Blogs

One powerful source of knowledge is the internet. As I have learned about reimbursement, I have found some websites particularly helpful. I will spend time covering these over the next several posts. Check them out! The first site I want to share is for the Federal Register . The Federal Register is the official daily publication for rules, proposed rules, and notices of Federal agencies and organizations, as well as executive orders and other presidential documents. It is updated daily by 6 a.m. and is published Monday through Friday, except Federal holidays. As the Chair of the SVU Advocacy committee, I monitor this site daily. I have also ...

One thing I find very confusing, when dealing with reimbursement and practice management issues, is the use of acronyms. There are so many of them!! I like to keep a list of them handy, so I can update and refer to them as needed. This is my current list. I will use these acronyms in future posts, and I will try to elaborate on them as appropriate. Hopefully, you will find this list useful. A ABN – Advanced Beneficiary Notice ACA – Affordable Care Act, also called PPACA (Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act) ACO – Accountable Care Organization ALOS – Average Length of Stay APC – Ambulatory Payment Classification APMs – Alternative Payment ...

Welcome to my blog! As the incoming Chair of the Advocacy committee, my goal is to learn as much as I can about the matters or issues facing the vascular community. The blog is my way of sharing what I have learned. In order to advocate, or support a particular cause or policy, I need to hear from you! Each month, I will introduce a topic related to Advocacy. January's topic is "Reimbursement". Some questions I will attempt to answer are: What is an APC? What changes were made to HOPPS APC? How does that affect our reimbursement? What happened to code 93965? G0389/76706? What is an LCD? How do I find my LCD? What is Coding Advisor? Some of ...

When applying for a job, the first thing is to make a good first impression by the way of your resume. A resume must be strong and stand out among competition. When it's your time to start applying for jobs, resume building can be tricky. There are so many examples of resumes available that are pertinent to healthcare in general but not to vascular technology and sonography. There is also a lot of mixed advice out there on what to include in your resume such as how many exams you observed and performed, your GPA, previous non-healthcare work history, patient care experience and the list goes on. Ultimately, each student and new graduate has to make their own ...

Arteriovenous Malformations...otherwise known as AVMs. I am trying to expand my knowledge as a Sonographer so I chose to blog about this. I haven't experienced any arteriovenous malformations in my career as of yet, so I wanted anyone with any experience to share what they usually see with AVMs (sonographic characteristics) and what the patients usually present with. I am also wondering how many Sonographers run into older patients that have this medical issue since I know this condition is most often diagnosed in a fetus or a newborn. Also I know that many Sonographic resources say that patients present with seizures and muscle paralysis. Does anyone ...

After your resume has been perfected the next step is the job hunt. There are many websites that you can use to look for openings but I'm going to tell you some of my favorite websites that I go to when looking for a job: SVU Job Center - Did you know that they have a vascular specific job center? The job center can be found under the "About" tab on the homepage. You can create a profile and post your resume to the job center. When creating your profile, you can set up email notifications based on certain job criteria. Indeed.com - This site is truly a gem. You can filter by location and it will send you daily and ...

I am always interested in the lists that come out on Yahoo or Forbes naming the best careers to go into. Here is a link to yet another one http://medical-careers-review.toptenreviews.com/ We all know that health care is a significant segment of the gross national product and it stands to reason these are the jobs predicted to have great demand in the near future. With the aging demographic of America, the increased prevalence of vascular disease, and the relatively inexpensive modality of ultrasound, a perfect storm is created to see an explosion in the need for vascular technologists. In fact, it is no surprise that “sonographers” is almost always on these ...

When SVU made our online presence more noticeable and accessible a few years ago, we realized that we needed a team of people who were passionate about education, vascular technology, and creativity to lead the charge. Through our strategic plan, we formed the Media Development Committee and asked for volunteers from the membership. The response was overwhelming. Nearly 50 people volunteered their time and talents to help shape the vision and work of this committee. Because of your involvement and feedback, SVU now provides webinars eligible for CME . These webinars have become an excellent way to hear superb speakers on a variety of pressing topics. Anyone ...