COVID-19

COVID-19 Resources for Members

The Society for Vascular Surgery has collected a number of resources to provide information on the Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) and its impact.

Advocacy  Guidelines&Tools  Associated Resources  JVS

Other  A Message From SVS President, Dr. Kim Hodgson

Advocacy

CMS Regulatory Changes

The CMS issued an interim final rule on Monday, March 30, detailing new rules to equip the American healthcare system with flexibility to respond to the COVID-19 pandemic. These temporary changes will apply immediately across the entire U.S. healthcare system for the duration of the emergency declaration. Below is an SVS summary of the action and useful links.

• SVS Summary of CMS Activities
• Physicians and Other Clinicians: CMS Flexibilities to Fight COVID-19
• CMS Coronavirus Waivers & Flexibilities
• Trump Administration Makes Sweeping Regulatory Changes to Help U.S. Healthcare System Address COVID-19 Patient Surge
• Trump Administration Issues Second Round of Sweeping Changes to Support U.S. Healthcare System During COVID-19 Pandemic
• Medicare and Medicaid Programs; Policy and Regulatory Revisions in Response to the COVID-19 Public Health Emergency
• CMS Announces Relief for Clinicians, Providers, Hospitals and Facilities Participating in Quality Reporting Programs in Response to COVID-19

CARES Act

CARES Act Overview & Summary

• SVS Summary of the CARES Act; Physicians Can Get Financial Help to Support Practices
• AMA Summary of the CARES Act
• CARES Act (section-by-section)
• Fact Sheet: Provider Relief Fund General Distribution 2
• AMA Guidance for HHS General Allocation Fund Portal
• Coronavirus Supplemental Appropriations Summary

Medicare Accelerated and Advance Payment Program

• Fact Sheet: Expansion of the Accelerated and Advance Payments Program for Providers and Suppliers during COVID-19 Emergency
• List of Regional MACs by Name and State

Provider Relief Fund

• CARES Act Provider Relief Fund Application Guide
• CARES Act Provider Relief Fund CMS FAQs
• CARES Act Provider Relief Fund Application Link - for organizations who have already received payments through the Provider Relief Fund (filed cost reports)
• HHS Extends Deadline for Attestation, Acceptance of Terms and Conditions for Provider Relief Fund Payments to 45 Days​

SBA Loan Programs: Economic Injury Disaster Loan Program (EIDL) and Paycheck Protection Program (PPP)

• Small Business Provisions in CARES Act
• Title 1 - Keeping American Workers Paid and Employed Act Section-by-Section
• Summary of Paycheck Protection Program
• Small Business Payment Protection Program Overview
• Paycheck Protection Program FAQs for Small Businesses
• Overview of SBA Coronavirus Relief Options
• Economic Injury Disaster Loan Program
• EIDL Assistance Information & Applications
• PPP Information & Applications
• PPP Information for Lenders
• PPP Information for Borrowers
• PPP Application for Borrowers

Small Business Tax Provisions

• CARES Act Unemployment Insurance and Business Tax Provisions

COVID-19 Resources

• Bulletin: ACS COVID-19 Update—March 27
• CMS Consolidates Fact Sheets, Press Releases and Website Links to one Emergency Page

Surgical Advocacy During COVID-19

• Surgical Coalition Letter to Congress
• Medicare Accelerated and Advance Payment Program Coalition Letter 

Clinical Practice

Guidelines & Tools

Vascular Surgery Triage Guidelines
Guidance in triaging vascular surgery patients’ procedures during the pandemic, developed by the SVS Clinical Practice Council:

• Cover Letter
• Required Elective Procedures (as of 3.25.2020)
• Vascular Surgery Triage by Tier Class

Telemedicine Guides

• SVS HIT Task Force Telemedicine Primer
• AMA Letter to CMS on Audio-Only Telephone Visits
• COVID-19 Emergency Declaration BlanketWaivers for Health Care Providers
• CMS Telehealth and Virtual Services Coverage and Payment Video
• CMS COVID-19 Interim Final Rule FAQs
• CMS Issues New Wave of Infection Control Guidance Based on CDC Guidelines to Protect Patients and Healthcare Workers from COVID-19
• FCC COVID-19 Telehealth Program
• FCC Connected Care Pilot Program

• Mundaii.com - FREE telemedicine services (not SVS reviewed or endorsed):

  • Mundaii.com Patient Handout
  • Mundaii.com Quick Start Guide for Providers
  • In the news: Surgeon’s free app links patients, docs, hospitals

Handbook on COVID-19 Prevention and Treatment
The Handbook on COVID-19 Prevention and Treatment shares the COVID-19 experiences of healthcare colleagues around the world who have been battling the virus. While not covering vascular surgery specifically, the handbook is a useful general resource, with valuable information for providers and systems on the front lines.

