The simple introduction of a color-coded card has helped two Texas facilities improve discharge medication compliance and documentation, potentially improving patient outcomes.

A poster abstract, "The Right Meds for the Right Outcomes: A Quality Improvement Initiative Focused on Improving Discharge Medication Compliance and Documentation Across Multiple Registries," presented the compliance problem and steps to mitigate it at the Vascular Quality Initiative’s annual meeting in late May.

The abstract won the inaugural Poster Contest. Rosha Nodine, BAAS, was chief author.

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. Anton Sidawy, MD, has been appointed chair of the task force, which will integrate and provide oversight of two working subcommittees: one for inpatient and one for outpatient office-based care. Dr. Krishna Jain, MD, has been appointed chair of the Office-Based Endovascular Center (OBEC) outpatient Subcommittee. A chair for the Inpatient Subcommittee has yet to be named.

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. So, unless you used a time machine, there was no way to hit every session at VAM that you wanted to attend.

Now you can see what you missed, or view particularly useful sessions again. Purchase the On-Demand Library, a valuable resource of audio and slide recordings of numerous VAM educational session.

Other members of the 2017-2018 Executive Committee include:

Dr. Michel Makaroun, president-elect

Dr. Makaroun is a professor of surgery and of clinical and translational science at the University of Pittsburgh and served as SVS vice president during the presidency of Dr. Ronald Fairman.

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?

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 experience was one of the highlights of his week at the Executive Leadership Program in Health Policy and Management at Brandeis University in 2016. The program also included participating in the American College of Surgeons Leadership and Advocacy Summit in Washington, D.C., this past May.

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.

A total of 1,500 participants at 15 Veteran Administration hospitals will be randomly assigned to receive transfusion at one of two postoperative hemoglobin levels: liberal (less than 10 gm/dL) or restrictive (less than 7 gm/dL).

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

CHICAGO, Illinois, September 2017 – A national study has confirmed the safety of thoracic outlet decompression surgery, validating the findings of previous single-center experiences.

Thoracic outlet syndrome (TOS) is relatively rare but may affect those who use a lot of repetitive upper arm movements, such as athletes. It commonly becomes news when a professional athlete is sidelined for TOS surgery to repair nerve compression.

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“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.