After a lunch break, participants will round out their education with an afternoon of interactive sessions and immediate tools to bring back to their clinical practice, beginning with “Cutting Through the Red Tape to Obtain Treatment,” with Karen Ferguson, MS. This strategy-based session will provide information on how to facilitate approval for biologic therapies and how to differentiate priorities for payment from private and government funding sources. Jane Denay, BSN, MSN, CFNP, and Betsy Roth-Wojcicki, RN, MS, CPNP, will give attendees tools for teaching their patients. “Our first line of defense in recognizing adverse effects of the biologic agents is a well-informed patient and family,” explains Denay. “This session will provide access to an electronic template, which participants can modify and update as new biologics become available and use in their patient education program.”
Finally, pulling all the information together into practical case examples will be Salahuddin (Dino) Kazi, MD, and Andreas O. Reiff, MD, as they present “Managing Complex Cases.” This will give attendees the opportunity to apply what they have learned throughout the course.
“This group really wanted to make this course interactive and immediately applicable in our clinical practices at home,” notes Watcher. “Each of the speakers offers diverse experience and knowledge, which will make this a comprehensive course on all key clinical aspects of the biologic era, and we are excited to be able to introduce the audience response system to the preconference course, as it will allow for greater attendee participation.” For more information on the 2010 ACR/ARHP Annual Scientific Meeting, visit www.rheumatology.org/education.
