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American Society of Echocardiography News
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AMERICAN SOCIETY OF ECHOCARDIOGRAPHY NEWS President’s Message WHAT A YEAR! At the halfway point of my presidency of the American Society of Echocardiography, it is a time to look back on what we have already accomplished but also forward to what more can be achieved in the coming year. It has been an amazing year. We started out with a new Executive Board and several new senior staff members. Given the turnover, it was an opportune time to reorganize and streamline our structure. We created 4 mission areas: Education, Quality and Practice, External Affairs, and Internal Operations, all supported by an Information Technology Platform. Critically important to this reorganization was the assignment of executive board and staff member pairs to oversee each of these important mission areas. The number of committees was reduced dramatically from 40 to 16. We created several new one-year task forces and revitalized both the Board of Directors meetings format as well as our committee appointments processes. Once this reorganiza- tion was accomplished, we were ready to start on an ambitious agenda in each area. Education has always been central to the American Society of Echocardiography and remains so. Our Annual Scientific Sessions in Orlando was tremendously successful in terms of attendance, enthusiasm, and finances. Surpassing our ex- pected attendance by nearly 15% was a major accomplish- ment given the reduction in travel in the aftermath of September 11, and it speaks volumes about the value placed on attending our meeting. The meeting highlighted special symposia on Sunday and Tuesday, first-ever online abstract submission, and sessions on vascular ultrasound and echo lab nursing. ASE is also undertaking 2 new programs this fall: a sonography course in Boston in October and a Vascular Imaging course in New York City (with the Society of Vascular Medicine and Biology). We are also now the spon- sor of a former ACC extramural program directed by Mayo Clinic faculty, Echo Tucson, in February 2003. Also initiated this year is a sonography student scholarship grant; the 5 annual educational grants to local societies continue to be well received. In the Quality and Practice mission area, the Guidelines and Standards Committees overhauled the processes by which documents are proposed, written, and approved. In the past year we approved 4 new ASE documents and retired 2. All are posted on http://www.asecho.org and will be published in the Journal of the American Society of Echo- cardiography. Three new writing groups are developing documents on Arterial Ultrasound (with the Society of Vascular Medicine and Biology), Cardiac Chamber and Mass Quantitation, and Stress Imaging in Women (with the Amer- ican Society of Nuclear Cardiology). The Accreditation and Licensure Committee has formal- ized the criteria and applications processes for the new credential of Fellowship of the American Society of Echocar- diography (FASE). All ASE Past Presidents have been awarded this designation in recognition of their stature in the field and their service to the Society. The Research Committee awarded $348,051 to investigators in 9 grants, 4 outcomes research grants, 2 fellowship grants, 2 grant-in-aids, and our first ever sonographer scholarship. The External Affairs mission area has been tremendously busy and recorded record membership in the Industry Roundtable; currently 19 companies are ASE partners. After many years of work, the Advocacy Committee has had a tremendous success in the 65% increase in stress echo professional reimbursement. The committee has also initi- ated conversations with other societies involved in advocat- ing for reimbursement for vascular ultrasound. The Finance Committee has selected new investment advisors in Morgan Stanley and reallocated our endowment dollars. The Public Relations Committee has hired a new firm, Jackson Spalding, which provided excellent media coverage for our meeting, and developed new partnerships with A Heart for Sport and WomenHeart. In the Internal Operations area, the Sonographer Work- force Taskforce concluded its deliberations with a powerful plank of proposals now being implemented by the appropri- ate committees. Similarly, the Board has approved the Vas- cular Strategy Taskforce’s recommendations for new strate- gies to increase our vascular ultrasound portfolio. The June Board meeting also approved creation of an ASE Foundation, which will allow deductions for charitable gifts to the Society. The ASEF will form a platform for future develop- ment programs to increase the Society’s endowment. The Information Technology Platform Area unveiled a new Web site in March and is currently working on a 130-image Web site image library linked to ASE’s core echocardiography curriculum. Most of you are currently receiving ASE’s monthly newsletters reaching more than 80% of members. Where is ASE going from here? In the coming year we will be busy implementing the recommendations of our 23A Journal of the American Society of Echocardiography Volume 15 Number 8
Transcript of American Society of Echocardiography News
AMERICAN SOCIETY OF ECHOCARDIOGRAPHY NEWS
President’s MessageWHAT A YEAR!
At the halfway point of my presidency of the AmericanSociety of Echocardiography, it is a time to look back onwhat we have already accomplished but also forward towhat more can be achieved in the coming year.
