MEDCAC Panel to Hear Presentations on Lower Extremity Chronic Venous Disease

June 29, 2016—The Society for Vascular Surgery (SVS) and the American Venous Forum (AVF) recently announced that they have been invited to present information to a panel that will address questions from the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) on lower extremity chronic venous disease.

According to SVS and AVF, the presentations were requested to address gaps in the evidence about how the disease is treated. CMS is interested in the reduction of pain, reduction in edema, improved functional capacity, improved quality of life, avoidance of acute and chronic venous thromboembolism, avoidance of chronic thromboembolic pulmonary hypertension, avoidance of initial venous skin ulceration and recurrent ulceration, improvement in wound healing, reduction in all-cause mortality, and avoidance of repeat interventions and harms from the interventions.

SVS and AVF are among a group of professional organizations that will present information to the Medicare Evidence Development and Coverage Advisory Committee (MEDCAC).

Other presenters will represent a coalition that includes the Society for Interventional Radiology, American College of Cardiology, American College of Radiology, American Heart Association, Society for Cardiovascular Angiography and Interventions, Society for Vascular Medicine, Alliance of Wound Care Stakeholders, Vascular Interventional Advances—VIVA Physicians, and the American College of Phlebology (ACP). 

ACP recently announced that as part of this coalition of organizations dedicated to evidence-based care of venous disease, it has submitted a joint presentation for the MEDCAC meeting on treatment strategies for patients with lower extremity chronic venous disease. 

MEDCAC panelists will discuss the evidence they hear and vote on how to advise CMS on coverage for lower extremity disease interventions. While it does not set policy, MEDCAC makes recommendations to CMS regarding determinations for treatment and Medicare coverage, advised SVS/AVF.

In the announcement, Lowell Kabnick, MD, President of the AVF and a member of the SVS, stated that the presentations will address a defined set of published CMS questions focusing on “the scientific evidence underpinning the benefit and risk of existing lower extremity venous disease interventions that aim to improve health outcomes in the Medicare population.”

The public meeting will be held on Wednesday, July 20, 2016, from 7:30 AM until 4:30 PM in the main auditorium of CMS at 7500 Security Boulevard in Baltimore, Maryland. The panel will be live-streamed at http://vsweb.org/MEDCACstreaming. More information, including the five questions that panelists are asked to address, is available on the CMS website here and in the CMS announcement here, which was published in the Federal Register.

In the announcement, SVS President Ron Fairman, MD, stated, “We are privileged to be part of the dialogue and to be recognized for the expertise that the AVF and the SVS provide. We also welcome the opportunity to collaborate with coalitions presenting at MEDCAC and support our common vision for delivering the highest quality evidence-based care to patients.”

Peter Gloviczki, MD, a past-president of both SVS and AVF, stated, “It is important that Medicare reimburses for medically indicated interventions that are effective in decreasing disability from chronic venous disease, but it is equally important that physicians perform these interventions for the appropriate indications. The MEDCAC meeting is aimed to accomplish both.”