The American College of Cardiology (ACC) develops a number of clinical policy documents to
provide members with guidance on clinical topics. While clinical practice guidelines remain the
primary mechanism for offering evidence based recommendations, such guidelines may contain
gaps in how to make clinical decisions, 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, 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 processes of ACC’s clinical documents.
The main recommendation of the Task Force was a new focus on concise decision pathways
and/or key points of care, instead of the traditional longer documents. The Task Force also
established criteria for identifying high-value clinical topics to be addr...