IR UpFront
SIR congressional updates On Sept. 7, 14 SIR physicians, including two former SIR presidents, met with Rep. David Schweikert, R-Ariz., to express opposition to the CMS MPFS proposal to cut IR Medicare pay in 2022. Rep. Schweikert serves on the House Ways and Means Health Subcommittee, which has jurisdiction over the Medicare program and CMS. The representative agreed to communicate to CMS that deep pay cuts for IR are unwise and should be avoided.
Rep. Schweikert invited our SIR physicians to work with him on his priority health issue—to treat and prevent diabetes. Additional follow-up meetings with the representative are being planned.
Additionally, SIR held a virtual version of the annual Washington Fly-In on Sept. 14. To express opposition to Medicare pay cuts to IR, 18 volunteers met with 34 congressional offices. Our Voices for IR Call to Action has reached 74% of all congressional offices to date.
Learn more about the proposed changes and how to contact your Congressional delegation at
bit.ly/3EK3Wh9.
In memoriam: Dimitrios Kelekis, MD, PhD, FSIR, EBIR
It is with great sadness that SIR announces the death of 2012 Gold Medal recipient Dimitrios Kelekis, MD, PhD, FSIR, EBIR, professor and chair of the Research Center of Radiology and Imaging at Eugenidion University Hospital in Athens, Greece.
Dr. Kelekis was a leader in the development of Greek diagnostic and interventional radiology for more than 40 years. The founder of the Hellenic Society of Interventional Radiology, he will be fondly remembered for improving patient care and physician and public awareness of IR in that country.
2021 IR Residency Practicum
available on-demand The 2021 IR Residency Practicum On-demand features videos of the sessions presented on PAD, IO, venous interventions, women’s/men’s health, pain management, dialysis access and the business of IR. Also included are a multidisciplinary Tumor Board, case discussions and a panel discussion of IRs who work in various practice settings. Formerly known as the Fellows Spring Practicum, the IR Residency Practicum is designed for graduating integrated and independent IR residents but may also be beneficial to recent graduates and early career IRs. Members receive a discounted rate.
Learn more online at
bit.ly/3hBMPUs.
Through his creation of numerous IR departments throughout Greece, his establishment of the postgraduate IR program at the Medical School of the University of Athens, and his mentorship of young IRs, he introduced numerous life-saving and life-improving treatments to Greece, including angioplasty, embolotherapy, percutaneous biliary interventions and fallopian tube recanalization. He was also the chairman of the imaging department of the Olympic Games Polyclinic, Athens, and a former president of the Cardiovascular and Interventional Radiological Society of Europe Foundation.
SIR and SIR Foundation leadership have expressed our shared condolences to his family during this difficult time.
10 IRQ | FALL 2021
Page 1 |
Page 2 |
Page 3 |
Page 4 |
Page 5 |
Page 6 |
Page 7 |
Page 8 |
Page 9 |
Page 10 |
Page 11 |
Page 12 |
Page 13 |
Page 14 |
Page 15 |
Page 16 |
Page 17 |
Page 18 |
Page 19 |
Page 20 |
Page 21 |
Page 22 |
Page 23 |
Page 24 |
Page 25 |
Page 26 |
Page 27 |
Page 28 |
Page 29 |
Page 30 |
Page 31 |
Page 32 |
Page 33 |
Page 34 |
Page 35 |
Page 36 |
Page 37 |
Page 38 |
Page 39 |
Page 40
