SVS member David Han, MD, has been re-elected to the American Medical Association (AMA) Relative Values Scale (RVS) Update Committee (RUC). Han’s two-year term runs from March 2023 and ends in February 2025.
This is the third time Han will serve in that capacity. He currently is vice chair of the Society for Vascular Surgery (SVS) Coding Committee and will continue as the vice chair of the AMA RUC Practice Expense Subcommittee.
The RUC is the multispecialty committee that makes relative value recommendations for new, revised and potentially misvalued services to the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS). CMS considers input from the RUC Relative Value Units (RVUs) when making payment decisions.
Han will serve on the committee as one of a handful of members from surgical subspecialities; most seats are held permanently by major national medical specialty societies. The committee provides input to CMS.
“Many other specialty societies have permanent seats on the committee. We, as a small subspecialty, do not; instead, our members can be elected on a rotating basis with other small subspecialties,” said Matthew Sideman, MD, chair of the SVS Advocacy Council.
Sideman said Han supports the SVS’ mission of advocacy and payment reform. He is professor of surgery and chief of the division of vascular surgery at SSM Health St. Louis University in St. Louis, Missouri.
Fellow SVS member, and longtime SVS coding expert, Robert Zwolak, MD, serves in a leadership role on the RUC. He was named in late 2020 as the AMA alternative representative to the RUC and alternative vice chair. His three-year term began in March 2021.
“Dr. Han will be and has been a valuable asset to the RUC Committee,” said SVS President Michael C. Dalsing, MD. “He understands the complexity, processes, and nuances involved in coding and all the other elements that go into reimbursement rates, which are an integral part of the medical world we live and practice in.”
“I am grateful for working with such a talented team of individuals who work tirelessly on behalf of our specialty to ensure that vascular surgeons are fairly valued for the work we do,” said Han.
“I truly stand on the shoulders of giants with regards to the team as well as those who have come before me. I hope that I can play a similar role in helping the next generation continue to advocate for the highest quality and most sustainable and equitable care.”
