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.

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.

In other health technological advancements, “wearables” track steps, heart rates and more. Scientists mull over artificial intelligence. A Society for Vascular Surgery (SVS)- branded app is being developed for those overseeing Supervised Exercise Therapy (SET) for patients with peripheral arterial disease (PAD).

Looking into job opportunities? Just want to see what’s out there in terms of career moves to another part of the country?

This year’s Vascular Annual Meeting (VAM) attendees will want to take advantage of the new Career Fair, set for 9:30 a.m. to 5 p.m. Friday, June 19, in the Exhibit Hall. Community Brands, which runs the SVS online job board, is operating the fair.

The SVS Community Practice and Young Surgeons committees endorse the event as a way to provide SVS members exposure to a number of opportunities to change their careers.

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.

The guidelines recommend the use of the Society for Vascular Surgery (SVS) Threatened Limb Classification System for clinical staging and propose the Global Anatomic Staging System for defining the extent and complexity of peripheral arterial disease (PAD) along the Target Artery Pathway.

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.

It doesn’t get too much farther down the road than this, when, under usual circumstances, you are met with a combination of awe and indifference. Awe because— well—people like gory stories, and indifference because, in the end, they can’t ever really relate to it.

Get ready for another “Spectacular” evening at the 2020 Vascular Annual Meeting (VAM).

Ticket sales began in February for the second annual Society for Vascular Surgery (SVS) Foundation “Vascular Spectacular Gala: Northern Lights.”

As last year’s gala sold out in six weeks, Gala Committee chairs Cynthia Shortell, MD, and Benjamin Starnes, MD, are urging those who want to attend this year to reserve their seats early.

BY GREGORY KASPER, MD