In this issue: 02 G uest editorial Track your wRVUs, because nobody else does it better 10 B randing SVS launches patient-facing website as part of long-term vascular surgery branding campaign
NOVEMBER 2024 Volume 20 Number 11
THE OFFICIAL NEWSPAPER OF THE
NOVEL MEASURE SUGGESTS 20% OF ELECTIVE CAROTID REVASCULARIZATIONS FAIL TO ACHIEVE A TEXTBOOK OUTCOME
18 B rand new column VS launches its latest comment section addition: The Outpatient 22 SVS Foundation Applications open for 2025 James S.T. Yao Resident Research Award www.vascularspecialistonline.com
COMMUNITY OUTREACH
By Bryan Kay ONE-IN-FIVE PATIENTS failed to achieve a textbook outcome after undergoing carotid endarterectomy (CEA), transcarotid artery revascularization (TCAR) or transfemoral carotid artery stenting (TF-CAS), a Vascular Quality Initiative (VQI) analysis that tested a novel, patientcentric textbook outcome metric found. “Having a non-textbook outcome was prognostic of an inferior five-year survival” among asymptomatic carotid stenosis patients who underwent any of the three carotid revascularization procedures, Jesse Columbo, MD, presenting author of the multi-institutional study, told the 2024 New England Society for Vascular Surgery (NESVS) annual meeting in Portland, Maine (Oct. 25–27). “Hospital transfer, non-home living status and severe comorbidities were predictive of a non-textbook outcome.” The findings come in the wake of the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) Medicare coverage expansion for carotid stenting to standardrisk patients, with a physicianpatient shared decision-making interaction now required to form part of the preoperative assessment process.
Service: Giving back Pioneering American Venous Forum (AVF) and Eastern Vascular Society (EVS) efforts aimed at breaking down barriers to care and educating patients in economically challenged communities on vascular disease have yielded early gains over the first two events staged this year. The vascular surgeons behind these outreach programs—or days of service—tell Vascular Specialist of their plans for the events going forward, an idea they hope catches on among other societies. By Bryan Kay See page 12
See page 7
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