The Society for Vascular Surgery (SVS) has received a $100,000 grant from the Council of Medical Specialty Societies (CMSS) to promote diagnostic excellence across the medical field.
The CMSS, a coalition of 53 specialty societies representing over 800,000 physicians, has recognized the importance of enhancing capabilities in healthcare and has committed resources to support innovative projects in this area. The SVS proposal, “Advancing diagnosis and staging for early detection and treatment of peripheral arterial disease [PAD] to prevent amputation,” is one of 11 grant recipients.
The grant plays a significant role in the SVS’ commitment to improving patient care, said SVS Director of Clinical Guidelines and Quality Practice Reva Bhushan, PhD, who helped secure the grant.
“Vascular surgeons and their care teams play a key role in screening and managing PAD patients. This grant will allow the SVS to promote the use of diagnostic, staging and quality-of-life tools for patient assessment to prevent chronic limb-threatening ischemia [CLTI] and amputation,” said Bhushan.
CMSS projects focus on three categories of conditions known to cause a disproportionate share of preventable harm due to suboptimal diagnosis: cancer, cardiovascular disease and infection.
The grant program, administered by CMSS and funded by the Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation and The John A. Hartford Foundation, assists medical specialty societies in promoting analytical excellence for clinicians and patients. “Diagnostic excellence is fundamental to the health and well-being of all people, especially older adults who often have multiple chronic conditions complicated by frailty,” said Terry Fulmer, PhD, RN, president of The John A. Hartford Foundation.
“With the generous support of our funders, 20 specialties are actively engaging their members in diagnostic excellence,” said CMSS CEO Helen Burstin, MD, MPH.
“The legacy of the CMSS grant program will be greater awareness, attention and action to prevent avoidable diagnostic harm across medicine.”
