Last Friday Senators John Boozman (R-AR) and Peter Welch (D-VT) along with 30 bipartisan cosigners sent a letter to Senate leaders calling for a legislative solution to protect access to Medicare services by canceling the 3.37% cut to physician Medicare payments that went into effect on January 1.

If your Senators signed the letter (click link for full list), we encourage you and your membership to reach out to their offices on social media, email or phone via the Senate switchboard to thank them for their support and to remind them that the job is not done.

Time is of the essence—in the coming days Congress is expected to take up the 2024 appropriation funding bills, and we must ensure that full relief from the devastating 3.37% cut is included in this package. Behind the scenes negotiations are ongoing and it’s imperative that your Senators are engaged in fixing the problem.

If your Senators did not sign the letter, it’s still important that you contact them and let them know how damaging these cuts are to physicians and their patients in your state.

For additional resources please visit fixmedicarenow.org for more information.

The time is now to cancel the cut!

We urge all members of the Society to contact their Senators by today or tomorrow (deadline is Thursday EOB Feb. 22) and request support of the Boozman-Welch Doc Cut Fix bill. This bill urges Senate action on the 3.37% Medicare physician fee schedule conversion factor reduction that went into place on January 1, 2024, and references year-over-year cuts, workforce shortages, and the need for long-term payment reform.

Here is an example of the message you can send to your U.S. Senate representatives:

“On behalf of the American Society of Echocardiography’s physicians and Medicare patients alike, I request your commitment to work together with your colleagues in a bipartisan fashion to include physician payment relief policies in the March 1st government funding legislation.”

Please contact your Senate offices (link goes to a site to help you identify your representative and send this message) and ask them to cosign this letter and support the medical community and your patients.

ASE and its Foundation Award Three $25,000 Grants to Early Career Investigators in Cardiovascular Imaging

The grants will help fund echocardiography research projects led by early career members in the Society

The American Society of Echocardiography (ASE) and the ASE Foundation have awarded grant funding totaling $75,000 for three innovative cardiovascular ultrasound research projects led by early career investigators.

The Society’s EDGES (Early-Career Development Grant for Echo Scientists) research program is intended to fund projects that address a clinical gap in cardiovascular ultrasound imaging through research directed by an early career scientist or investigator.

Three recipients were each awarded a $25,000 grant.

• Dr. Xuan Ding, a cardiovascular disease fellow at Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore, Md., will use the grant to fund research in the development of cardiovascular ultrasound and echocardiographic technology and its applications to clinical cardiovascular medicine.
• Dr. Chieh-Ju Chao, an academic cardiologist at Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minn., will utilize the funding for a collaborative project between Mayo Clinic and Stanford University Human-Centered Artificial Intelligence that seeks to develop an artificial intelligence-enabled echocardiography copilot reporting system.
• Dr. Son “Sonny” Duong, an assistant professor of pediatrics in the Division of Pediatric Cardiology at the Mount Sinai Kravis Children’s Heart Center and Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai in New York City, secured the funding for research focused on the utilization of large data sets and machine-learning technologies to analyze cardiac diagnostics and patient risk prediction.

ASE Past President and Chair of the Society’s Research Committee Dr. Jonathan Lindner explained why this funding is important for the field.

“ASE has always advocated that echocardiography must constantly evolve to meet clinical needs, and therefore prioritizes its support of cutting-edge research. The EDGES grants are designed to support scientists in cardiovascular imaging at one of the most critical times in their professional development,” said Dr. Lindner. “The goal of the program is to assist early career scientists who need financial support to continue their trajectory in echocardiography research, and to generate vital data that can be used for more comprehensive funding mechanisms.”

The EDGES research program was developed to create an avenue for the continued evolution of echocardiography through technical advancement and new applications to meet the needs of increasingly complex patient populations in four ways:

1. Fund early research that will produce preliminary data necessary for a larger grant application.
2. Demonstrate the recipient’s research potential to their division and institution, whose support will be critical for their development.
3. Provide critical and positive feedback for the early career imager who may be unsure if they can successfully attain funding.
4. Build a foundation for launching a research career separate from their mentors.

Learn more about these grants and the recipients at ASEFoundation.org/Research.

About American Society of Echocardiography
The American Society of Echocardiography (ASE) is the Society for Cardiovascular Ultrasound Professionals™. ASE is the largest global organization for cardiovascular ultrasound imaging serving physicians, sonographers, nurses, veterinarians, and scientists and as such is the leader and advocate, setting practice standards and guidelines for the field. The Society is committed to advancing cardiovascular ultrasound to improve lives. For more information, visit the ASE website ASEcho.org or social media pages on Facebook, X, LinkedIn, or Instagram.

About American Society of Echocardiography Foundation
The ASE Foundation (ASEF) is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit corporation created in 2003 as ASE’s charitable arm. The Foundation helps to assure the viability and visibility of cardiovascular ultrasound. Dependent upon donor giving not supported by membership dues, ASEF funds initiatives such as training scholarships, guidelines-based projects, research, patient engagement, and global health outreach. For more information, visit the ASEF website: ASEFoundation.org.

Did you know that each issue of the Journal of the American Society of Echocardiography (JASE) includes a free CME article? The articles are added to the ASE Learning Hub each month. Browse the catalog, choose JASE CME Articles under category and click review, learn, and earn at least 12 FREE CME credits each year. CME certificates are available for immediate access once you have successfully completed the activity.

