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'We are not coasting:' Sarles outlines current state of ACG
PHILADELPHIA — ACG President Harry E. Sarles, MD, outlined the current state and future direction of the college in Monday’s presidential address.
Sarles, who also serves as chief of staff at Texas Health Presbyterian Hospital in Rockwall, Tex., quoted Texan motivational speaker Zig Ziglar throughout his remarks. “If you’re coasting, then you’re going downhill,” Sarles said. “We are not coasting.”
Harry E. Sarles
The mission of the ACG is to advance world-class care for patients with gastrointestinal disorders through excellence and innovation in the areas of scientific investigation, education and treatment, according to Sarles. “While many of the fruits of our labor are realized immediately, others will materialize in the future,” he said.
Sarles framed his discussion in terms of the past, present and future of the ACG.
From the past
The ACG Board of Governors and the Institute for Clinical Research and Education are the two components of the organization that make it unique, according to Sarles. Members of the Board make connections between local, state and federal governing bodies to enact changes in policy that ultimately may improve patient outcomes. “The Board of Governors is where the rubber meets the road in our college,” he said.
Sarles noted that the Institute is comprised of more than 500 clinical investigators who are working with $15 million in funding. He recognized Nicholas J. Shaheen, MD, MPH, of the University of North Carolina in Chapel Hill, as the new director, and stressed, “We all benefit from a robust Institute.”
Present and future
Sarles highlighted the ACG Guidelines for gastrointestinal and liver diseases as a key component of the current state of the college.
“The guidelines give us evidence-based parameters for quality practice activity,” he said.
The other key element to the advancement of both the organization and the treatment of GI diseases is the “Red Journal,” according to Sarles.
Communication and collaboration with other organizations in gastroenterology — namely the American Gastroenterological Association and the American Society of Gastrointestinal Endoscopy — is paramount to improving outcomes and impacting policy.
“We need to find opportunities to speak in one voice, especially when we talk to our policymakers in Washington,” Sarles said. “We need to put forth a collaborative message.”
Largely due to efforts of the three organizations, colon cancer incidence and mortality is down 30%, and a campaign to further reduce incidence 80% by 2018 has gained widespread recognition.
Moving toward the future, Sarles stressed continuing improvements in continuing medical education programs, which he said have become “detached from everyday reality.”
For Sarles, the key to the future of the ACG is innovation.
“Invention is bringing something into being,” he said. “Innovation is bringing something into use.”
For more information:
Sarles HE. President’s Address. Presented at: ACG Annual Scientific Meeting, Oct. 20-22, 2014; Philadelphia, PA.
Disclosures: Sarles is on the advisory board and a stockholder for CRH Medical.