[The cardiology community and health reform. Some reflections to open a debate]

A recently introduced health care reform in Italy will modify substantially the scenario in which all physicians and also the cardiac specialists working in and out of the hospitals will operate. Therefore it is important that the cardiological community, who manages a large proportion of human and financial resources of the Italian National Health Service, knows the reform and interacts with the national and local authorities for the best implementation of the basic principles on which the reform has been founded. These principles are the following: the Italian health service will guarantee all citizens the so-called "essential levels of care" identified in accordance with four distinctive features. They must: 1) safeguard real needs of care (i.e. cosmetic surgery is not considered), 2) be evidence based, 3) be appropriate for individual patients, 4) be cost-effective. In a context of scarce resources and rapidly increasing demand of care this basic strategy seems to be the only one suitable for a National Health Service, but the application of this principle in the real world of care seems a very difficult task, and the role of medical associations is obviously crucial for a good outcome. This report illustrates some articles of the law that deal with the medical profession: guidelines and appropriateness of the criteria; accreditation, clinical competence and quality control; continuing medical education.