Read the latest JASE free CME article available now in the Learning Hub titled, A Practical Approach to Echocardiographic Imaging in Patients with Hypertrophic Cardiomyopathy, and earn up to 1.25 AMA PRA Category 1 Credits™.

33^rd Annual Echo Hawaii™ and the 36^th Annual State-of-the-Art Echocardiography™ registration and accommodations are now open! For more than three decades, both courses have featured outstanding faculty who share the latest in echocardiography education with attendees. Echo Hawaii will take place January 15-19, 2024, at the Fairmont Orchid, Kohala Coast, Big Island, Hawaii, and SOTA will be February 16-19, 2024 at The Westin Kierland Resort & Spa, Scottsdale, Arizona.

Attendees who register early can save up to $225! ASE Members: Receive your member discount by logging in to your Member Portal and clicking Events at the top of the page.

At the end of this month, the ASE Foundation will host its popular Coffee Day fundraiser from September 25 – October 1. Share a cup of joe with ASEF in honor of National Coffee Day on September 29 by making a donation in the amount you normally spend on a cup of coffee! After you donate, let us know on social media by tagging @ASE360 with a picture of your coffee or coffee selfie. Remember to use the hashtags #ASEFoundation and #GaveACup.

We set a goal to raise $5,000. Contact Sophie Pumphrey at SPumphrey@ASEcho.org to make an early pledge and help us wake up other donations. Remember, each donation helps to fuel ASEF scholarships, research grants, global outreach patient efforts, and more! 

YOU make ASE the largest voice in cardiovascular imaging in the world.

YOU know the value of membership and can share it with your colleagues.

YOU can encourage them to join ASE to maintain the influence of the echo community.

ASE Ambassadors who refer new members help create a stronger community of collaboration and advance the field of cardiovascular ultrasound to improve lives. Our Member Recruiting Toolkit makes recruiting new members easy! The toolkit offers tips and ideas on how to invite colleagues, friends, peers, and others to join ASE and—include an invitation email example. Additionally, if you refer 5 new members, you can earn a free 2025 ASE membership as a thank you for your referrals.

Thank you to the more than 150 ASE Ambassadors who participated in 2023 resulting in nearly 325 new members. We invite you to participate in ASE’s 2024 Member Ambassador Program and help spread the word about why ASE Membership Matters!

Nominations Accepted Now Through November 30, 2023

In honor of the founder and first president of ASE, Harvey Feigenbaum, MD, FASE, this lectureship is awarded to a young investigator in recognition of their significant contribution to research in the field and their potential to continue at a high level of achievement.

The Feigenbaum Lecture is a keynote session presented during the Arthur E. Weyman Young Investigator’s Award Competition at ASE’s Annual Scientific Sessions in June. This is a prestigious lectureship with a great lineage. Five of ASE’s past presidents were Feigenbaum lecturers early in their careers! The deadline to submit nominations for the 2024 Feigenbaum Lecturer is November 30, 2023.

September 25 – October 1

National Coffee Day is September 29, and the ASE Foundation is celebrating by hosting its 5^th annual Coffee Day fundraiser!

Join the Foundation September 25 – October 1 to help raise $5,000. Donate what you would normally spend on a cup of coffee to ASEF. Your contribution will help us meet our Annual Appeal goal and raise much needed funding that supports scholarships, guideline dissemination, and research!

Mark your calendars and plan to “Donate A Cup” to ASEF! Want to make an early pledge and get the brew going? Contact Foundation Specialist Sophia Pumphrey.

ASE is excited to promote a call for papers for each of its international journals, JASE and CASE.

CASE  is accepting submissions to a Special Issue, “Adult Congenital Heart Disease.”

Click here for full details. ASE President Benjamin W. Eidem, MD, FASE, is serving as Guest Editor. Submission deadline is October 1, 2023.

IMPORTANT: While submitting your manuscript (CASE Editorial Manager), please select the article type “SI: Adult Congenital Heart Disease (Case Report)” or “SI: Adult Congenital Heart Disease (Letter to Editor)” from the dropdown list. If you do not select one of these Article Types, your submission CANNOT be considered for the Special Issue. All submissions will undergo the usual peer-review process.

The Article Publishing Charge (APC) will be 100% waived for all manuscripts accepted for this special issue.

Please read the Guide for Authors before writing your manuscript to ensure all needed items are included and properly formatted.

The Journal of the American Society of Echocardiography (JASE) is considering submissions for a Focus Issue on Precision Imaging in Echocardiography for publication in early 2024.

We invite submission of original research studies, reviews, letters, and brief research communications that address any aspect of precision imaging in adult or pediatric echocardiography including topics such as:

• Application of quantitative echocardiography, including multidimensional or strain rate imaging, to assess disease severity, guide intervention, and assess or improve patient outcome.
• Implementation of echocardiographic endpoints in clinical trials.
• Artificial intelligence and computer modeling to optimize accuracy, efficiency, and individual benefit from an echocardiogram.
• Pediatric, vascular, and critical care monitoring.
• Molecular imaging.
• Novel applications in cardio-oncology, heart failure, structural heart disease, and preventive cardiology.

Submissions are due in JASE Editorial Manager by October 30, 2023.  Please note in your cover letter that the submission is for the Precision Medicine Issue.

In line with our core values at JASE and CASE, we welcome multi-disciplinary collaborations (e.g., sonographers, nurses, physicians, scientists).

Questions? Email Debbie Meyer (dmeyer@asecho.org) or Andie Piddington (apiddington@asecho.org).