To her new role as ACR Secretary, Dr. Desir brings extensive experience in both private practice and academic medicine, more than a decade of volunteer leadership experience in the ACR and a deep commitment to service.
At the American Medical Association House of Delegates Special Meeting held Nov. 13–17, 2020, the ACR’s delegation successfully led an effort to update AMA policies on home infusion and copay accumulators.
ACR CONVERGENCE 2020—Rheumatologists and patients have struggled with a lack of new therapies for systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE), but a better understanding of the underlying mechanisms behind the disease helps shed light on potential treatments. That was the theme of the ACR Convergence session State of the Art: Lupus—The Future Is Now, led by Peggy…
ACR CONVERGENCE 2020—Held Nov. 5–9, the ACR’s first fully virtual annual meeting is a wrap, but that doesn’t mean it’s too late to catch the highlights. Dozens of research abstracts on various aspects of lupus were presented during the fully virtual event, and David S. Pisetsky, MD, PhD, professor of medicine and immunology at Duke…
After ACR and other provider and patient organizations expressed concerns about a proposed copay accumulator policy set to take effect Jan. 1, 2021, UnitedHealthcare has indefinitely delayed its implementation but is continuing to explore options to reduce spending on specialty drugs.
The ACR recently had an opportunity to speak with Anthem leadership to follow up on concerns about specialty pharmacy acquisition mandates being implemented by Anthem plans in California and New York. Anthem clarified that they do not expect these mandates to impact community-based providers. Beginning in December 2020, Anthem plans in certain states will require…
In light of the release of the ACR’s new gout guideline, it’s not surprising that 50 abstracts of studies on various aspects of gout were accepted at ACR Convergence 2020. Here, we highlight just a few:
Early results in a phase 2 trial are finding that adding a TNF blocker to other treatment could greatly lower the risk of serious complications during pregnancy for women who have antiphospholipid syndrome with lupus anticoagulant.
From pain management to arthroplasty, African American patients with OA and RA experience worse outcomes than white patients. But the reasons for these health disparities are difficult to parse from socioeconomic and cultural factors.
COVID-19 isn’t the only viral infection on the rise across the globe, so is chikungunya, which can cause arthritis-like symptoms and may lead to long-term joint pain.