NEWS RELEASE

The Council of Medical Specialty Societies (CMSS) Awards $100,000 Grants to Eleven Specialty Societies Seeking to Improve Diagnostic Excellence

Chicago, IL (November 1, 2023) –

The Council of Medical Specialty Societies (CMSS), a coalition of 51 specialty societies representing more than 800,000 physicians across healthcare, has awarded 11 member specialty societies grants of $100,000 each to promote diagnostic excellence across the field of medicine. This second round of awards fund a diverse array of projects to support the development and dissemination of resources and programs to improve the timeliness, accuracy, safety efficiency, patient-centeredness, and equity of diagnostic outcomes for patients in the United States. The awards include several projects that focus on three categories of conditions that are known to cause a disproportionate share of preventable harm from suboptimal diagnosis, including cancer, cardiovascular disease, and infection.

These awards are the result of a competitive grant program administered by CMSS and funded by the Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation for medical specialty societies to support the development of resources and programs to promote diagnostic excellence for clinicians and patients. In addition, The John A. Hartford Foundation, which promotes age-friendly care, is providing additional support as the funder of the grant award to the American Urological Association. "Diagnostic excellence is fundamental to the health and well-being of all people, and especially older adults who often have multiple chronic conditions complicated by frailty,” said Terry Fulmer, PhD, RN, FAAN, president of The John A. Hartford Foundation. “Our organization is very pleased to do our part to support this program and continuously learn how to improve care for older patients. We believe better care for older adults is better care for everyone!”

Proposals were reviewed by an external advisory committee comprised of a diverse group of national experts in diagnostic excellence and patient safety, clinician education, quality improvement and research.

CMSS is pleased to announce the following funded grants:

• American Academy of Dermatology (AAD) - Promoting Diagnostic Excellence: Diversity, Diagnostics, and Dermatology
• American College of Emergency Physicians (ACEP) - Promoting Diagnostic Excellence Across Medicine in the Older Adult – Ruptured AAA Missed Vascular Event
• American Epilepsy Society (AES) - Improving Clinician Competence in Use and Interpretation of EEG: A Matter of Safety, Quality, and Equity
• American Gastroenterological Association (AGA) - Narrowing Health Disparities in Diagnostic Evaluation of Iron Deficiency Anemia through Clinician-directed and Patient-focused Interventions
• American Society for Clinical Pathology (ASCP) - Promoting Diagnostic Excellence by Improving the Communication of New Cancer Diagnoses
• American Society of Nephrology (ASN) - Promoting the Use and Understanding of the new eGFR Clinical Algorithm
• American Urological Association* (AUA) - Promoting Diagnostic Excellence and Health Equity in Urology Care
• College of American Pathologists (CAP) - Promoting Effective Communication of Pathology Results While Meeting the Various Needs of Patients and Members of the Care Team
• American College of Chest Physicians (CHEST) - “How We Do It”: CHEST Experts Weigh In
• Society of Critical Care Medicine (SCCM) - Developing a Feedback Mechanism for Receiving ICU Clinician of Patients with Sepsis
• Society for Vascular Surgery (SVS) - Advancing Diagnosis and Staging for Early Detection and Treatment of Peripheral Artery Disease to Prevent Amputation

*Recipient of The John A. Hartford Foundation award

Review brief descriptions of each project.

Medical specialty societies are well-positioned to educate and disseminate effective strategies that advance diagnostic excellence among their members through educational programs, including accredited CME, peer-reviewed journals, clinical guidelines, research, and clinical registries.

“The enthusiastic response we received from medical specialty societies underlines an important point – delivering diagnostic excellence for our patients is a responsibility and a calling for all physicians, regardless of their specialty”, said Daniel Yang, MD, Program Director of Patient Care at the Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation. We’re thrilled to partner with medical specialty societies to advance diagnostic excellence, providing resources and educational materials to hundreds of thousands of clinicians across the country.”

In addition to the selection and provision of grants to individual societies, CMSS will serve as a coordinating center to monitor and promote cross-specialty learning, improvement, collaboration, and identification of best practices in diagnostic excellence that can be shared with the broader medical community.

“With the generous support of our funders, 20 specialties are actively engaging their members in diagnostic excellence,” said Helen Burstin, MD, MPH, MACP, CEO of the Council of Medical Specialty Societies. “The legacy of the CMSS grant program will be greater awareness, attention, and action to prevent avoidable diagnostic harm across medicine.”

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The Council of Medical Specialty Societies is the national organization of specialty societies representing more than 800,000 physicians across the house of medicine. CMSS works to catalyze improvement across specialties through convening, collaborating, and collective action to address emerging issues that influence the future of healthcare and the patients we serve.  For more information, visit www.cmss.org.

The Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation fosters path-breaking scientific discovery, environmental conservation, patient care improvements and preservation of the special character of the Bay Area. Visit www.Moore.org or follow @MooreFound.

The John A. Hartford Foundation, based in New York City, is a private, nonpartisan, national philanthropy dedicated to improving the care of older adults. The foundation has three priority areas: creating age-friendly health systems, supporting family caregivers, and improving serious illness and end-of-life care. Visit www.johnahartford.org.

 

Media Contacts:

CMSS: Julia Peterson, Chief Operating Officer, jpeterson@cmss.org

Moore Foundation: Caitlin Cobb, Communications Officer, caitlin.cobb@moore.org

The John A. Hartford Foundation: Marcus Escobedo, VP, Communications and Senior Program Officer, marcus.escobedo@johnahartford.org