President's Message

June to Be a Very Active and Exciting Month for SVU

by Michael W. Schwebler, MBA RVT FSVU

This year, June is a very active and exciting month for the Society for Vascular Ultrasound. The 2008 Annual Conference will be taking place June 5-7 in San Diego, California. Along with the Annual Conference, the Society will be holding its semi-annual Board of Directors meeting. This year strategic planning is high on the agenda for the Board meeting.

The current 2006­2008 Strategic Plan wraps up at the end of this year having met more than 80% of the objectives established in the fall of 2005. Objectives met, is defined as tasks completed or having taken the form of a perpetual program. The remaining tasks were either redefined or abandoned due to changes in the environment or SVU’s strategic direction. A significant portion of the upcoming Board meeting will be dedicated to preparation for the strategic planning sessions scheduled later this year and I, and the Board Directors, look forward to participating in the various planning sessions.

During the 2008 Annual Conference, SVU will convene a special focus group designed to elicit visionary statements, comments and philosophies germane to the future of the vascular ultrasound profession. The primary purpose for obtaining this data is to help guide the SVU Board in identifying opportunities to better serve the membership, and the Board is planning to actively solicit input from the membership. The focus group session will likely generate more questions than answers, questions that can then be posed to the membership through surveys and interviews all in an effort to provide fodder for the strategic planning sessions in December 2008 led by consultant Marc Chinoy of The Regis Group.

The Board has recognized the need for a more fluid strategic plan in response to the rapid pace of change in diagnostic imaging, treatment options, reimbursement and the rise of preventive medicine as a key health initiative in cardiovascular medicine. These changes will require that the SVU look for new organizations to interface and partner with in order to respond to these rapid changes and further our mission. Consequently, the new SVU Strategic Plan will likely have a shorter duration, with a two year planning cycle being the most likely result.

I bid you all a happy and healthy summer. Please remember to look for and respond to postings on the SVU website (www.svunet.org) and in the monthly online e-Spectrum newsletter as they relate to key government relations and strategic planning initiatives. Thanks again for your ongoing support of SVU.

Michael W. Schwebler, MBA RVT FSVU