Welcome to the American College of Phlebology!

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SUMMER 2010 Message

As we approach the 2010 ACP Annual Congress in Orlando, I would like to give you an update on the activities of our ACP volunteers over the past six months. A tremendous amount of work has been accomplished by the ACP Staff on behalf of and in conjunction with members, with some very important goals being met.

One of the most important accomplishments of ACP volunteers and staff is the acceptance by the ACCME of the ACP application to award AMA PRA Category 1 Credits™ (CME credits.) Several reasons for the decision to pursue this goal were important. We were aware that no matter whether we obtained CME credits through our own organization or through another college, the requirements have become far more stringent and time-consuming than in the past and would require the same amount of work by the Program Committee and ACP staff. For Dana DePonzi-Haas and the members of the ACCME Task Force (Drs. J. Gordon Wright, Neil Khilnani, Nick Morrison), this has been a tremendous amount of work but it is felt to be worth the effort in the pursuit of specialty recognition for Phlebology. ACP Executive Director, Bruce Sanders, CAE, has hired Pam Beaton to aggressively pursue new CME programming that will not only fulfill the ACCME guidelines, but more importantly will become a great benefit to ACP members. The ACCME accreditation process was endorsed and funded by the ACP Foundation, with ongoing expenses to be paid through the ACP budget.

A second accomplishment of note was completed in June, with the production and subsequent broadcast of the first PBS program regarding venous disease, developed and implemented by Diana Neuhardt, RVT, RPhS, and the Public Awareness Task Force. A half-hour panel discussion regarding Phlebology was aired during a four-hour time period during which viewers called a telephone bank with questions for ACP volunteer experts in the studio. This project was also funded by the ACP Foundation, and it is hoped this will be the first of many such programs in various parts of the country.

The third project completed this spring was the launch of the “Phlebology Sonographer” credential by CCI, the company ACP hired to develop this examination and credential. All of us owe a huge thank-you to those ACP volunteers who spent many hours as item writers: Diana Neuhardt, RVT, RPhS, (Chair); Claudia Benge, RVT; Stephen Daugherty, MD; Tracie Dauplaise, RVT; Paula Heggerick, RVT; Karl Huback, MD; Lowell Kabnick, MD; BB Lee, MD; Nick Morrison, MD; Barbara Pohle-Schulze, RVT; Sergio Salles-Cunha, PhD; Bill Schroedter, RVT; Gail Size, RVT; Mike Traurig, MD; Jeannie White, RVT; Joe Zygmunt, RVT, RPhS. With the demands by insurers to have duplex exams performed by “certified” providers, we anticipate this new credential, which is much more specific to phlebologic ultrasound than other more generic vascular ultrasound credentials, will help us stay ahead of the ever-changing insurance regulations. A review course for the new credential organized by the ACP was held in Phoenix this spring in conjunction with the Advanced Ultrasound Course, both of which were very successful.

In other meeting-related news, because of the popularity of the first Advanced Sclerotherapy Course in Las Vegas in July, 2009, another similar course is planned for late Spring 2011.

Also I am very pleased to announce the accreditation of a new one-year Fellowship in Phlebology at New York University under the direction of ACP Board member, Dr. Lowell Kabnick. Dr. Kabnick has begun the interview process for candidates. Other institutions are currently working through the application process.

You may remember that the ACP Foundation funded a research project led by Principal Investigator Suman Rathbun at the University of Oklahoma School of Medicine, through which a Consensus Document is to be developed for publication. Results will be presented by Dr. Rathbun at the 24th Annual Congress in Orlando this year.

Representing ACP, Drs. Charles Rogers and Saundra Spruiell were seated in the AMA House of Delegates in Chicago in June, and both are working towards a seat on the important CPT Committee.

The 24th Annual Congress Program Chair, Dr. Mel Rosenblatt, along with his committee (Julianne Stoughton, MD; Ted King, MD; Steve Elias, MD; Catherine Burdge, APRN; John Mauriello, MD; Paul Rose, MD; Trip Todd, MD; Roger Murray, MD; Barbara Pohle-Schulze, RVT, RDMS, RDCS; Marlin Schul, MD; and Paul Timperman, MD) have planned another outstanding meeting, with some special events. Details are available on the website, but there are several sessions of special interest: a session entitled “Phlebology Jeopardy” which promises to be as entertaining as it will be educational; the well-regarded International Symposium, initiated in 2009 by Pauline Raymond-Martinmbeau, MD, will be featured again in 2010 organized by Board member Dr. JJ Guex; the “Aesthetic Procedures” for the phlebology practice will again be organized by Dr. Paul Rose; and Drs. Steve Elias and Nick Morrison will co-chair the “Take Your Best Shot” panel of experts, answering questions posed by audience members.

I am personally very gratified to have my friend Paolo Zamboni, MD, present the Keynote Address regarding his potentially ground-breaking investigation of the diagnosis and treatment of Chronic Cerebrospinal Venous Insufficiency (CCSVI) as it relates to Multiple Sclerosis. This is one of the hottest topics on the horizon of venous pathophysiology, and has the potential to become one of the most important advancements in neurovascular disease in the next decade.

All of these programs are conceived and guided by our ACP volunteers, but the ACP staff is responsible for the details of implementation. Because we volunteers have generated so many projects, many of which have been funded by the ACP Foundation, we have also generated a tremendous increase in the workload for the ACP staff. I know from working closely with the staff over the past two years that they are extremely productive, but also stretched very thin. Costs have been closely monitored and reduced to the bare minimum required to sustain the organization. As mentioned above we have hired the ACP CME Manager as a new staff position. This and the other expenses have prompted the Finance Committee to re-evaluate the member dues structure; that committee has recommended a modest increase in dues specifically tailored to accommodate the needs and resources of the various membership categories of the ACP. This is only the second dues increase in our organization in the past 13 years, but obviously it comes at a time when all health care providers are feeling the double crunch of diminished insurance reimbursement and the lagging economy. Nonetheless, the ACP Board (whose members are all unpaid volunteers) feels that this difficult decision is absolutely in the best interest of our organization and will produce the results that our recent survey indicates the overall membership would like to see.

So I look forward to hearing from you and seeing all at the 24th Annual ACP Congress in Orlando, November 4-7, 2010.  Please don’t forget the ACP Foundation Golf Outing and Donor Reception (Wednesday, November 3), the ACP Foundation Silent Auction (which benefits the Foundation General Fund), and the 25th Anniversary Gala Celebration Dinner on Saturday, November 6, 2010!

Nick Morrison, MD, FACS, FACPh

President, American College of Phlebology
Diplomate, American Board of Phlebology