Greetings from Washington, D.C., where ACR leaders just held more than 100 meetings on Capitol Hill supporting reforms to step therapy and prior authorization, increased reimbursement for dual-energy X-ray absorptiometry (DXA), solutions to the rheumatology workforce shortage, and rheumatology-specific research at the Pentagon. We’re already hearing great news about our successes: Hours after our visit,…
Annual AMA Committee Meetings Present Large-Scale Survey Results on E/M Codes
The American Medical Association’s (AMA) Relative Value Scale (RVS) Update Committee (RUC) and Current Procedural Terminology (CPT) Committee currently meet three times a year each to keep the CPT code set up to date, and to review the valuation of all the codes for the physician fee schedule. The two-step meetings of both the CPT Editorial…
Lori Gilbert-Kaye Killed, 3 Others Injured in California Synagogue Shooting
The ACR is greatly saddened by the loss of Lori Gilbert-Kaye, wife of rheumatologist Howard Kaye, MD. Mrs. Gilbert-Kaye was tragically killed in the San Diego-area synagogue shooting on April 27 after she dove in front of Rabbi Yisroel Goldstein, saving his life. We send our deepest condolences to Dr. Kaye and his family. CNN…
Quinacrine Shortage & What the ACR Is Doing about It
The FDA recently conducted an inspection of the only manufacturer that had FDA approval to import quinacrine. Unfortunately, the manufacturer did not pass inspection and was put on an import alert. This effectively shuts down any importation of quinacrine to the U.S. until the manufacturer goes through the necessary steps to be re-inspected or until…
Lead Effectively: Leaders Are Made, not Born
Every year at the end of January, ACR and ARP volunteers gather in Atlanta to learn more about a subject we seldom are taught in any formal way in our professional training: leadership. The 2019 Leadership Development Conference took place on Saturday, Jan. 26 and offered participants a unique opportunity to step away from their…
Rheumatology Board Certification: Exploring Change
The ACR has been engaged in a measured, inclusive process with rheumatologists to determine if rheumatology board certification should move from the American Board of Internal Medicine (ABIM) to the American Board of Allergy and Immunology (ABAI), which would become a new, combined board of Allergy, Immunology and Rheumatology. “As ACR leaders have traveled around…
Rheumatology Advocacy in 2019
A belated Happy New Year to my fellow advocates! Here’s your first update for 2019 on what the rheumatology community should know is going on in Washington, D.C., right now. Current Climate On Jan. 3, the 116th Congress gaveled into session with Democrats in control of the House of Representatives and Republicans still the majority in the…

Post-Traumatic Osteoarthritis: Managing OA That Develops After Joint Injuries & Reconstructive Surgery
CHICAGO—Joint trauma is one of many potential drivers of osteoarthritis disease activity and structural progression. In Post-Traumatic OA: Pathogenesis, Clinical Evolution and Management, a session at the 2018 ACR/ARHP Annual Meeting, experts discussed the effects of sports and other injuries on even young patients’ joints. Post-traumatic osteoarthritis (OA) may account for 12% of hip, knee…

Nonsurgical Therapies for Knee OA Pain: From Medications to Bracing to Exercise, What Works & What Doesn’t
CHICAGO—Many nonsurgical therapies are available for knee osteoarthritis pain, but they vary greatly in effectiveness. “How should I proceed and figure out what to do with our patients?” asked David T. Felson, MD, MPH, professor of medicine at Boston University School of Medicine, during OA Management Without Surgery in 2018, a session at the 2018…

Emerging Treatments for OA: New Therapies Target Joint Pain, Not Just Structural Damage
CHICAGO—Are effective treatments for osteoarthritis (OA) on the horizon? In Emerging Treatments for Osteoarthritis at the 2018 ACR/ARHP Annual Meeting, experts discussed potential therapies to address OA structural progression, pain and inflammation. With an aging population and rising obesity rates, “we can expect the prevalence of osteoarthritis will only increase,” said Anne-Marie Malfait, MD, PhD,…
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