer documents. The task force also established criteria
for i...