Articles & Press Releases

ADDING LEADERSHIP TO THE LEARNING PORTFOLIO OF A VASCULAR SURGEON
BY NASIM HEDAYATI, MD ON BEHALF OF THE LEADERSHIP DEVELOPMENT AND DIVERSITY COMMITTEE

Do you have insights to share on trauma? Diabetes? Perhaps you’ve completed research on AAAs and possible treatment differences for men and women you want to highlight, or you want to help others with the intricacies of coding and billing.

The SVS submitted comments to the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services in September on two important Proposed Rules affecting vascular surgeons: the 2018 Medicare Physician Fee Schedule (MPFS) and Hospital Outpatient Prospective Payment System (HOPPS).

Optimizing the vascular team has been a major theme of the SVS this past year during Ron Fairman’s presidency, and SVS President Dr. R. Clement Darling III has substantially accelerated the pace of activity during his current term. In a historic decision, on Oct.

BY MALACHI G. SHEAHAN III, MD DEPUTY MEDICAL EDITOR, VASCULAR SPECIALIST

“Comparison of Percutaneous Versus Open Femoral Cut Down Access for Endovascular Repair of Ruptured Abdominal Aortic Aneurysm.” Journal of Vascular Surgery, November, 2017

“Contemporary Outcomes of Elective Iliocaval and Infrainguinal Venous Intervention for Post-Thrombotic Chronic Venous Occlusive Disease." Journal of Vascular Surgery: Venous and Lymphatic Diseases, November, 2017.

CHICAGO, Illinois, Oct. 17, 2017 – Are electronic cigarettes, which have been booming in popularity over the past 10 years, safer than regular cigarettes?

Enjoy Member Benefits, Perks of Belonging to SVS

The 2018 dues statements recently were emailed to all members.

Consider Business, Disability Insurance, Plans for Staff

SVS members who are in private practice care not only for their patients but also their employees, with attendant financial obligations.

Don’t get too comfortable with today’s knowledge on the Quality Payment Program. Some changes are being proposed for 2018, mostly related to increased reporting requirements to avoid the 5 percent Medicare payment penalty in 2020.

As Executive Director of SVS, one of my priorities, and great joys, is to find opportunities to meet and talk with SVS members locally in their own communities and practices. I hear a lot of ideas expressed at meetings of course, but seeing things first-hand, and talking to partners and team members about their local issues and practice environments and their needs, helps me to understand how SVS can best help. 

Despite affecting 25 million Americans, including two to six million with ulcer conditions, chronic venous insufficiency is relatively understudied compared to other vascular diseases. Yet for patients with venous leg ulcers, their condition is debilitating, painful and embarrassing.

News From SVS | First Data Collection Year Coming to an End

SVS members have a narrow window remaining to participate in the Quality Payment Program (QPP) this year and avoid a 4 percent Medicare reimbursement penalty in 2019. The final 90-day reporting period began Oct. 2.

The Foundation has had a consequential year, with another beckoning, as the Foundation Board of Directors expanded the mission to add an emphasis on disease prevention and patient education.

After nearly six months of preliminary work, the APM Task Force now is focusing on developing a vascular-specific Advanced Alternative Payment Model.

CHICAGO, Illinois, October, 2017 – Asymptomatic carotid stenosis may not be as silent as once thought.

A new prospective trial reported in the October Journal of Vascular Surgery found that around half of asymptomatic carotid stenosis patients had mild to moderate cognitive impairment.

Colleagues:

Please join me in sending our heartfelt prayers and thoughts to our Society members in Mexico, Puerto Rico, Florida, Texas and all the areas recently hit by disaster.

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For surgeons, it can be difficult to get patients to come back a year after surgery for follow-up tests or an office visit.

Vascular Nurses Week is September 10-16

Thanks to mailings and websites that claim statin medications are harmful or unnecessary, many patients are confused about whether they should take them. That’s unfortunate.

As we age, it is common to be concerned about heart disease or high blood pressure. But many people don’t know that those conditions are also related to another common health issue, peripheral artery disease (PAD). Unfortunately, many patients are not diagnosed until it has progressed.

BY MALACHI SHEAHAN III, MD