Make Our Voice Matter for Echocardiography

ASE needs your help in ensuring your voice is heard on issues related to legislative matters, regulatory issues, coding and reimbursement. We are asking our U.S. Physician members to consider joining the American Medical Association (AMA) by April 1, 2023. Your AMA membership enables ASE to maintain our two seats in the AMA’s House of Delegates (HOD), and empowers us to continue directly engaging, impacting, and leading discussions regarding fair and accurate valuation for echocardiography and related clinical services.

To maintain our two seats in the AMA HOD, 25% of ASE’s U.S. physician members must also be members of the AMA. One way to help us reach our goal is to encourage the Residents and Fellows in your lab, who are also ASE members, to join. Physicians can also “gift” an AMA membership to their Residents and Fellows. The AMA membership rate for the category is only $45 USD.

The AMA provides a powerful voice in Congress, the courts, and federal agencies. Full delegate status provides ASE with a vote on important AMA policy within the HOD. ASE delegates take part in the HOD meetings where the AMA’s HOD sets its legislative and regulatory priorities based on the issues that were considered by the HOD, and these issues are vast. It is imperative that ASE maintain our two seats in AMA’s HOD. Learn more and see how you can join AMA at ASEcho.org/AMA.

The ASE Foundation is hosting its first ever March Games fundraiser from March 1 – April 2. Four ASE Council Steering Committees and Specialty Interest Groups will be competing to raise the most money for ASEF! Does your team have what it takes?

Support your team of choice between March 1 – April 2 by donating online. You may be wondering who is competing… Let’s hear it for the teams!

• Emerging Echo Enthusiast (E3) Specialty Interest Group
• Cardiovascular Sonography Council Steering Committee
• Circulation & Vascular Ultrasound Council Steering (CAVUS) Committee
• Interventional Echocardiography (IE) Council Steering Committee.

March is not only a big month for basketball, it is also Women’s History Month. When you make your donation, we encourage you to think of the women in your life who have supported you, whether personally or professionally. Make your donation in honor or in memory of an important woman in your life.

The ASE Foundation funds Council Travel Grants for trainees to support their attendance at the ASE 2023 Scientific Sessions, which this year will be held in National Harbor, MD, June 23-26. These grants are part of an ongoing effort by ASEF and the Council Steering Committees to encourage trainees in cardiovascular specialties, provide echo-specific educational opportunities, and encourage participation of these enthusiastic new members in the ASE Councils.

Recipients will receive a $1,000 travel stipend to support their attendance at ASE 2023. Don’t miss your opportunity to apply for a 2023 ASE Foundation Travel Grant.

Application instructions can be found online at ASEFoundation.org/Council-Travel-Grants. Contact DLyons@ASEcho.org with any questions.

Registration for the ASE Foundation’s 14th Annual Research Awards Gala is now OPEN! We invite you to attend the “All the Colors of the World” Gala, our premiere fundraising event, to honor ASE’s 2023 award recipients and celebrate cardiovascular ultrasound research. The proceeds from this event directly support research efforts in 2024. Join us Sunday, June 25, at the Gaylord National Resort in National Harbor, MD, for a wonderful evening of entertainment, dinner, and dancing. Attendees are encouraged to wear formal attire showcasing your personal heritage and culture.

Please note, Gala Registration options will start with full tables and Supporter Level tickets first. Questions about the Gala? Please email Gala@ASEcho.org. Tickets will not be available on site. 

The February 2023 Echo magazine is now online! This issue contains the Upcoming 2023 Education Calendar and interesting articles written by ASE members, including:

• The ASEF: “Together, We Can Make A World of Difference!”, page 4
• The Advanced Cardiac Sonographer – Advice from the Experts, page 7
• Sonographer Volunteer of the Month – February, Congratulations Patrice McKay, RDCS, FASE, page 12
• Intra-Operative Transesophageal Echocardiography in the Operating Room: Pearls and Pitfalls, page 14
• Why Should A Member of ASE Also Be A Member of The American Medical Association?, page 17
• 2023 ASEF Council Travel Grant Applications Now Open!, page 19

ASE members are eligible to write and submit articles for publication. The article submission deadline for the May 2023 issue is March 15, 2023. Visit ASE’s website to review the author guideline requirements on formatting, word length, etc. Contact Echo@ASEcho.org with questions and view past issues at ASEcho.org/EchoMagazine.

