Archives for October 2021

Register for This Weekend’s Echo Florida Virtual Experience

Register today for Echo Florida Virtual Experience, being presented live this weekend October 30 – 31, 2021. The expert faculty will be joining to answer your questions. Created by Course Director, Linda D. Gillam, MD, FASE, and Co-Director, Matt Umland, ACS, RDCS, FASE, highlights of the course include:

  • Coronary artery disease including stress testing
  • Valvular heart disease
  • Interventional imaging
  • Heart failure (systolic and diastolic) and cardiomyopathy
  • Emerging technologies including contrast, 3D/4D echocardiography, and strain imaging
  • Complex congenital heart disease
  • and more!

The live sessions, including recordings of the Q&A sessions, and additional pre-recorded sessions will be available to you for unlimited on-demand viewing through the ASE Learning Hub starting November 15, 2021 until February 13, 2022. A total of 19.25 CME/MOC credits will be included.

Register today.

Maximizing ImageGuideEcho Registry’s Benefits

ASE is proud to share that its innovative clinical data registry, ImageGuideEchoTM, has recently achieved several noteworthy milestones that directly impact a physicians’ ability to adhere to best care practices and standards within the field of echocardiography. This year alone, the ImageGuideEcho Registry has rapidly accelerated the amount of data contained in the Registry, announced a partnership with IAC to satisfy accreditation requirements for two QI measures, and introduced the Pediatric Module.

One benefit of the Registry is that data can be extracted directly from your institution’s echocardiography reporting platform without ongoing manual input. In this video, ASE Board Member and Registry Committee Co-Chair, Jordan Strom, MD, FASE, explains about the different Data Collection Methods and which can work best for your institution.

Download Your Copy of The Role of Echocardiography in Hypertrophic Cardiomyopathy Poster

This professionally illustrated 16″ x 20″ poster is designed to help clinicians diagnose hypertrophic cardiomyopathy (HCM).

The poster outlines the use of echocardiography in the assessment of HCM, including but not limited to:

  • Evaluating LV systolic and diastolic function
  • Establishing a presence and severity of LVOTO
  • Evaluating the degree and direction of mitral regurgitation
  • Intrinsic structure of the mitral valve and papillary muscle
  • Evaluating the LV apical aneurysm 

This valuable tool was authored by Allison Hays, MD, FASE, and Karan Kapoor, MD, in collaboration with Judy W. Hung, MD, FASE, Dermot Phelan, MD, PhD, FASE, and David H. Wiener, MD, FASE.

Ask U.S. Congress to Stop Medicare Funding Cuts

On January 1, 2022, Medicare faces looming cuts that can impact patient access to Medicare services. ASE appreciates the action Congress took in adopting the Consolidated Appropriations Act, that delayed the budget neutrality cuts resulting from changes to the codes for office and outpatient evaluation and management services. However, this cut, and several others, are due to be implemented. Please contact your member of Congress and ask them to prevent:

  • The congressionally enacted 3.75% temporary increase in the Medicare physician fee schedule (PFS) conversion factor to avoid pay cuts associated with budget neutrality adjustments tied to CY2021 PFS policy changes. This results in a pending -3.75% cut across the board to all PFS payments.
  • Expiration of the current reprieve from the -2% sequester stemming from the Budget Control Act of 2011.
  • Imposition of a -4% statutory pay-as-you-go 9(PAYGO) sequester resulting from passage of the American Rescue Plan Act.
  • Implementation of the clinical labor rates decrease for services for echocardiography in the proposed 2022 PFS practice expense (or at least delay it).

These reimbursement decreases come at one of the most financially uncertain times within the Medicare payment history. These steep cuts could have serious financial consequences for physicians who are already under financial distress due to the sustained COVID-19 pandemic.

Please take a minute to quickly email your member of Congress and urge them to prevent these devastating cuts to echocardiography! Use this link to easily contact them.

Register Today for Echo Florida Virtual Experience

There is still time to register for Echo Florida Virtual Experience, presented live October 30 – 31, 2021, with the outstanding faculty joining to answer your questions. It is important to Course Director, Linda D. Gillam, MD, FASE, and Co-Director, Matt Umland, ACS, RDCS, FASE, that you have access to all of the original content that was planned for the in-person event, so the faculty will be recording all of their presentations. Those recordings, along with everything presented live including the Q&A sessions, will be available to you for unlimited on-demand viewing through the ASE Learning Hub starting November 15, 2021 until February 13, 2022. A total of 19.25 CME/MOC credits (pending approval) will be included.

Download the Program Agenda and Register Today!

Latest JASE Podcast with CSE

Do not miss a special crossover episode between the Canadian Society of Echocardiography (CSE) live journal club and the JASE Podcast.

