Background

Medicare payment policy requires a broad and thorough analysis regarding how it affects providers and beneficiaries. Congress has always played an essential role in shaping policies that meet the needs of their communities and constituents to ensure the health care system is equipped to care for diverse populations of this country. Unfortunately, IPAB, created by the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (PPACA), threatens the ability of Congress to ensure access to needed health care.  

As of January 1, 2011, co-insurance for the abdominal aortic aneurysm (AAA) screening benefit in Medicare (G0389) was waived for beneficiaries who qualify for this one-time screening as part of the Welcome to Medicare Physical Exam, which is available during the first twelve months of Medicare eligibility. These beneficiaries include men who have ever smoked and men and women with a family history of AAA.

The Screening Abdominal Aortic Aneurysms Very Efficiently (SAAAVE) Act passed the full (US) Senate as a last minute amendment to the Finance Committee’s budget reconciliation package in November 2005, but was not included in the House package because Medicare was not addressed. A conference committee met in December 2005 to compromise the differences. The committee decided to include the SAAAVE Act in its version, which was sent back to both chambers for a vote. The (US) House passed the bill on December 19, 2005 followed by the Senate on December 2, 2005.

Sign up for the Open Payments System under the Physician Payment Sunshine Act

The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) is encouraging physicians and teaching hospitals to register in CMS Enterprise Portal, requesting access to the Open Payments system.  This registration began on June 1. 

Disease Prevention

Establishes a Prevention and Public Health Fund to provide for expanded investment in prevention and public health programs and a National Prevention, Health Promotion, and Public Health Council to develop a strategy for this within one year after the bill is enacted. Provides for a prevention and health promotion outreach and education campaign. Provides an annual comprehensive health risk assessment beginning in 2011 followed by a visit to a primary care provider for creation of a personalized prevention plan, including covered preventive services.

As of mid-December, researchers have activated the first 10 medical sites and enrolled the first nine patients in a study that will determine the safety and effectiveness of inferior vena cava filters, small, cage-like devices implanted to prevent life-threatening blood clots from reaching the heart or lungs. While vein filters have been in use for years, PRESERVE (Predicting the Safety and Effectiveness of Inferior Vena Cava Filters), is the first large-scale, multispecialty, prospective clinical research trial that will evaluate their real world safety and effectiveness. The inferior vena cava is the main vessel returning blood from the lower half of the body to the heart.

The K08 Award is unlike other NIH research award programs (i.e., R-series awards), in that it is specifically intended to promote mentored research training for early career stage clinician-scientists. It is therefore vital that vascular surgeons applying for the K08 Award keep in mind that there are four principal criteria used by reviewers to judge the relative merit of these applications. These criteria are the quality of: (1) the Applicant, (2) the Basic Science Mentor, (3) the Career Development Plan, and (4) the Research Plan.

This article highlights 5 essential tips when applying to vascular surgery training programs.

Deciding on a field to pursue during medical school can take a great deal of soul-searching. For many, just deciding between a medical field and a surgical field alone can be difficult. This article focuses on how to make the most out of exploring the vascular surgery specialty.

This practice memo reviews the board certification process for vascular surgery and provides some helpful hints for preparation.