New link-up for the Document Oversight Committee

Jan 03, 2021 Re-posted from the January 2021 issue of Vascular Specialist

By Beth Bales and Bryan Kay

The SVS Document Oversight Committee—or the DOC—will be aligning with the SVS Quality Council in order to further its crucial work during the course of 2021.

This will include improving congruency between clinical practice guideline recommendations and the Vascular Quality Initiative (VQI).

Not only will this new direction lead to better collaboration and communication, it should result in more widespread adoption of Clinical Practice Guidelines and reporting, both of which will result in improved quality of care and, subsequently, improved patient outcomes, say committee chair Ruth L. Bush, MD, and vice chair Marc L. Schermerhorn, MD.

The DOC, composed of 16 members, already works closely with the rest of the SVS, including the Executive Board. “Our purpose is to review, critique and promote internally and externally generated Clinical Practice Guidelines, white papers, mobile tools and calculators, all of which support patient care for SVS members,” explain Bush and Schermerhorn.

“The DOC also maintains a regular schedule of reviewing guidelines every five years looking for new literature and data to support or revise recommendations.”

The alignment with the Quality Council will see immediate results during the first six months of 2021, with the DOC due to issue Clinical Practice Guidelines on the management of extracranial cerebrovascular disease, the management of popliteal artery aneurysms and enhanced recovery after surgery for vascular operations, they add.

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