A New Horizon in Research MARK MEISSNER, MD CHAIR, RESEARCH STANDING COMMITTEE
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hen we consider the three tenets of the American Vein & Lymphatic Society, we must realize that advancements in the science of venous and lymphatic disease through Research is critical if we are to achieve our other tenets of Advocacy and Education. The AVLS began the pursuit of advancing research several years ago with a multi-million dollar investment in the development and deployment of the PRO Venous Registry recognizing that it is only with “big data� that we will be able to provide the clinical and scientific evidence required to support the future of the field and improve the quality of care for our patients. Now we are embarking on the next phase of our research investments and initiatives, which are overseen by three different Advisory Committees of the AVLS. First, we have the PRO Registry Operations Committee that is chaired by Joe Jenkins, MD, FACS, FAVLS, RPVI, RPhS, RVT, CWSP. This committee is responsible for the over-site and
management of the PRO Venous Registry to ensure the system is operational and the data integrity is protected and to facilitate the expansion of the data collected along with the addition of new providers. In 2018, the AVLS agreed to invest in upgrading the PRO Venous Registry platform from our original 1.0 version to a more modern and user friendly 2.0 version. The Operations Committee has been hard at work at getting this new database functional. This has required an essential rebuild of the entire database. The beta testing of uploaded data was completed in May 2019. Three of our major provider groups, the Center for Vein Restoration, Vein Clinics of America and Streamline MD have been working hard to get their data into the new registry, with a commitment of completion by the end of October. Testing of the query component of the registry has been completed. The PRO 2.0 registry now provides an easy way to compare pretreatment and post treatment patient reported outcome data within the registry. The minimum data set requirements for superficial 12