Coding event set to take place Sept. 25–26
BY BRYAN KAY
Registration has opened for 2020 iteration of the Society for Vascular Surgery’s Coding and Reimbursement Workshop scheduled to take place from Sept. 25–26.
Articles & Press Releases
Recent Articles
Double whammy: Pair of Annual Business Meetings slated for 2020
BY BETH BALES
In a year full of changes, the SVS Annual Business Meeting is changing, too, with two separate virtual meetings scheduled for 2020 instead of one live event.
Preparing for Quality Payment Program Year Four
(NOTE: This is a longer version of an article that appeared in the May 2020 issue of Vascular Specialist.) Congress passed the Medicare Access and Children’s Health Insurance Program Reauthorization Act (MACRA) by a bipartisan vote in 2015.
New Collection of Articles Available on Impact of COVID-19 in Treating Vascular Disease
Journal of Vascular Surgery: Vascular Experts Collectively and Continuously Share Best Practices in Care Amid Pandemic
Leadership figures ruminate on redeployment of vascular surgeons during viral surge
BY BRYAN KAY
For a time, it was an issue increasingly knocking on the door of program directors and section chiefs in hospitals across the country as COVID-19 cases escalated in their areas: the redeployment of vascular surgeons and trainees to other areas of care.
Preparing for arrival of CMS Quality Payment Program year 4
It’s here: 2020 is year four of the Quality Payment Program (QPP), established by the Medicare Access and Children’s Health Insurance Program Reauthorization Act (MACRA) in 2015.
SVS remains nimble in face of pandemic, pivots to focus on priorities and needs of membership
BY BETH BALES
The Society for Vascular Surgery (SVS) started 2020 with plans intensifying for the Vascular Research Initiatives Conference (VRIC) in May, the Vascular Annual Meeting (VAM) in June, the launch of the branding initiative and a host of other SVS priorities.
VESAP5 debuting by Aug. 1
BY BETH BALES
THE FIFTH EDITION of the Vascular Educational Self-Assessment Program (VESAP) will be available before the beginning of August, when VESAP4 expires.
VAM 2020 canceled, summer interactive forums planned
BY BETH BALES AND BRYAN KAY
Citing the health and the safety of SVS members, constituents and their patients as its chief concern, the SVS Executive Board on April 9 canceled the 2020 Vascular Annual meeting in Toronto as a live event.
Stress Less: Reduce Health Risks to Maintain Overall, Vascular Health
ROSEMONT, Ill., April 20, 2020 – Americans’ stress levels are through the roof – from healthcare workers on the front lines to essential service workers to seniors at home to parents coping with upside-down work schedules and e-learning. April marks Stress Awareness Month, making it a fitting time to understand the impact of stress on the body and address stress management techniques to help navigate through difficult times and maintain health in the process.
What has SVS PAC ever done for you?
BY PETER CONNOLLY, MD, AND MARK MATTOS, MD
Imagine that you are telling your lay friends about what you do for a living. You have to explain the difference between arteries and veins. And then you find that you need to clarify that you do not, in fact, operate on the heart.
Technology drives vascular future
BY BETH BALES
Decades ago, “picture” phones were an idea straight out of science fiction.
As the saying goes, the future is now. FaceTime and Skype are common; similar technology permits doctors to visit patients via telemedicine.
Journal watch: Open-source papers on deck
The Journal of Vascular Surgery (JVS) and JVS: Venous and Lymphatic Disorders (JVS-VL) have a number of open-source articles available in the April and May issues. A sampling follows.
Quality: Global Vascular Guidelines now available in pocket guide format
BY BETH BALES
The Global Vascular Guidelines (GVG), extensively researched and written by an international committee of leading vascular experts, are now available as a pocket guide.
Vascular Trainee Program redesigned for VAM 2020
BY BETH BALES
Helping vascular trainees successfully transition from education and training to clinical or academic practice is the central goal for the Vascular Trainee Program at the 2020 Vascular Annual Meeting (VAM).
VAM adds Career Fair for 2020
Looking into job opportunities? Just want to see what’s out there in terms of career moves to another part of the country?
Recent Articles
Journal supplement outlines updated guidelines, reporting standards
By Beth Bales
The Society for Vascular Surgery (SVS) is starting 2021 with updated guidelines and reporting standards for three vascular conditions.
SVS PAC recaps 2020, offers goals for 2021
By Hasan Aldailami, MD, and Andrew Barleben, MD,
It is difficult to put 2020 into words. However, despite everything bad that has gone on in the U.S. and nationally, the SVS PAC was lucky to have some successes.
SVS Foundation’s new initiative to address disparities in vascular health
By Beth Bales
Significant disparities in healthcare services in the United States result in unnecessary limb loss, stroke and death. Vascular health professionals are developing new programs to address these inequities, through the Society for Vascular Surgery (SVS) Foundation.
Q&A: Education Committee chair drills down on the details
SVS Education Committee chair Kellie Brown, MD, sits down with Beth Bales to answer some questions about the new SVS education platform.
