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.

Within eight weeks, COVID-19 had prompted a rapid, decisive pivot to SVS members’ changing and urgent needs. Members faced an upended practice landscape, with elective surgeries banned and financial concerns growing.

BY BRYAN KAY

The vascular world has gone through a dramatic change. The normal to which vascular surgeons had become accustomed has vanished almost overnight. As the realities of the approaching COVID-19 pandemic have begun to crystalize, the Society for Vascular Surgery (SVS) started to set the stage for what was about to re-arrange the specialty for some time to come.

BY MALACHI SHEAHAN III

My predecessor at Vascular Specialist, Russell Samson, MD, had a gift for writing from experience. Perhaps in fear of being unkindly compared with him, I moved in the opposite direction. My editorials are heavily researched, often for months. I felt that the opinions I’ve earned outweigh those that I simply held. In this piece, however, I will abandon the shelter of research and offer the lessons I have learned from a few unique experiences.

(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. MACRA repealed the sustainable growth rate that threatened to reduce Medicare physician payments by more than 20% yearly.

Journal of Vascular Surgery: Vascular Experts Collectively and Continuously Share Best Practices in Care Amid Pandemic

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.

BY SIMONA SICA, SVS SOCIAL MEDIA AMBASSADOR

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.

BY MATTHEW SIDEMAN, MD AND SUNITA SRIVASTAVA, MD

In an effort to combat the “note bloat” culture, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) made changes to the evaluation and management (E/M) office visit codes for 2020. This culture is largely a result of the “check-box” nature of trying to meet documentation requirements. The changes eliminated requirements for clinicians to re-record elements of history and physical exam when there is evidence that the information has been reviewed and updated, and affected codes 99201–99215.

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).

The Society for Vascular Surgery (SVS), the Society for Clinical Vascular Surgery (SCVS) and the Vascular and Endovascular Surgery Society (VESS) are working together to create the program, redesigned substantially from 2019.