While Dr. Michael Dalsing doesn’t have a crystal ball, he is nonetheless making two predictions in the wake of the November presidential election:

1.    Changes will come to the Affordable Care Act.2.    MACRA, MIPS and APMs, part of the replacement legislation for Medicare reimbursement, will remain and SVS members will need to learn about it. 

The 2017 Medicare Physician Fee Schedule Final Rule includes many changes beneficial to SVS members, following many months of work, including submission of comments, by SVS members and advocacy staff. The schedule was released on Nov. 2, 2016. 

Surgery is dangerous for cigarette smokers. If your surgeon recommends surgery, smoking cessation is a must. Ask for help if you need it.

If you can't quit on your own, ask physician for help

CHICAGO, Illinois, Jan. 18, 2017 – Cigarette smokers facing surgery should quit smoking as soon as possible, according to a new statement released jointly by the Societies for Vascular Surgery and Vascular Nursing.

SVS / SVN JOINT STATEMENT

Vascular Surgery Teams Urged to
Actively Provide Smokers with Cessation Assistance

CHICAGO, Illinois, Jan. 3, 2017 – The Society for Vascular Surgery and the Society for Vascular Nursing encourage vascular surgery teams to actively assist smokers with smoking cessation before surgery. The reasons are two-fold:

• Impending surgery provides many patients with a “teachable moment” (1) when they are more receptive to stopping a bad habit

The Society for Vascular Surgery and the Society for Vascular Nursing have signed an agreement in which the nursing association will be managed from the Chicago-based SVS office.

As Dr. Samson noted in his column (page 2), the words of Nobel Laureate Bob Dylan remind us the times are a-changing.

The January issue of the Journal of Vascular Surgery and Lymphatic Disorders will offer something new for the new year: an article for which Continuing Medical Education credit is offered.

Plus, in another enhancement of educational offerings, the publication expands from four to six annual issues in 2017, to accommodate a larger number of top-notch submissions.

Preliminary available data from the groundbreaking CREST-2 trial indicate the value and positive results of intensive medical therapy, whether patients also received revascularization as well, said Dr. Brajesh K. Lal, principal investigator.

The holiday season – the season of caring and goodwill, for giving -- is upon us. It’s the season where people reach out to help people in need, to help make the world a better place, to impact the future through donations of time, effort and money.  

Annual appeals are underway for two important SVS entities: the SVS Foundation annual campaign and the SVS Political Action Committee.

Since Congress scrapped the formula for Medicare reimbursement in 2015, SVS has worked closely with legislators to shape the replacement rule, the Medicare Access and CHIP Reauthorization Act (MACRA) and ensure our members’ voices are heard on Capitol Hill.

With the release of the Final Rule, SVS is pleased to report that the agency listened to members’ concerns and made many changes to the Proposed Rule. SVS leaders, however, believe work remains to be done to improve the new Medicare reimbursement system, the Quality Replacement Program.