In this episode, Sarah Blissett, MD, and Sabe De, MD, FASE, join Amer Johri, MD, FASE, to discuss the paper, “Normal Values of Cardiac Output and Stroke Volume According to Measurement Technique, Age, Sex, and Ethnicity: Results of the World Alliance of Societies of Echocardiography Study” by Patel et al., with a special introduction from JASE Editor-in-Chief, Michael Picard, MD. FASE. Learn more about the nuances of assessment of cardiac output and stroke volume based on patient demographics and measurement techniques in this newest edition of the JASE podcast.

If you missed any of the podcasts from the 2021 Summer Series, you can listen to all of the episodes here.

Call For Abstracts – ASE 2022 Submission Now Open

Submit your abstract of original research or clinical cases to be considered for presentation at the premier cardiovascular ultrasound conference of the year, the 33rd Annual ASE Scientific Sessions in Seattle, Washington, June 10-13, 2022. Begin your submission online today! Presenters benefit from dedicated viewing times, a global audience that promotes future collaborative work, eligibility for travel support, and discounted conference registration rates. Visit the ASE 2022 Call for Science for more information. Submission closes Wednesday, February 9, 2022, at 11:59 ET.

It’s Time to Renew Your Membership for 2022

We appreciate you choosing ASE as your professional home. ASE strives to provide you with valuable benefits that are designed to aid you in your efforts to provide excellence in patient care and save you time and money. We hope you will go ahead and renew your membership today for 2022 for guaranteed continued access to JASE, CASE, free CME, and all your other membership benefits. Renew by December 31 and receive a 2022 ASE Image Calendar.

ASE is also pleased to offer the option for organizations to make one payment for ASE memberships for their entire team. Join or renew your ASE memberships for your whole lab with one form and one payment! Fill out this application form, and we will send you an invoice. For more information, please contact Suzanne Morris at SMorris@ASEcho.org

JASE – Satiating a Variety of Minds

The October JASE includes, “State of the Art: Transcatheter Edge-to-Edge Repair for Complex Mitral Regurgitation,” by Nir Flint, MD, et al. Senior author Robert J. Siegel, MD, said that, “Transcatheter edge-to-edge mitral valve repair has revolutionized the treatment of primary and secondary mitral regurgitation. Greater operator experience, improvements in intraprocedural imaging, the addition of the PASCAL device as well as new iterations of the MitraClip with longer and wider arms have expanded the clinical application of transcatheter edge-to-edge repair.” The mitral valve discussion continues with a second state-of-the-art review, from Leonardo Italia, MD, et al., “Percutaneous Edge-to-Edge Mitral Valve Repair: Beyond the Left Heart.”

Other clinical investigations in this issue explore echocardiography and atrial fibrillation, establishing optimal echocardiographic measurements, echocardiographic vs. angiographic measurement of the patent ductus arteriosus in extremely low birth weight infants, and the utility of echo guidance for transcatheter closure. A preclinical investigation looks at imaging myocardial scar with echocardiography. Brief Research Communications and Letters to the Editor round out this issue’s scientific matter.

ASE President Raymond Stainback, MD, FASE, announces in his President’s Message that ASE’s annual Echo Magazine is going monthly, offering a new mode of communication for ASE Special Interest Groups, Councils, and its entire membership. The Interventional Echocardiography Communication, written by Nishath Quader, MD, FASE, Rebecca Hahn, MD, FASE, Muhamed Saric, MD, PhD, FASE, and Stephen H. Little, MD, FASE, tackles the question, “Is it Time to Formalize Training for Interventional Echocardiography and Imaging for Structural Heart Disease Procedures,” and the education calendar outlines a multitude of learning options near and far.

A special insert is included in the print issue of JASE this month. A poster titled “The Role of Echocardiography in Hypertrophic Cardiomyopathy” can be removed from the journal and used for educational purposes. The poster, authored by Allison Hays, MD, FASE, and Karan Kapoor, MD, in collaboration with Judy W. Hung, MD, FASE, Dermot Phelan, MD, PhD, FASE, and David H. Wiener, MD, FASE, is also available online to download and print. ASE gratefully acknowledges Bristol Myers Squibb for their support of this valuable hypertrophic cardiomyopathy resource.

Twitter Journal Club Happening October 12

Don’t miss ASE’s next Twitter Journal Club as the Cardio-Oncology SIG joins us to review the following articles:

This is a great way to get your questions answered and share your knowledge. Follow @ASE360 using hashtag #ASEchoJC. This event will be moderated by Ritu Thamman, MD, FASE, and the Cardio-Oncology SIG Leaders, on Tuesday, October 12, from 8:00 to 9:00 PM ET.

ASE members: Receive FREE CME for participating in this activity.

Register prior to the Twitter Journal Club to guarantee your free CME.

  1. To register, log in to your ASE Member Portal.
  2. Select the ASE Learning Hub from the top red menu.
  3. Register for the event here.