INSIDE OCTOBER/NOVEMBER 2015 Vol. 8 No. 6 VEINTHERAPYNEWS.COM
Digital marketing strategies Marketing your vein practice A vein by any other name IAC accreditation tips Educating our educators
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An ACP recognized resource for news and information for and about the phlebology community
VEIN SPECIALISTS OF AMERICA • A DECADE OF SERVICE
1st 50 practices achieve IAC Vein Center accreditation; updated standards published By Lowell Kabnick, MD, RPhS, FACS, FACPh
VSA adds physician training to practice Vein Specialists of America celebrates its 10th year of service by launching a new national Physician Training Academy program under the direction of new Chief Medical Officer Ariel Soffer, MD. See an interview with VSA CEO David Schmiege and Dr. Soffer on page 18.
A milestone for the field of venous evaluation, management and treatment was recently reached as the first 50 vein centers have been recognized as achievers of IAC Vein Center accreditation. Reaching this milestone in under two years since the inception of the accreditation program is reflective of the field’s willingness to embrace a process Related article, that enables vein page 36 centers to evaluate and demonstrate the level of patient care they provide and document their commitment to quality. For the vast majority, the impetus for demonstrating this commitment is voluntarily driven. Yet for vein centers that are providers with Blue Cross Blue Shield of Massachusetts (BCBSMA), effective Sept. 1, those performing endovenous ablation are required to possess IAC Vein Center accreditation as a condition for IAC
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A WAR OF AGENDAS: What they would like you to think about compounding By L. R. DILLON, R.Ph., ASQ CMQ/OE, ASQ CQA, ACHC / PCAB CAC Turn the clock back a hundred years and “compounding” pharmacies were the only pharmacies; manufactured dosage forms simply did not exist, or were quite rare. The pharmacist carefully prepared what the physician ordered based on a unique prescription “recipe.” This required the creative application of the principles of chemistry; art as well as science. As drug manufacturers emerged, the independent pharmacy was pushed towards extinction. Manufacturers would like you to believe there was no solution before their products were
available. However, ask any physician in practice at that time, or in a specialty where such products were not available and their solution likely involved a compounding pharmacy. We are now in the midst of a renaissance of compounding based upon the lucky coalescence of a number of factors, most notably: • The legitimate need for customized, patient-specific dosages or combinations of medications. • The opportunity to prepare various drugs and drug dosage forms deemed unprofitable by drug manufacturers • Analytical laboratory services that allow preparations, as applicable, to be tested for stability, sterility and
endotoxins using methods as rigorous as those employed by pharmaceutical manufacturers. • A willingness – in fact, eagerness – on the part of compounding pharmacists to work closely with prescribers and patients towards the end of successful therapy and outcomes. It is frustrating, then, to observe an ongoing “war” on compounding pharmacies that pits regulators and large
COMPOUNDING
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See page 27 for more information
Vein Care Heats Up November 12-15, 2015 | Hilton Bonnet Creek | Orlando, FL
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