Register Today for ASE 2017

The 28th Annual ASE Scientific Sessions are right around the corner. There are less than two months to register and make your arrangements to join us in Baltimore June 2-6. The premier gathering of echo enthusiasts, this meeting is essential to keeping up with all the advances in the field!

As always, the Sessions are packed with exciting content, but the Program Planning Committee shared a few sessions you will not want to miss:

  • Advances in Molecular and Therapeutic Applications – Learn how ultrasound contrast users will become non-invasive surgeons in the next 10 years using contrast to diagnose and treat acute intravascular and microvascular disorders such as acute myocardial infarction and refractory ischemia.
  • If I Only Had A Heart – Mechanical Device Support – More and more patients have Ventricular Assist Devices. The essentials of imaging patients with VADs will be presented in this session.
  • Something’s Got A Hold of My Heart: Interventional Echocardiography – The role of echocardiography continues to grow in structural heart disease. Learn the basics of imaging in this arena.
  • Frontiers in Pediatric Echocardiography: What Advances Could Impact the Field? – See the cutting-edge and evolving echo technologies that may change the way we practice pediatric and congenital cardiology. These technologies are equally applicable and relevant to adult cardiology.
  • The Coming Storm: Ultrasound for the Assessment of Atherosclerosis – The vascular track keynote session, featuring a lecture from Dr. Valentin Fuster, will focus on the role vascular imaging can play in preparation for the coming storm of atherosclerosis disease burden which threatens to overwhelm our healthcare system.

Need help justifying your attendance? Download this Attendance Justification Toolkit to help make your case for attending.
Register today to join your friends and colleagues at Baltimore’s Inner Harbor.

An Opportunity to Support the ASE Foundation and Recognize your Fellows

There is still time to purchase tables and individual tickets for the ASE Foundation Research Awards Gala, Saturday, June 3, 7-11 PM, at the Hippodrome Theatre in Baltimore, Maryland. This event is the Foundation’s largest annual fundraising event to garner funding for cardiovascular ultrasound research. Please be sure to purchase your table or tickets soon as this event has sold out each year.  Tickets will not be available on site. Questions?  Contact gala@asecho.org.

“Our fellows are one of our greatest assets and are the future of our field. I have invited my imaging fellows to join my table at the ASEF gala to show my appreciation for their work and the benefits of being a member of ASE. Please join me by doing the same for your fellows!” – Vera Rigolin, MD, FASE, ASE President-Elect, Northwestern University, Chicago, IL

FOCUSED UPDATE DOCUMENT PROVIDES NEW CLASSIFICATION SCHEME FOR AORTIC STENOSIS

Read release here.

Documentation of Moderate Sedation

With regard to documentation of moderate sedation, beginning January 1, 2017, we would suggest documenting the duration of moderate sedation services. Intraservice time should be documented based on the specific number of minutes, as opposed to a range of time, to meet all payer requirements. Please note that the moderate sedation intraservice time will likely be different than the intraservice time of the underlying procedure. If the physician does not document his/her intraservice time or if the time is less than 10 minutes, the service is not reportable.

For more detailed information on billing please go to: http://connect.asecho.org/communities/community-home/digestviewer/viewthread?MessageKey=712b52af-a838-44c8-83de-da8e4a8595b8&CommunityKey=f2171f48-b144-4e72-a2cb-a1df0e9d768d&tab=digestviewer

Please let us know if you have any additional questions.  Also, please keep us posted on the claims process, we would be interested to know how they adjudicate.

Register for the Upcoming Live Guideline-based Webinar

Join Patricia Pellikka, MD, FASE, on Thursday, April 27 at 11:00 AM Eastern Time, for an interactive live webinar as she reviews the Clinical Use of Stress Echocardiography in Non-Ischemic Heart Disease. During this webinar, Dr. Pellikka will discuss how stress echocardiography allows for simultaneous assessment of myocardial function and hemodynamics under physiological or pharmacological conditions. The topic of stress echo becoming widely implemented to assess various conditions other than ischemic heart disease will also be discussed. Earn 1 AMA PRA Category 1 Credit™ for attending this live webinar event.

To ensure your FREE registration for this event, please follow these three simple steps.

  1. Log on to your ASE Member Portal with your ASE username (email) and password.
  2. Select “ASEUniversity and CME Credits” on the left.
  3. Select “Live Webinars” on the left and “Register” found in the Live Webinar Event Summary

CMS Delays Expansion of Bundled Payment Programs

On Monday, CMS announced that they will delay expansion of the Comprehensive Care for Joint Replacement bundle and its bundled payment initiatives for cardiac care bundled payment programs. The effective date is being moved from July 1, 2017 to October 1, 2017. Learn more here.

In other Advocacy related news, you can also download a document related to the Trump Administration’s Blueprint Budget for Fiscal Year 2018 with highlights of the healthcare related provisions.

Last Chance to Take Advantage of Early Bird Rates for the Review Course

Register before March 29th for this year’s Review Course and save $100. The Review Course has been specifically designed by ASE as a preparatory course for the National Board of Echocardiography, Inc.™ ASCeXAM® and ReASCE® examinations. The expert faculty, led by Roberto Lang, MD, FASE, will emphasize illustrative cases and will use case studies, lectures, and interactive sessions to cover all aspects of cardiovascular ultrasound that are essential to these exams. New this year, the faculty will walk you through ASCeXam questions after each session in addition to an audience response system that will facilitate faculty interaction and self-guided learning. Please plan to join us at the Loews Philadelphia Hotel, April 29 – May 2, 2017 for this intensive review course. Download the Advance Program, register, and learn more at ASEcho.org/ReviewCourse.

New ASE Guidelines for Evaluating Valve Regurgitation – An Integrative Approach

Read release here.

March Product of the Month

This month, ASEMarketPlace is featuring ASE’s Guideline Reference e-Book. This online e-Book offers a convenient format for quick reference to a collection of charts and illustrations derived from ASE’s guidelines for cardiovascular ultrasound. This e-Book contains a visual representation of 15 ASE Guidelines. It is a valuable resource for both physicians and technicians, covering a wide variety of topics including Chamber Quantification, 3D, TEE, Hypertrophic Cardiomyopathy, and more!

Designed to immediately include new guideline illustrations as they are published, this resource will effortlessly keep your lab up-to-date. ASE members save $25 annually on ASE’s Guideline Reference e-Book and receive a discount on all products, so do not forget to login to the member portal  before purchasing.

Give Where Your Heart Is

The ASE Foundation is welcoming the first day of Spring by holding its second annual Spring Giving Day on Monday, March 20! Join us as we spring into action for this year’s Annual Appeal with a goal to raise $5,000 in 24 hours. Every gift – $15, $25, $50, or any amount that is right for you – brings us closer to our target.

Your gift on Spring Giving Day will foster the future of echocardiography by supporting scholarships and travel grants to young professionals in the field. Each and every gift you give to the ASE Foundation makes a difference in the projects you support and the people you help. 100% of all giving is allocated to charitable projects. Learn more here.