The Society for Vascular Surgery Patient Safety Organization and The American Heart Association Introduce New Vascular Medicine Registry for the Vascular Quality Initiative
Chicago, IL/Oakbrook Terrace, IL – The Society for Vascular Surgery Patient Safety Organization® (SVS PSO), in collaboration with The American Heart Association, the leading voluntary health organization devoted to a world of longer, healthier lives, is excited to introduce the Vascular Medicine Registry (VMR) for the Vascular Quality Initiative (VQI). The registry will target the management of new outpatient consults who are being treated medically for Atherosclerotic Carotid Artery Occlusive Disease, Abdominal Aortic Aneurysm, and Peripheral Lower Extremity Arterial Disease due to atherosclerosis or true aneurysm.
Medication details and dosages, risk factor and lifestyle modifications, non-operative treatments and counseling will be the emphasis of the VMR. The value of this registry centers on the comparative effectiveness of surgery vs. medically managing these vascular diseases. Features include a web-based platform with real-time reporting.
Randall DeMartino, MD and Michael R. Jaff, DO from the SVS have served as co-chairs of the Vascular Medicine Registry Steering Committee. “This new registry will allow us to compare the full spectrum of treatment options for patients with vascular disease in order to define the best treatment for each patient,” said DeMartino. Dr. Jaff noted that the new registry allows physicians to look at the entire patient. He explained, “We can see if we have done enough to keep them healthy. We can understand in greater detail how cardiovascular risk factors are managed and how that impacts patient outcomes.”
Dr. Josh Beckman, Dr. Marc Bonaca and Dr. Mark Creager have represented the American Heart Association while serving on the VMR Steering Committee. The team has worked diligently to develop the VQI VMR. “Vascular diseases are prevalent in the U.S. and other nations, often resulting in significantly higher rates of major adverse cardiovascular events including heart attack, stroke and death.” said John Meiners, Chief of Mission-aligned Businesses for the American Heart Association. “This collaboration will enable providers to identify the best treatments and medicines to improve quality of life and patient care.” The American Heart Association has a longstanding commitment to improve systems of care through its quality improvement programs, including its flagship program, Get With The Guidelines (GWTG), which promotes consistent adherence to evidence-based guidelines in more than 2,400 US hospitals. This partnership represents an opportunity to leverage the strengths of both organizations to improve care delivered to patients with vascular disease.
Utilizing the M2S PATHWAYS cloud-based platform, the VQI provides accurate tracking of patients and outcomes that can be used for quality improvement at a provider and institutional level.
Outcomes can be evaluated against regional and national benchmarks. In addition, providers have access to a large database for local, regional and national analysis. The SVS VQI is organized as a Society for Vascular Surgery Patient Safety Organization (SVS PSO), which provides protection against discovery of comparative data in legal proceedings. Providers can submit outcome data without fear of reprisal. Data are only used for quality improvement and cannot be publicly reported. Regular audits help ensure data integrity and prevent selective reporting.
“We are extremely excited about the introduction of the Vascular Medicine Registry,” said Jens Jorgensen, MD, Medical Director of the SVS VQI. “The effort and collaboration put into the VMR will provide a necessary platform for physicians to manage, analyze and improve outcomes for patients with peripheral arterial disease being treated with medical therapy. Data generated by the registry will directly support our goal of improving care for medically managed patients.”
About the Vascular Quality Initiative®
The Vascular Quality Initiative, a joint venture of M2S Inc. and the Society for Vascular Surgery, collects and analyzes data to improve the quality of vascular care. Currently, VQI has more than 550 facilities and 3,000 physicians participating, and 500,000+ vascular procedures reported. VQI is a collaboration between regional groups that use a Patient Safety Organization and the M2S PATHWAYS cloud-based system. For more information, visit staging.vqi.bytesco.site.
Contact: Jim Wadzinski, General Manager, SVS PSO, jwadzinski@svspso.org
About the American Heart Association
The American Heart Association is a leading force for a world of longer, healthier lives. With nearly a century of lifesaving work, the Dallas-based association is dedicated to ensuring equitable health for all. We are a trustworthy source empowering people to improve their heart health, brain health and well-being. We collaborate with numerous organizations and millions of volunteers to fund innovative research, advocate for stronger public health policies, and share lifesaving resources and information. Connect with us on heart.org, Facebook, Twitter or by calling 1-800-AHA-USA1.
Contact: Kimberly Haller, Kimberly.Haller@heart.org, 214-706-4858
About M2S
M2S, a division of Medstreaming, is a healthcare performance management solutions company that provides innovative technology and services for the healthcare industry to manage clinical information and utilize that information to improve the quality of patient care and reduce costs. The Vascular Quality Initiative is built on M2S’s PATHWAYS clinical data performance platform, allowing users to track, measure, and analyze clinical information, promote collaboration, objectively drive decisions, and optimize performance. For more information, visit www.m2s.com.
Contact: Jennifer Correa, Marketing Manager, jcorrea@m2s.com