The latest issue of CASE, ASE’s open access case reports journal, is now available with some excellent reports, including “Undiagnosed Atrial Septal Defect in the Setting of Comorbidities and Ventricular Failure: Seemingly Simple Disease with a Challenging Diagnosis” by Anita Sadeghpour, MD, Han Kim, MD, and Anna Lisa Chamis, MD. CASE Editor-in-Chief, Vincent L. Sorrell, MD, FASE, commented, “Sadeghpour et al. provide a wonderful demonstration of two patients with atrial septal defects. In doing so, they nicely emphasize the importance of having a high index of suspicion so as not to overlook this not-uncommon congenital pathology that may be misinterpreted as acquired heart disease in the adult. They included an outstanding flow chart to help readers investigate patients with dilated right hearts and include a multimodality approach to confirming the underlying diagnosis.”

Additionally, this issue includes two more cases on annulus reversus and pulmonary fibroelastoma in the Just Another Day in the Echo Lab category, two Rare But Deadly Findings cases dealing with ALCAPA and thrombus in transit, two cases that highlight the important role of Multimodality Imaging, and a Letter to the Editor. The editorial from Dr. Sorrell, “Lost Phone of the Incas,” includes a travel vignette that reminds us not to take for granted the day-to-day value of echocardiography.

Finally, check out the latest Sonographer Sound-Off and Unlock the CASE features on the CASE Homepage to test your wits and learn tips and tricks for everyday practice.

The 24th Annual ASCeXAM/ReASCE Review Course is specifically designed to help you gain the knowledge you need to pass the ASCeXAM and ReASCE exams. Even if you are not taking the exam this year, this course offers comprehensive cardiovascular ultrasound education. This Review Course will cover all aspects of cardiovascular ultrasound essential to these examinations, including physics, valvular heart disease, strain, and 3D imaging, contract echocardiography, ischemic heart disease, congenital heart disease, and more. The expert faculty, led by Vera Rigolin, MD, FASE, and Muhamed Saric, MD, PhD, FASE, will use case studies and lectures to help prepare attendees for the ASCeXAM® or ReASCE® examinations.

The virtual CME review course will also include a live component. The faculty will host two, two-hour Q&A sessions on Saturday, July 8, 2023, from 10:00 AM – 12:00 PM ET and 12:30 PM – 2:30 PM ET.

Register now for the Live Q&A Session on Case 2 of the Critical Care eCASE Series, which will be held February 27, 2023, 7:00 – 8:00 PM ET. Is oxygen delivery adequate? That is the question. This presentation will focus on how to approach the diagnosis and management of severe left ventricular dysfunction. The case will illustrate the use of serial measurements of the patient’s stroke volume and calculation of oxygen delivery. Does the patient need mechanical circulatory support or can pharmacologic intervention be enough?

The Critical Care eCASE Series is a blended learning activity covering three Critical Care eCASES through March 2023. Learners will review case presentations and participate in a live Q & A session for each case. Case presentation materials will be made available to participants ahead of time. Earn 4.5 AMA PRA Category 1 Credits™ (pending approval) for participation in the entire three-part series. The series is free for ASE members and $45 USD for nonmembers.

We Need You to Help maintain ASE’s two seats in the House of Delegates

ASE works hard to ensure your voice is heard on issues related to legislative matters, regulatory issues, coding and reimbursement. To do so, ASE must maintain the Society’s seats in the American Medical Association (AMA) House of Delegates (HOD). To qualify, 25% of ASE’s U.S. physician members must also be members of the AMA. Currently, we are just over halfway to that goal.

One way to help us reach our goal is to encourage the Residents and Fellows who are ASE members in your lab to join the AMA. The AMA membership rate for that category is only $45. Physicians could also “gift” AMA membership to their Residents or Fellows.

The AMA provides a powerful voice in Congress, the courts, and federal agencies. Full delegate status provides ASE with a vote on important AMA policy within the HOD. ASE delegates take part in the HOD meeting where AMA’s HOD sets its legislative and regulatory priorities based on the issues that were recently considered by the HOD, and these are vast.

It is imperative that ASE maintain our seats. Learn more and see how you can join the AMA at ASEcho.org/AMA.