Q. Portal? Website? SVS OnDemand? I keep hearing these terms. What’s what?
New study provides more support for minimally invasive treatments for great saphenous vein (GSV) incompetence
Researchers compared three techniques in the treatment of varicose pathology: radiofrequency ablation (RFA), high ligation and stripping (HLS) and conservative hemodynamic correction of venous insufficiency (CHIVA) to determine superior intervention
Study of patients undergoing abdominal aortic aneurysm repair suggests screening guidelines may be inadequate
ROSEMONT, Ill., January 5, 2020 – A retrospective study analyzing approximately 55,000 patients undergoing abdominal aortic aneurysm (AAA) repair suggests current AAA screening guidelines may be inadequate in detecting a significant number of new cases.
Continuing the cause of the SVS Branding Toolkit
A new SVS Branding Toolkit is the culmination of hard work over the past two years by the Public and Professional Outreach (PPO) Committee, according to campaign spearhead and committee chair Joseph L. Mills, MD. And there’s more to come for 2021.
Pushing forward VA facilities for the betterment of vascular surgery
The SVS VA Vascular Surgeons Committee is looking ahead this year to reclaim procedural volume at Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) facilities—ravaged by COVID-19—and to facilitate construction of hybrid suites.
Inaugural leadership program overcomes pandemic difficulties
The inaugural cohort of the Society for Vascular Surgery (SVS) Leadership Development Program had to show some resilience early.
CMS confirms Physician Fee Schedule cuts; SVS members asked to contact lawmakers
The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services’ (CMS) has delivered a blow to vascular surgery in the form of a 7% cut in total payment for the services it provides. The cuts are included in the agency’s final rule for Medicare payments under the Physician Fee Schedule (PFS), and were slated to take effect Jan.1, 2021.
Dalman to trainees: ‘Vascular surgery is a tremendously rewarding career’
For aspiring vascular trainees, interview season is a time of great stress as well as opportunity. Graduating medical students and residents prepare the pitches of a lifetime.
Appropriateness Committee seeks to push ahead with new guidelines
It was a central plank of the presidential agenda set out by immediate past president Kim Hodgson, MD. And now the SVS Appropriateness Committee has targeted further development of the Society’s first set of Appropriate Use Criteria guidelines.
New committee to deliver diversity position statement
The newly formed Diversity, Equity and Inclusion (DEI) Committee plans to implement the recommendations from the DEI Task Force.
Recent Articles
Journal supplement outlines updated guidelines, reporting standards
By Beth Bales
The Society for Vascular Surgery (SVS) is starting 2021 with updated guidelines and reporting standards for three vascular conditions.
SVS PAC recaps 2020, offers goals for 2021
By Hasan Aldailami, MD, and Andrew Barleben, MD,
It is difficult to put 2020 into words. However, despite everything bad that has gone on in the U.S. and nationally, the SVS PAC was lucky to have some successes.
SVS Foundation’s new initiative to address disparities in vascular health
By Beth Bales
Significant disparities in healthcare services in the United States result in unnecessary limb loss, stroke and death. Vascular health professionals are developing new programs to address these inequities, through the Society for Vascular Surgery (SVS) Foundation.
Q&A: Education Committee chair drills down on the details
SVS Education Committee chair Kellie Brown, MD, sits down with Beth Bales to answer some questions about the new SVS education platform.
Q. Portal? Website? SVS OnDemand? I keep hearing these terms. What’s what?
New study provides more support for minimally invasive treatments for great saphenous vein (GSV) incompetence
Researchers compared three techniques in the treatment of varicose pathology: radiofrequency ablation (RFA), high ligation and stripping (HLS) and conservative hemodynamic correction of venous insufficiency (CHIVA) to determine superior intervention
Study of patients undergoing abdominal aortic aneurysm repair suggests screening guidelines may be inadequate
ROSEMONT, Ill., January 5, 2020 – A retrospective study analyzing approximately 55,000 patients undergoing abdominal aortic aneurysm (AAA) repair suggests current AAA screening guidelines may be inadequate in detecting a significant number of new cases.
Continuing the cause of the SVS Branding Toolkit
A new SVS Branding Toolkit is the culmination of hard work over the past two years by the Public and Professional Outreach (PPO) Committee, according to campaign spearhead and committee chair Joseph L. Mills, MD. And there’s more to come for 2021.
Pushing forward VA facilities for the betterment of vascular surgery
The SVS VA Vascular Surgeons Committee is looking ahead this year to reclaim procedural volume at Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) facilities—ravaged by COVID-19—and to facilitate construction of hybrid suites.
Inaugural leadership program overcomes pandemic difficulties
The inaugural cohort of the Society for Vascular Surgery (SVS) Leadership Development Program had to show some resilience early.
CMS confirms Physician Fee Schedule cuts; SVS members asked to contact lawmakers
The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services’ (CMS) has delivered a blow to vascular surgery in the form of a 7% cut in total payment for the services it provides. The cuts are included in the agency’s final rule for Medicare payments under the Physician Fee Schedule (PFS), and were slated to take effect Jan.1, 2021.
Dalman to trainees: ‘Vascular surgery is a tremendously rewarding career’
For aspiring vascular trainees, interview season is a time of great stress as well as opportunity. Graduating medical students and residents prepare the pitches of a lifetime.
Appropriateness Committee seeks to push ahead with new guidelines
It was a central plank of the presidential agenda set out by immediate past president Kim Hodgson, MD. And now the SVS Appropriateness Committee has targeted further development of the Society’s first set of Appropriate Use Criteria guidelines.
New committee to deliver diversity position statement
The newly formed Diversity, Equity and Inclusion (DEI) Committee plans to implement the recommendations from the DEI Task Force.