<<Date>>
<<President Name>>, President
<<Secretary Name>>, Secretary
<<Name of Organization>>
Via email
Dear <<First Name>>,
On behalf of the International Consortium for Evidence-Based Perfusion (ICEBP), I would like to request the <<continued/omit>> participation of <<Name of Organization>>.
As a brief introduction, the ICEBP is a truly international effort aimed at incorporating evidence-based principles and practices into the practice of extracorporeal perfusion. There are currently thirteen member organizations:
1. Australian and New Zealand College of Perfusion
2. Florida Perfusion Society
3. German Society of Cardiovascular Engineering
4. Japan Society of Extracorporeal Technology in Medicine
5. Minnesota Perfusion Society
6. Dutch Society for Extracorporeal Circulation
7. Spanish Association of Perfusionists
8. American Academy of Cardiovascular Perfusion
9. American Society of ExtraCorporeal Technology
10. Canadian Society of Clinical Perfusion
11. European Board of Cardiovascular Perfusion
12. Society of Clinical Perfusion Scientists of Great Britain and Ireland
13. Turkish Society of Perfusionists.
The (ICEBP) partners and collaborates with perfusion societies, professional medical societies, and interested clinicians, to improve continuously the delivery of care and outcomes for our patients. To achieve this mission, we will:
* Evaluate current practice through a dedicated international perfusion registry.
* Develop and publish evidence based guidelines, and support their integration into clinical practice.
* Identify gaps in the medical literature and empower clinical teams to conduct research in areas where evidence is lacking.
* Identify gaps between current and evidence-based clinical practice to promote the improvement in patient care.
A graphic depiction of how we envision this unique organization functioning follows. The thrust of this organization is the transition from current perfusion practice to one grounded in evidence-based medicine. The method for achieving this journey is the development of both a registry and evidence-based guidelines. At the heart of the organization are its member societies. These societies staff committees focused on transforming the perfusion profession through continuous quality improvement, research development, education and a scientific conference. These committees' work will be disseminated through a myriad of ways, namely web-based, email-based, telephone and in-person communication.
The impact of this unique collaboration will be measured by how many international perfusion organizations we can recruit to participate. For the first time, the important issues related to improving the quality of care delivered by perfusionists around the world will be addressed irrespective of where one practices. Member organizations will have a voice in shaping the direction and pace at which these investigations, and real and lasting changes will be integrated into the perfusion community.
We had our second Scientific Sessions in October of this year in Montreal, Quebec, Canada, in which we had over 130 attendees. Representatives included those from all over the world, including: Japan, Belgium, Spain, Netherlands, Sweden, Saudi Arabia, Germany, United Kingdom, Pakistan, Canada, Australia, and New Zealand. We are planning our next Scientific Session to be held the first week in October of 2008. We would welcome your participation in this planning process. Mr. Timothy Dickinson is leading this planning subcommittee. Please feel free to contact Tim to convey your willingness to participate in the planning of this important conference. We shall have a steering committee meeting, as we did in the previous two years, the day prior to the meeting, and if you agree to participate in the ICEBP we would hope that representatives from your society would join us. We shall send out more information as the date gets closer. Please send the name and contact information for your selected representative.
Robert A. Baker, Ph.D., CCP (Aust), chairs the Evidence-Based Guideline Writing Subcommittee. The mission of the guideline writing subcommittee is to develop evidence-based clinical practice guidelines for cardiovascular perfusion. The current guideline under development is related to Inflammation and Platelet Preservation. This guideline will be submitted to the participating perfusion organizations for their review and endorsement prior to submission for publication. Involvement of representatives from each of the participating perfusion organizations in the guideline writing subcommittee should reduce any un/anticipated hurdles for the endorsement of any given guideline.
Kenneth G. Shann, CCP, chairs the Pediatric Process Improvement Subcommittee. The mission of the pediatric subcommittee is to develop, foster, and promote process improvement in the delivery of perfusion services for neonatal, infant and pediatric patients. The Committee has begun collaborating with other congenital heart disease societies such as the World Society for Pediatric and Congenital Heart Disease (http://www.wspchs.com) and the Pediatric Committee of AmSECT. The ICEBP was listed as a founding member of the World Society for Pediatric and Congenital Heart Disease. Recent work has focused on developing a comprehensive list of complications for cardiopulmonary bypass, extracorporeal life support and mechanical circulatory support for congenital heart surgery. Stemming from this work, this committee is drafting a manuscript in conjunction with The Multi-Societal Database Committee for Pediatric and Congenital Heart Disease to be published in Cardiology in the Young.
Theron A. Paugh, CCP, chairs the Communications Subcommittee. His committee maintains our society contact list and website, which may be accessed either at (http://www.bestpracticeperfusion.org/) or (http://icebp.org). He has been working with his subcommittee to post quarterly reports from each subcommittee, offer information to visitors of the site, and in the future provide a forum for perfusionists to discuss topics related to evidence-based perfusion. Theron recently has created a forum for managing communication within each subcommittee vis-à-vis confluence (http://groups.amsect.org/). The guideline and pediatric subcommittees are using this portal to share and edit documents.
David J. Rosinski, CCP, chairs the Educational Subcommittee. The mission of the educational subcommittee is to integrate the principles of the ICEBP into the existing infrastructures responsible for training new and existing perfusion professionals. This subcommittee is tasked with identifying the core skill sets necessary for new and existing professionals for practicing evidence-based perfusion. Two areas of current focus are: 1) developing an evidence-based curriculum model, and 2) profiling educational models.
Donald S. Likosky, Ph.D., chairs the Clinically-Based Registry Subcommittee. The mission of the registry subcommittee is to maintain a registry of the practice of cardiopulmonary bypass, and synthesize and share useful and actionable clinical information from this registry to engage and improve continuously the care provided to patients. This subcommittee has developed the following areas of focus for the registry:
* Patient demographics (to adjust for potential patient-level confounders)
* Compliance with guidelines/recommendations on the practice of cardiopulmonary bypass (amend list as the ICEBP publishes guidelines)
* Cell processing and filtration
* Renal management
* Factors influencing patients having low cardiac output subsequent to surgery
The goal of the registry subcommittee is to develop a web-based data entry portal. A draft version of the data fields (along with definitions) have been agreed upon, and a programmer has been hired to develop the web-based data entry screens. The registry will allow centers would submit to the STS adult registry to import and export data.
We truly feel that the ICEBP is a grass-roots initiative. This effort, while supported in part through the Scientific Sessions, requires additional support through the contributions of member organizations. The an annual membership fee is ($250.00 US), to be paid on every calendar year. Through this membership, each organization will additionally be asked to nominate a member to the Steering Committee, as well as others to the various subcommittees. If your organization agrees to participate in this exciting initiative, we will send your organization a formal request for payment of this annual fee.
I have enclosed with this letter contact information for the chairs of each subcommittee. Additional information may be found at our website (http://www.bestpracticeperfusion.org/) or (http://icebp.org).
Sincerely Yours,
Donald S. Likosky, PhD
Chair, International Consortium for Evidence-Based Perfusion
ICEBP Executive Committee
Donald Likosky, United States
Kenneth Shann, United States
Timothy Dickinson, United States
Robert Baker, Australia
