Exclusive: ACR Convergence 2024| Focus Rheums

An official publication of the ACR and the ARP serving rheumatologists and rheumatology professionals

AbbVie’s RA Drug Succeeds in Late Stage Study

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(Reuters)—Abbvie Inc. says its experimental drug met the main goal of halting progression of moderate to severe rheumatoid arthritis (RA) in a late-stage trial. The drug, upadacitinib, was tested as a monotherapy in patients who have not been treated with chemotherapy agent methotrexate. Upadacitinib, which belongs to a class of drugs known as JAK inhibitors,…

ACR/ARHP Visits the Hill; Drug Pricing ‘Blueprint’ Revealed

Angus Worthing  |  

Greetings, Advocates! In my last update, I described the great news from February’s budget agreement that fixed Medicare’s payment adjustments so MIPS penalties would not include Part B drug costs, ensuring stabilization of the Medicare Part B drug system, among other successes. (Read the ACR’s press release on this topic.) I also described the Trump administration’s…

Think Globally; Act Locally: A Conversation with Luke Barré, MD, MPH

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The ACR’s ability to address the big picture of rheumatologic care while focusing on individual practice and patient needs is one of the many things that attracted Luke Barré, MD, MPH, to the College early in his career. With training in both preventive medicine and rheumatology, Dr. Barré believes combined global and local views are…

ACR’s Affiliate Society Council Reports Solid Gains in Advocacy Efforts

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It’s May, and soon, most state legislatures will be adjourning for the remainder of the year. Joseph Cantrell, JD, senior manager of state affairs for the ACR, who tracks the progress of state and federal patient care legislation, reports that several states saw solid gains during 2018 state sessions, which typically run from January to…

Joint Efforts: RheumPAC Facilitates Progress

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Advocacy and RheumPAC staff from the ACR and other medical specialty organizations gathered in Nashville this month to discuss the importance of making sure your members know the details of the work advocacy and the PAC are doing. Thus far, the ACR has had a very successful year in terms of its advocacy efforts. Following…

Research Shows High Adherence to Performance Measures for RA Cohort

Arthritis Care & Research  |  

New research examines the adherence rates for system-level performance measures in Canada. Using data from the Canadian Early Arthritis Cohort that spanned eight years, researchers determined the percentage of RA patients seen in yearly follow-up with the number of gaps between visits, the percentage of RA patients treated with a disease-modifying anti-rheumatic drug and number days from diagnosis to the initiation of treatment. The results: High adherence to system-level performance measures was found in this early RA cohort, with small declines in performance with the increasing length overtime…