Take it on good authority from a recently approved Active Member regarding early career development: "Join the SVS," urges Jeffrey Siracuse, MD. "It’s a great opportunity to be involved, to learn, to make an impact."

Dr. Siracuse has been an active member since 2016. He became interested in vascular surgery as a third-year medical school student and has attended the Vascular Annual Meeting since 2008, when he was a research resident.

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“BLACK PATIENTS PRESENT WITH MORE SEVERE VASCULAR DISEASE AND A GREATER BURDEN OF RISK FACTORS THAN WHITE PATIENTS AT TIME OF MAJOR VASCULAR INTERVENTION.” Journal of Vascular Surgery, February 2018.

CHICAGO, Illinois, February 2018 –African Americans come into the vascular operating room with significant co-morbidities that may explain their more severe level of disease and higher risk factors, report researchers who reviewed 76,000 vascular cases for their report in the February edition of the Journal of Vascular Surgery.

Attending the Vascular Annual Meeting as a scholarship recipient helped turn on a lightbulb in Katharine Wolf’s mind.

"I got to see how basic science research and clinical surgical practice really intersect," said Wolf, who attends medical school in Illinois and is currently performing a research internship in Dr. Alan Dardik’s lab at Yale University.

In June 2017, the SVS Board of Directors approved bylaw changes that were ratified at the Annual Business Meeting, paving the way to review and approve membership applications throughout the year. These changes were made to improve access, efficiency and service to existing and future SVS members. Beginning in 2018, SVS will now review and approve applications on a quarterly basis – in March, June, September and December.

Please Complete Benchmarking Surveys

Curious how vascular services are benchmarked and valued? Wouldn’t you want to have this information to share with your administrators and colleagues?

The SVS and the Medical Group Management Association (MGMA) remind SVS members to participate in two important surveys. MGMA is reintroducing vascular surgery as a benchmarked specialty, and these surveys will provide data on the process of negotiating contracts and the balance between practice costs and revenue.

Despite affecting 25 million Americans, including two to six million with ulcer conditions, chronic venous insufficiency is relatively understudied compared to other vascular diseases. Yet for patients with venous leg ulcers, their condition is debilitating, painful and embarrassing.

Don’t get too comfortable with today’s knowledge on the Quality Payment Program. Some changes are being proposed for 2018, mostly related to increased reporting requirements to avoid the 5 percent Medicare payment penalty in 2020.

CMS released its proposed rule for Year 2 of the QPP in late June. The final rule will be released this fall and changes will be effective Jan. 1, 2018.

News From SVS | First Data Collection Year Coming to an End

SVS members have a narrow window remaining to participate in the Quality Payment Program (QPP) this year and avoid a 4 percent Medicare reimbursement penalty in 2019. The final 90-day reporting period began Oct. 2.

As Executive Director of SVS, one of my priorities, and great joys, is to find opportunities to meet and talk with SVS members locally in their own communities and practices. I hear a lot of ideas expressed at meetings of course, but seeing things first-hand, and talking to partners and team members about their local issues and practice environments and their needs, helps me to understand how SVS can best help.