April 2006 | Vol. 24, No. 4

President's Message

by Melissa A. Vickery, LPN-B, RVT

SVU Is Here to Serve You, Our Members

Advocacy Effort on DRA

As we move into 2006, the SVU leadership and staff have been active on behalf of the membership in many areas. Primarily in the last few months the Government Relations Committee, chaired by Bill Schroedter, has been closely monitoring and determining the best avenue of response related to the Deficit Reduction Act (DRA) that was signed into law by President Bush in early February. I hope you have reviewed the status reports on the DRA from Bill Schroedter in recent e-Spectrum online newsletters. The Committee, in conjunction with our legislative and regulatory advocacy consultant Bill Sarraille and his associates at Sidley Austin, is taking a multifaceted approach in responding to the scheduled drastic 30%-50% cuts in reimbursement for vascular ultrasound studies that will take effect on January 1, 2007 unless we are able to convince Congress or CMS to either eliminate or substantially reduce them. I want to assure you that SVU is closely monitoring the situation and will make decisions that are in the best interests of our membership.

The Leadership of SVU appreciates your response to the recent online SDMS/SVU Vascular Survey. The vascular data obtained from this survey will be very valuable to both societies. Ongoing advocacy efforts on behalf of our membership, I believe, are one of the values of YOUR membership in SVU, and I hope that you will share this aspect with those contemplating membership in our Society. SVU has committed a significant part of our 2006 budget to effectively address various regulatory and legislative issues related to our profession and reimbursement. Staff time and, even more impressively, members who volunteer their time on all our behalf are yet another value of membership. I urge you to give thoughtful consideration to donating to the SVU Government Relations Fund, either along with your membership renewal fee or a separate contribution. Please see a separate article in this issue on the DRA Update and the need for additional Government Relations Fund contributions.

29th SVU Annual Conference

The 29th SVU Annual Conference will be held at the Philadelphia Marriott, June 1-3, 2006 and SVU has kept the full registration fee stable from the previous year, providing the best value for your educational monies. The Annual Conference Committee, Chaired by Kathleen Carter, has worked very hard to provide an educational opportunity with a variety of excellent topics and speakers, which include the addition of a new Skills Lab, providing hands-on experience. Along with the Scientific and Clinical Sessions, a Poster Session, pre-conference sessions, nine morning Tutorials and three Lunch with the Experts sessions, I believe Kathy and her Committee have once again provided timely topics and opportunities to enhance the value of our expertise to members and non-members.

SVU Website

Please take time to visit the SVU website for further details related to the Annual Conference and the city of Philadelphia. Also of note was the availability of six scholarships for SVU members to apply for to attend the Annual Conference. The Scholarships were made available by a generous educational grant from Philips Ultrasound. Thank you to Philips for assisting our membership in gaining the valuable and practical education that is needed to provide competent care and testing of our patients.

If you have peers who are not familiar with the SVU website and the extensive information available on it to members and non-members, I urge you to recommend it to them. The SVU website is constantly updated and modified to provide individuals with up-to-date information on all aspects that affect our profession.

I purposely chose the word "value" as a repeating theme through this President's Message. SVU has and is a value to both members and non-members. The staff and leadership work hard on your behalf to provide that value, and I am very proud of the many volunteers and staff that do that work for our members. SVU continues to remain strong and with your support through membership and participation we will remain so.

I look forward to seeing you in Philadelphia!