News
A Monthly Communiqué for the Vascular Society of New Jersey - May 2004
From the President….Clifford Sales, MD
    The Executive Board of the Vascular Society of New Jersey met to discuss the agenda and goals for this year’s board. The primary goal of this year’s Board is to provide the membership with a real reason to belong to VSNJ. The Board understands that talking about advocacy and effecting change are wonderful ideals to aspire to! However, a society of 150 has to be realistic in its expectations.
    The Board does believe that we can start the ball moving in terms of helping to effect change in the larger scope of things — it will likely best be done in collaboration with other organizations. This might include our regional or national societies or other state medical societies that may have aligned interests. We will not deviate from our role as a forum for education—as witnessed by this year’s outstanding conference!
What have you done for me, lately?
  1. The Society is planning a Coding and Practice Management conference for September 24, 2004 in Morristown. We have asked the Medicare carrier to identify the four most common problems encountered by Vascular Surgeons in New Jersey and to provide one 20-minute talk on each topic. There will be sufficient time for question and answer sessions. We have also invited a number of nationally recognized experts in the field of Vascular coding and billing to be a part of the panel for the day. The conference will be available for members of the Society (at a reduced price), their office staffs and other non-members.
  2. We are planning our Annual Meeting for November 10, 2004 at the Highlawn Pavilion, W. Orange, which will be sure to be an enjoyable evening capped off by a keynote address.
  3. We are exploring the idea of organizing a 3-5 day trip during “Teacher’s Week” in November (Nov 3-7) where VSNJ members can bring their families on a warm weather excursion. Of course, there will be educational opportunities and CME credits available so that appropriate tax considerations may be considered for the attendees.
  4. Finally, the Board would like to develop a patient information brochure (or booklet) that can be distributed to patients explaining some of the procedures we perform. Additionally, we want patients to appreciate the benefit they receive by relying on a VSNJ member for their care.
    These are lofty goals for one year! We need help and we need participation! Please get involved in whatever capacity you can. Something simple, such as getting one colleague to join the Society helps! When the time comes, if each member can get ten patients to make a phone call to a politician, that will be 1400 calls!! Things multiply quickly!
It’s that time of year again — the weather is finally breaking and golf is on all our minds! It’s time to sign up for the New Jersey Physicians Golf Association.
    The NJPGA is about to open its golf season with exciting courses being lined up after our recent winter meeting. On the 2004 Schedule we have . . .
(tee off at 1 pm)
TPC at Jasna Polana
    Wed., May 26    Princeton
Royce Brook Golf Club
    Tues., June 22    Hillsborough
Olde York Country Club
    Thurs., July 15    Columbus
Essex County Country Club
    Thurs., August 12    West Orange
The Ridge at Back Brook
    Tues., September 14    Ringoes
Spring Lake Country Club
    Thurs., October 21    Spring Lake Heights

    The membership fee remains just $100 and we are expanding the membership to anyone sponsored by a physician member. Go to www.NewJerseyPGA.org for the membership application and form to sign up for the various events!

Varbeco Wealth Management, LLC has successfully negotiated a group discount on Long Term Care insurance (LTC) with MassMutual Life insurance company. With John Hancock already offering you a group discount you now have access to two premier LTC carriers. These permanent discounts not only apply to VSNJ members but also their spouses, parents, in-laws, grandparents, children, step equivalents, and domestic partners. Discounts may be as high as 40% off standard rates. Please call us at (877) 972-7900 for further details.
                David J. Vargo, CMFC
                President, Varbeco Wealth Management

MEDICAL MALPRACTICE UPDATE
    Several Malpractice carriers are offering Claims-Made policies, and proposing to switch over existing Occurrence/Permanent Protection Policies to Claims-Made. Claims-Made policies offer the following premium discounts:
1st year: up to 75%
2nd year: up to 60%
3rd year: 20%
4th year: 10%
5th year and thereafter: 5%
    Before you decide to switch your coverage to Claims-Made, you should consider the pros and cons, such as: Tail coverage; portability; years to retirement; coverage after retirement/termination of policy.
    To learn more and decide if this opportunity is right for you, call PriMed Consulting at 800-528-3758, ext. 108 for Dana Vargo.

 
    To save important resources (time and money), we are building an email address list of members. The monthly report, and other important communications, can then be easily and efficiently emailed to the organization. Please provide your name and email address.
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