Archives for November 2014

Only 1 week left to join ASEF’s Giving Tuesday Team!

There’s now less than one week until Giving Tuesday, an international day of giving! Join the ASE Foundation’s Giving Tuesday Team and pledge to make a donation to the Foundation on December 2. Click here to find out if your company will match your charitable donation. Help us reach our $3,000 Giving Tuesday goal!

Applications for travel grants are being accepted

Applications for travel grants for the Councils on Perioperative Echocardiography, Pediatric and Congenital Heart Disease, Vascular Ultrasound and Cardiovascular Sonography are now being accepted. Please visit the websites for each council for details.

Learn how to incorporate ASE Guidelines into your practice

January 19 – 23: The 25th Annual Echo Hawaii has been crafted to be a comprehensive and practical learning experience that will leave you with a better understanding of several advanced concepts. A 3D Acquisition and Views Workshop will use ASE’s 3D Guidelines to teach you how to get the images you need. Also of special interest will be the Clinical Application of New Technology Summit. This session will explore how 3D Echo provides unique anatomic information, Strain, Torsion, 3D volume assessments, and novel techniques for assessing patients. Register for Echo Hawaii now.

February 21 – 24: An updated “Recommendations for Cardiac Chamber Quantification by Echocardiography in Adults” will be released in January. The 28th Annual State-of-the-Art Echocardiography’s preconference Learning Lab: A Road to Comprehensive Quantification, will explore the new guideline in-depth with the lead author of the Guideline, Dr. Roberto Lang. This session features hands-on learning on computers including Chamber Quantification measurements on LV and RV Dimensions, 2D and 3D LVEF, and LA Volume. In addition, there will be a focus on Doppler calculations and valve assessments. Strain, cardio-oncology, and LVAD’s will also be briefly addressed. The Learning Lab seating is limited to allow each participant ample time with the faculty. Don’t miss your opportunity to learn directly from the master. The main conference also features sessions on ASE’s new Contrast Guidelines and Diastolic Function Guidelines. Register for State-of-the-Art Echocardiography now.

Congratulations to the winners of ASE’s 40th Anniversary Calendar Competition

Thank you to all who uploaded echo images and voted on Connect@ASE during the 40th Anniversary Calendar Competition. Please join ASE in congratulating the following people whose images have been selected for the calendar: Karima AddetiaBonita AndersonSteven A. BlakenshipTeri Dittrich, GE HealthcareHwaida Hannoush, Linda M. Hughes, Anuj Mediratta, Geri Mein, Ahmad S. OmranKaren Parr, Mike Romanik, Jen Schaaf, and Beverly Smulevitz.

To receive the 40th Anniversary Calendar, make sure you renew your ASE membership by December 15, 2014. Renew online today.

Join the ASE Foundation’s Giving Tuesday Team

Want to celebrate the real spirit of the season and take a break from the focus on shopping? On December 2, the ASE Foundation is participating in Giving Tuesday, a global movement that supports philanthropic giving after the traditional shopping furor of Black Friday and Cyber Monday. You’re invited to join us in supporting initiatives that are close to your heart, like the provision of much needed scholarships, travel grants, research, and guideline translations in 2015. To register as a Giving Tuesday Team Member, please click here.

As a Team Member, you will be pledging to make a donation to the Foundation on Tuesday, December 2. Help our ASEF Task Force reach its Giving Tuesday goal of $3,000.

All Team Members will be recognized on the Foundation web site and in the next issue of the Foundation Newsletter. On this national day of giving, you can show your heart and support the charitable cardiovascular initiatives of the ASE Foundation.

FASE deadline approaches

The Fellow of the American Society of Echocardiography (FASE) credential recognizes dedicated ASE members with extraordinary commitment to the field. The next deadline for FASE applications is December 1. If you have been an ASE member for two years, check out the criteria here as you may be eligible!

Already a FASE? Showcase your FASE achievement. Purchase a FASE product today to highlight your designation in your home or office. With two professional designs to choose from, ASE can ship you an embossed cherry frame with your reprinted certificate enclosed or an engraved, full-color walnut plaque. View these products here. Email FASE@asecho.org or call Angela Dart, Membership Specialist, at 919-297-7153 with questions or to place an order.

CMS Release PFS and OPPS final Rule, with a New Interventional Transesophageal Echocardiography code beginning in 2015

On Friday, October 31, the Centers of Medicaid and Medicare released the PFS and OPPS final rules. We are proud to announce that after a year and half of work, CMS has approved and provided a value for a new interventional transesophageal echocardiography code beginning in 2015! Read more here.

New Quality Requirements for Echo Under Medicare

Please note that, effective January 15, 2015, new quality requirements will be applicable to echo providers in a number of states, including Illinois (for Part B providers), Maine, Massachusetts, Minnesota, New Hampshire, Rhode Island, Vermont and Wisconsin. Learn more here.