I had the honor of interviewing Dr. Ronald Dalman, the Walter C. and Elsa R. Chidester Professor and Chief of Vascular Surgery at Stanford University. We focused on one of the five “practices” routinely embraced by successful leaders described by Kouzes and Posner in their book “The Leadership Challenge”: “challenging the process” and the courage to question the status quo and thoughtfully test new paradigms.

VC: Tell me about your leadership style when it comes to implementing change. How do you prepare yourself for the potential risks associated with such change?

Ruptured abdominal aortic aneurysms risk scores, based on four variables, allows accurate prediction of 30-day mortality after repair, according to a study published in October’s Journal of Vascular Surgery. The risk factors, which authors say can be readily assessed in the emergency room, include age of 76-plus; confidence interval of 1.47-4.97; P=.011); creatinine concentration of more than 2.0 mg/dl; and systolic blood pressure ever less than 70 mm Hf.

Why should vascular surgeons or their coding staff attend the SVS Coding and Reimbursement Workshop? The short answer is: reimbursement, risk and red tape. Or, as workshop instructor Sean Roddy, MD, puts it: “Maximize your appropriate reimbursement, limit your risk of audit and avoid red tape.”

The Society for Vascular Surgery has translated the updated guidelines on abdominal aortic aneurysms into Spanish, aimed at the large population of Spanish-speaking vascular surgeons.

The translated guideline — a pilot project to gauge interest in such work — already is available. The SVS International Relations and Document Oversight committees collaborated on the translation.

Wellness checks aren’t just for physical health. They’re for fiscal health as well.

SVS members might want to do such an assessment of their disability insurance coverage: Are plans paid for with pre-tax or after-tax dollars? Is the rate locked in? Members just might be significantly under-insured.

SVS offers individual disability plans with three companies – Principal Life Insurance Company, Standard Life and Lloyd’s – through its Affinity Program of expanded benefits.

Proposed Rules Include Substantial Cuts to Vascular Labs

After reviewing proposals from the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS), the Society for Vascular Surgery has drafted comments to mitigate potentially substantial negative effects on SVS members.

A coalition of more than 150 medical associations and societies, representing subspecialties and states and including the Society for Vascular Surgery, has urged the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services to adopt changes to CMS’ proposed rule on Evaluation & Management services alterations for 2019. Details are outlined in a letter to CMS Administrator Seema Verma. The final rule is expected to be issued in early November.

[[{"fid":"1907","view_mode":"default","fields":{"format":"default","alignment":"","field_file_image_alt_text[und][0][value]":false,"field_file_image_title_text[und][0][value]":false},"link_text":null,"type":"media","field_deltas":{"1":{"format":"default","alignment":"","field_file_image_alt_text[und][0][value]":false,"field_file_image_title_text[und][0][value]":false}},"attributes":{"height":884,"width":1325,"style":"height: 133px; width: 200px; margin-left: 6px; margin-right: 6px; float: left;","class":"media-element file-default","data-delta":"1"}}]]Vascular Nurses Week begins this Sunday

Low-income vascular patients need understanding from medical professionals

Dr. Michel S. Makaroun, President, has been active in the SVS in a variety of roles since 1997 and served as secretary from 2013-2016. He is a distinguished fellow of the SVS and is professor and chair of vascular surgery and of clinical and translational science at the University of Pittsburgh and co-director of the UPMC Heart and Vascular Institute. (See his accompanying remarks.)