Articles & Press Releases

“Current practice of thoracic outlet decompression surgery in the United States.” J Vasc Surg Sept. 2017.

Dr. R. Clement Darling III began his presidency of the Society for Vascular Surgery on Saturday, June 3, during the Vascular Annual Meeting.

1. What would you like your presidency remembered for?

The SVS Executive Board has established a task force charged with exploring the potential for developing a vascular certification program for inpatient and outpatient vascular care settings.

Does the anemic – but high cardiac risk – patient need a blood transfusion, or not?

SVS member Dr. Panos Kougias is leading a study on the best transfusion approach when treating patients at high cardiac risk who become anemic postoperatively.

Other members of the 2017-2018 Executive Committee include:

Dr. Michel Makaroun, president-elect

Spending an entire day or so learning about the history of the Medicare and Medicaid programs? Fascinating, said Dr. Matthew Sideman, chair of the SVS Coding and Reimbursement Committee.

The 2017 Vascular Annual Meeting piled on the events: six postgraduate courses, and only time to attend three. Concurrent sessions that – true to their name – were held at the same time. Ditto with breakfast sessions.

“Evaluation of Thrombolysis Using Tissue Plasminogen Activator in Lower Extremity Deep Venous Thrombosis with Concomitant Femoral-Popliteal Venous Segment Involvement.” Journal of Vascular Surgery: Venous and Lymphatic Disorders, September, 2017.

The SVS Patient Safety Organization and M2S, in conjunction with the SVS, presented a webinar last month on getting started in the Medicare reimbursement program, including the Merit-based Incentive Payment System (MIPS).

GOOD NEWS FOR BASEBALL PITCHERS, OTHER ATHLETES

Large national study finds vascular surgery for thoracic outlet syndrome is safe

The Society for Vascular Surgery (SVS) executive board has established a task force to explore developing a vascular certification program for inpatient and outpatient centers.

Before departing for the July 4 recess, the House of Representatives passed H.R. 1215, “Protecting Access to Care Act,” 218-210, a bill that SVS supports.

HOSPITALS WITH MORE UNINSURED PATIENTS HAVE HIGHER FAILURE TO RESCUE RATES FOR OPEN AORTIC SURGERY

“Effects of Hospital Safety-Net Burden and Hospital Volume on Failure to Rescue After Open Abdominal Aortic Surgery,” Journal of Vascular Surgery, August, 2017.

At the 2017 Vascular Annual Meeting (May 31-June 3), the SVS Foundation awarded a number of basic and clinical research grants.

Vascular surgeons in a community practice think of themselves first and foremost as surgeons – not business people.

Yet they are indeed running a business, with payrolls, payment processing, background checks on potential employees, insurance issues, and many other tasks.

In a significant victory for PAD patients and their surgeons, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services is offering national Medicare coverage for supervised exercise therapy (SET) beyond the hospital setting to include a physician’s office or a hospital outpatient setting.

Award winners of the 2017 Vascular Annual Meeting are listed. 

A recent study finds that women undergoing TEVAR experience worse outcomes and that gender should be considered in an analysis of risk versus benefit.

VESAP4 set to debut soon, including a companion app that will let users access the program off-line and then sync with the desktop version. 

VAM'17 attracted the most attendees ever - 1,807 - and set another record for international attendance with 362 registrations. 

Dr. Ronald Dalman discusses this year's annual meeting and takes a brief look ahead to VAM'18.

The SVS Foundation expands its mission and delineates its vision to support new programs and goals. 

Coding course is all set for October 13 and 14, 2017. Claim CMEs and MOCs from VAM by December 31, 2017. And finally, the second annual Joint Review Course will be August 26-28, 2018. 

Dr. Ronald M. Fairman takes the stage at VAM'17, highlighting the personal side of vascular surgery and a career of service in his presidential address.