Circulation: Cardiovascular Quality And Outcomes - New Journal From The American Heart Association

Main Category: Cardiovascular / Cardiology
Article Date: 19 Jul 2008 - 12:00 PDT

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Reflecting the growing emphasis on evidence-based cardiology practice, the American Heart Association has announced a September premier for Circulation: Cardiovascular Quality and Outcomes. The journal -- the fifth in a series of six new titles to appear under the banner of Circulation: Journal of the American Heart Association -- will be published by Lippincott Williams & Wilkins, a part of Wolters Kluwer Health.

"Our journal will be a catalyst for turning outstanding science into actions that will improve health and healthcare," said Harlan M. Krumholz, M.D., S.M., who has been named editor of the new journal. Krumholz is Harold H. Hines, Jr. professor of medicine and epidemiology and public health at Yale University and director of the Center for Outcomes Research and Evaluation at Yale-New Haven Hospital.

Circulation: Cardiovascular Quality and Outcomes arrives at a time when cardiologists are increasingly challenged to translate new scientific knowledge into meaningful advances in patient care and clinical outcomes, according to Krumholz.

"As a profession we are manifesting remarkable advances in our ability to prevent and treat cardiovascular disease and yet we see marked gaps in our ability to provide safe, effective, efficient, equitable, timely and patient-centered care," Krumholz said. "There is a need for scholarship to promote improvements in cardiovascular health and healthcare, focusing on the end results of our efforts."

The core of Circulation: Cardiovascular Quality and Outcomes will be original research studies that span the spectrum of cardiovascular outcomes research. The journal will also present papers focusing on methodology, including new measurement tools and analytic approaches. "Our journal will be multidisciplinary in its orientation and will welcome contributions that bring into focus the methods of a wide range of fields as they apply to outcomes research," Krumholz said.

Other features will include case reports focusing on local innovations from practitioners, commentaries on clinical practice and policy, "primers" on statistical interpretation or methods, and "MMWR-style" rapid data reports. Online extras will include special data supplements, as well as the opportunity for readers to submit "E-Letters" in response to published articles.

"I am very pleased with the release of the latest in our new line of subspecialty journals, and with its new editor, Dr. Harlan Krumholz," said Joseph Loscalzo, M.D., Editor-in-Chief of Circulation and the Circulation portfolio of journals. "With his leadership, this journal is poised to become a leading voice in the cardiovascular outcomes community."

The editors are actively seeking new research studies and other manuscripts for consideration for Circulation: Cardiovascular Quality and Outcomes. "Quantitative, qualitative, mixed methods, economic and health policy research, among others, will be welcome," Krumholz said. "To be competitive for publication, the research questions must be strong and consequential and the methods and writing should be outstanding."

Information on submitting a manuscript can be found at http://circ.ahajournals.org/misc/ifora_outcomes.shtml.

Like the previous titles in the Circulation portfolio of journals, Circulation: Cardiovascular Quality and Outcomes addresses the need for tightly focused information at the cutting edge of cardiology. Four journals have previously launched: Circulation: Arrhythmia and Electrophysiology, Circulation: Heart Failure, Circulation: Cardiovascular Imaging, and Circulation: Cardiovascular Interventions. The final title -- Circulation: Cardiovascular Genetics -- will premier in October.

Circulation: Cardiovascular Quality and Outcomes and all of the Circulation portfolio journals will be available in both print and online formats. The journal Web site, http://circoutcomes.ahajournals.org/, will launch when the first issue is posted in September and will also present "Publish Ahead of Print" articles and other online features.

American Heart Association/American Stroke Association Premium Professional members will have free, full-text access to journal articles through December 31, 2008. The first issue of each of the six new journals will be available to the public for free as sample issues.

About the American Heart Association

Founded in 1924, the American Heart Association is the nation's oldest and largest voluntary health organization dedicated to building healthier lives, free of heart disease and stroke. These diseases, America's No. 1 and No. 3 killers, claim more than 870,000 lives a year. In fiscal year 2006-07 the association invested more than $554 million in research, professional and public education, advocacy and community service programs to help all Americans live longer, healthier lives. To learn more, visit americanheart.org.

About Wolters Kluwer Health

Wolters Kluwer Health (Conshohocken, PA), a division of Wolters Kluwer, is a leading provider of information and business intelligence for students, professionals and institutions in medicine, nursing, allied health, pharmacy and the pharmaceutical industry. Major brands include traditional publishers of medical and drug reference tools and textbooks, such as Lippincott Williams & Wilkins [http://www.lww.com]/] and Facts & Comparisons®; electronic information providers, such as Ovid, Medi-Span® and ProVation; and pharmaceutical information providers such as Adis International and Source®. Wolters Kluwer Health has annual revenues (2007) of $1,044 million (euro 761 million) and employs approximately 2,700 employees globally. For more information, visit http://www.wkhealth.com/.

Source: Cathy Lewis
American Heart Association