Super Savings! Register before January 13 for State-of-the-Art Echocardiography: Echo Southwest

The 29th Annual State-of-the-Art Echocardiography: Echo Southwest is in a fantastic new location for 2016 making it a very cost effective way to earn up to 38.75 AMA PRA Category 1 Credits™. Taking place February 13-16, 2016 at the stunning Hilton Tucson El Conquistador Golf & Tennis Resort in Tucson, Arizona, the ASE room rate is a low $169 a night! The content has also been revitalized to focus on new technologies and live imaging. This will facilitate attendees’ ability to watch experts perform new imaging techniques. This course will also feature a MOC session. Register before January 13 and save $100. Download the Advance Program here

ASE 2016: Call for Abstracts — Deadline February 3

Time is running out to submit your abstract of original work or clinical case report to be considered for presentation at the premier cardiovascular ultrasound conference of the year, the 27th Annual ASE Scientific Sessions in Seattle, Washington, June 10-14. Visit the ASE 2016 Call for Abstracts now to make your submission. Presenters benefit from dedicated viewing times, a global audience that promotes future collaborative work, eligibility for travel support, and low conference registration rates. Exceptional research is also considered for the prestigious Arthur E. Weyman Young Investigator’s Award Competition for young investigators under the age of 40 and the Sonographer Investigator’s Award Competition for non-physicians who served as the primary investigator on their project. Visit the ASE 2016 Call for Abstracts for more information. Submission closes Wednesday, February 3. Submit your work today!

January JASE Now Available

“Relationship of Sonographer Credentialing to Intersocietal Accreditation Commission Echocardiography Case Study Image Quality,” by Merri L. Bremer, RN, ACS, RDCS, EdD from the Mayo Clinic, Rochester, Minnesota appears in the January JASE. Merri Bremer says, “I have often witnessed heated discussions regarding whether being credentialed makes you a ‘better’ sonographer, so I chose to examine a small portion of this complex issue for my doctoral dissertation. However, there is so much yet to explore.” The concise conclusion of her paper (which used an image quality score or IQS) is that “In the setting of IAC Echocardiography accreditation, credentialed sonographers achieved higher mean IQSs than noncredentialed sonographers in seven of eight comparisons.  However, further research will be required to expand the scope of this inference beyond AS and LV regional dysfunction cases submitted for IAC adult transthoracic echocardiography laboratory accreditation.” Also in this New Year issue are ASE’s guideline on evaluating a cardiac source of embolism, research articles on left ventricular mass and function and valvular heart disease, and an editorial by Alan D. Wagoner, MHS, RDCS, FASE and J. Geoffrey Stevenson, MD, FASE, FACC “The Value of Sonographer Credentialing: An Important First Step,” that comments on Merri Bremer’s article.

New Guidelines Aim to Optimize Imaging Strategies for Determining Cardiac Sources of Stroke

Read release here.

Register for Echo Hawaii by December 19 and save $100

Makua Beach in Kaua'i

Plan to join us for Echo Hawaii, and see why attendees keep coming back after almost three decades! The 26th Annual Echo Hawaii will take place January 18-22, 2016 on the beautiful Kohala Coast at the Hapuna Beach Prince Hotel. Expert U.S. and international faculty will discuss the latest technologies with a particular focus on how they can be effectively applied in the clinical setting. Download the Advance Program here. Save $100 by registering before December 19. Learn more by visiting ASEcho.org/EchoHawaii.

ASEF at 99% of Their Annual Appeal Goal

Thank you to all the donors who have contributed to the ASE Foundation’s 2015 Annual Appeal and helped to raise 99% of our $225,000 goal so far. As you consider your year-end charitable giving, please consider donating to the ASEF.

Merri Bremer, EdD, RN, RDCS, ACS, FASE, shared why it is important to her to support the Foundation as a monthly sustaining donor. “Early in my career, my mentor suggested joining ASE to provide an avenue for education and professional development. Subsequently, ASE has played a huge part in my career, as I have had the opportunity to participate on committees, the Board of Directors, and the Scientific Sessions.  Therefore, I feel committed to “paying it forward” by helping ASEF provide funds for education, humanitarian missions, and research.  What a great opportunity to facilitate quality patient care and support our profession!”

Contact the Foundation to learn more about being a sustaining donor.

Give Us Your Best Shot!

In recent years, we’ve been impressed by photographs taken by ASE members while they were traveling the world to participate in various humanitarian events. These photographs have inspired and motivated us. As ASE members, there is no doubt that you excel at taking images of the heart. Now we’d like to give you the opportunity to share the images you’ve taken from the heart. Perhaps you took a special photo of a child you met along the way, the chaos of traffic in India, a marketplace in Rwanda, daily life in Hanoi, or new friends in Argentina. We invite you to share these heartfelt memories (and tell us what they mean to you) for a special photo exhibition, Images from the Heart, to be held during ASE 2016 in Seattle, June 10-14, 2016. We’ll start accepting submissions February 1. In the meantime, click here for more information.

Calling All Innovators

ASE’s first innovation competition, the Echovation Challenge 2016, is now open for submissions!   To learn more about this exciting new initiative, read the press release and for full details and submission guidelines, please visit https://herox.com/Echovation2016. To follow the conversation on Twitter, use #EchovationChallenge2016.

November 2015: Lumason® approved for reimbursement by CMS

To learn more about how to code Bracco’s new ultrasound contrast agent, read the press release here

Echo Fall 2015 Edition Released

Using 3D printing to create patient-specific models prior to intervention and performing echocardiograms on animals like a beluga whale are two features in the latest issue of Echo.  Also learn about ASE in the first 40 years, the new strategic plan designed for ASE’s continued growth, new partnerships to broaden ASE’s reach, the ASE Foundation’s two mission trips in August, and more. If you have an idea for a topic you would like covered in an upcoming issue or want to contribute an article, email managing editors Angie Porter and Debbie Meyer at echo@asecho.org.