University of Virginia Health System

AMERICAN COLLEGE OF CARDIOLOGY INSTALLS U.VA. CARDIOVASCULAR CHIEF AS PRESIDENT

In his convocation speech, Beller called attention to the tremendous advancements in cardiovascular medicine in the past 50 years but emphasized that the aging population mandates a continued dedication to training cardiovascular specialists. The implication of a larger, older and sicker population of patients with heart disease is that we may need to markedly increase – perhaps even double – the number of cardiovascular specialists in the next 50 years, Beller said.

He stressed the need for universal health care coverage and addressed the problem of managed care. This [managed care] has undermined the physician-patient relationship. Certain managed care organizations provide incentives to physicians to do less, rather than more. We cannot allow such incentives to exist. We must resist them, Beller urged.

Beller advised his colleagues to embrace the learning opportunities created by the Internet and other technologies but not to lose their scientific objectivity because of potential financial gain.

Beller, who will serve a one-year term as president of the ACC, is considered a leader in the field of nuclear cardiology. He has contributed to nearly 300 publications; is the author of Clinical Nuclear Cardiology; and coedited Nuclear Cardiology: State of the Art and Future Directions, which is now in its second edition. Beller has played a role in various cardiovascular organizations and is on the editorial boards of 18 journals, including the Journal of the American College of Cardiology.

Beller received his medical degree from U.Va. in 1966 and returned to Charlottesville in 1977 to take the position of chief of the Cardiovascular Division.

March 14, 2000