SVS Clinical Practice Council on COVID-19

The SVS Clinical Practice Council held a discussion around COVID-19 and its implications for vascular surgeons. Topics included vascular surgery triage, financial safety and the SVS response. The recording of the conversation is available for listening here.

Speakers and topics included:

• Overview of SVS response to COVID-19: William Shutze, MD
• Experience with vascular surgery triage:  Dawn Coleman, MD
• Survival in community practice during the pandemic: Daniel McDevitt, MD
• The financial safety net provided by the government: Megan Tracci, MD
• Adjustments that need to be made to the various phases of the pandemic: Thomas Forbes, MD

Associated Resources

AMA Resource Center for Physicians (website)

• COVID-19: Recommendations for Pursuing Liability Protections Through State Action

The American College of Surgeons (website)

• Information for Surgeons
• Guidance for Triage of Non-Emergent Surgical Procedures
• ACS Surgeon Well-Being Index, a free resource to Fellows, Associate Fellows and resident surgeons in the United States and Canada, and much more
• Joint Statement: Roadmap for Resuming Elective Surgery after COVID-19 Pandemic

• Local Resumption of Elective Surgery Guidance

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (website)

The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (website)

• CMS Letter to Clinicians Summarizing CMS Actions
• CMS Recommendations on Adult Elective Surgeries, Non-Essential Medical, Surgical and Dental Procedures During COVID-19 Response 
• CMS Recommendations on Non-Emergent, Elective Medical Services and Treatment
• CMS Partner Toolkit, including:
  • Emergency Declaration Health Care Providers Fact Sheet (pdf)
  • General information and updates
  • Waivers
  • Guidance for health care providers and facilities, for labs and for PACE organizations
  • Billing & Coding guidance, and more

FDA Press Announcements (website)

• FDA Guidance for Conducting Clinical Trials
• FDA Allows Expanded use of Devices to Monitor Patients’ Vital Signs Remotely

National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute (website)

Public Health Agency of Canada (website)

The U.S. Government, coronavirus.gov (website)

U.S. Food & Drug Administration (website)

Your State Department of Public Health

World Health Organization (website)

JVS

The Editors of the JVS Publications have launched a freely available COVID-19 Collection on the Journal websites. New papers regarding personal and institutional experiences during the pandemic, brief clinical research, special articles, and important Letters to the Editor on changes in clinical practice are published within 5-days of acceptance.

• JVS Journals COVID-19 Collection

Other

SVS Communications
SVSConnect
VAM Updates
Pulse

SVS Town Halls

• Early Vascular Surgeon Experiences with COVID-19 (3.27.2020)
• Impact of COVID-19 on Education, Training, & Wellness (4.3.2020)
• Financial Assistance Programs for Practices Impacted by COVID-19 (4.10.2020)
• Telemedicine Platforms and Their Use in the COVID-19 Era (4.17.2020)
• Guidelines for the Safe Operation of Vascular Labs (4.24.2020)
• Maintaining the Dialysis Access Lifelines During COVID-19 (5.1.2020)
• Clinical Challenges Managing Vascular Patients with COVID-19 (5.8.2020)
• Legal & Financial Aspects of Restarting Your Clinical Practice (5.15.2020)
• How is Industry Going to Restart Clinical Support? (5.22.2020)

Corporate Donation Programs
During these difficult times, our industry partners are continuing to support the vascular community through donation programs. As more of our partners give back to the vascular community, the SVS will share updates on our Corporate Donation Programs page here.

CMS COVID-19 Stakeholder Calls
The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services has been hosting regular calls with a variety of clinicians, hospitals, other facilities, and states to keep stakeholders updated on their COVID-19 efforts. All recordings of the calls along with transcripts can be found below and on their Podcast and Transcripts page.

• CMS National Stakeholder Call with Administrator Seema Verma (ZIP) (3.31.2020)
• CCSQ Call with Home Health and Hospice Providers (ZIP) (3.31.2020)
• CMS Call with Hospitals and Health Systems (Audio Only) (3.31.2020)
• CMS Call on Theraputics (Audio Only) (3.28.2020)
• CMS Medicaid & CHIP All State Call (Audio Only) (3.27.2020)
• CMS Medicaid & CHIP All State Call (Audio Only) (3.24.2020)
• CMS Call, Lessons from the Front Line (Audio Only) (3.24.2020)
• CMS Medicaid & CHIP All State Call (Audio Only) (3.20.2020)
• CMS Medicaid & CHIP All State Call (ZIP) (3.17.2020)
• Transcript, Audio File- OA Stakeholder Call (ZIP) (3.16.2020)
• Transcript, Audio File- OA Stakeholder Call (ZIP) (3.13.2020)

A Message From SVS President, Dr. Kim Hodgson

A bridge over troubled waters: Read the letter from SVS President Dr. Kim Hodgson on how the SVS is working and communicating with members during this time.

The links provided above are for convenience only and should not be considered an endorsement of the content therein. We will continue to add links and information as they become available.