It has been an amazing year. We started out with a newExecutive Board and several new senior staff members.Given the turnover, it was an opportune time to reorganizeand streamline our structure. We created 4 mission areas:Education, Quality and Practice, External Affairs, and InternalOperations, all supported by an Information TechnologyPlatform. Critically important to this reorganization was theassignment of executive board and staff member pairs tooversee each of these important mission areas. The numberof committees was reduced dramatically from 40 to 16. Wecreated several new one-year task forces and revitalized boththe Board of Directors meetings format as well as ourcommittee appointments processes. Once this reorganiza-tion was accomplished, we were ready to start on anambitious agenda in each area.
Education has always been central to the American Societyof Echocardiography and remains so. Our Annual ScientificSessions in Orlando was tremendously successful in terms ofattendance, enthusiasm, and finances. Surpassing our ex-pected attendance by nearly 15% was a major accomplish-ment given the reduction in travel in the aftermath ofSeptember 11, and it speaks volumes about the value placedon attending our meeting. The meeting highlighted specialsymposia on Sunday and Tuesday, first-ever online abstractsubmission, and sessions on vascular ultrasound and echo labnursing. ASE is also undertaking 2 new programs this fall: asonography course in Boston in October and a VascularImaging course in New York City (with the Society ofVascular Medicine and Biology). We are also now the spon-sor of a former ACC extramural program directed by MayoClinic faculty, Echo Tucson, in February 2003. Also initiatedthis year is a sonography student scholarship grant; the 5annual educational grants to local societies continue to bewell received.
In the Quality and Practice mission area, the Guidelinesand Standards Committees overhauled the processes bywhich documents are proposed, written, and approved. Inthe past year we approved 4 new ASE documents and retired2. All are posted on http://www.asecho.org and will bepublished in the Journal of the American Society of Echo-cardiography. Three new writing groups are developingdocuments on Arterial Ultrasound (with the Society ofVascular Medicine and Biology), Cardiac Chamber and MassQuantitation, and Stress Imaging in Women (with the Amer-ican Society of Nuclear Cardiology).
The Accreditation and Licensure Committee has formal-ized the criteria and applications processes for the new
credential of Fellowship of the American Society of Echocar-diography (FASE). All ASE Past Presidents have been awardedthis designation in recognition of their stature in the field andtheir service to the Society. The Research Committeeawarded $348,051 to investigators in 9 grants, 4 outcomesresearch grants, 2 fellowship grants, 2 grant-in-aids, and ourfirst ever sonographer scholarship.
The External Affairs mission area has been tremendouslybusy and recorded record membership in the IndustryRoundtable; currently 19 companies are ASE partners. Aftermany years of work, the Advocacy Committee has had atremendous success in the 65% increase in stress echoprofessional reimbursement. The committee has also initi-ated conversations with other societies involved in advocat-ing for reimbursement for vascular ultrasound. The FinanceCommittee has selected new investment advisors in MorganStanley and reallocated our endowment dollars. The PublicRelations Committee has hired a new firm, Jackson Spalding,which provided excellent media coverage for our meeting,and developed new partnerships with A Heart for Sport andWomenHeart.
In the Internal Operations area, the Sonographer Work-force Taskforce concluded its deliberations with a powerfulplank of proposals now being implemented by the appropri-ate committees. Similarly, the Board has approved the Vas-cular Strategy Taskforce’s recommendations for new strate-gies to increase our vascular ultrasound portfolio. The JuneBoard meeting also approved creation of an ASE Foundation,which will allow deductions for charitable gifts to theSociety. The ASEF will form a platform for future develop-ment programs to increase the Society’s endowment.
The Information Technology Platform Area unveiled anew Web site in March and is currently working on a130-image Web site image library linked to ASE’s coreechocardiography curriculum. Most of you are currentlyreceiving ASE’s monthly newsletters reaching more than 80%of members.
Where is ASE going from here? In the coming year we willbe busy implementing the recommendations of our
23AJournal of the American Society of EchocardiographyVolume 15 Number 8
taskforces and other committees. I see us continuing to growin membership, in the breadth and depth of our activities,and in our influence amongst physicians, sonographers,payers, and other societies. Most importantly, I see uscontinuing to fulfill our missions of quality and service
in echocardiography. It is going to be another greatyear!
Pamela S. Douglas, MDPresident
American Society of Echocardiography
24A Journal of the American Society of Echocardiography Volume 15 Number 8
