The ACR/CHEST ILD Guidelines in Practice: Watch the Webinar Recording Now!

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

Annual Meeting Travel Scholarship Offered to Fellows-in-Training

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The ACR will soon be accepting applications for the Fellows-in-Training (FIT) Travel Scholarship, which gives fellows-in-training the opportunity to experience the 2010 ACR/ARHP Annual Scientific Meeting. Through the scholarship program, rheumatology fellows can network and learn from other fellows-in-training. In addition to free meeting registration, fellows-in-training will be provided support for five nights’ accommodations, airfare, and ground transportation, and will receive an invitation to attend—with their program directors—a fellow’s reception.

New Workshops on Patient Findings and Joint Injections

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There is a critical shortage of rheumatologists in the U.S. The aging of the U.S. population, along with recent changes in healthcare reform, makes it critical for rheumatology practices across the U.S. to plan for the maintenance of accessible, high-quality care for patients. Establishing a collaborative rheumatology practice between a rheumatologist and a nurse practitioner or physician assistant (NP/PA) has been identified as one solution, but there are few rheumatology specialty training opportunities for NPs and PAs. The ARHP has identified the need to provide training for this portion of its membership and is now expanding its offerings for NPs and PAs through four new workshops at the annual meeting in November.

Tips on Audits

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”Recovery Audit Contractor” (RAC) is a term that every healthcare professional and staff member who deals with Medicare needs to know.

The ACR Benchmark Survey Results

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In 2009, the ACR’s Committe­e on Rheumatologic Care (CORC) began its third Economic Benchmark Survey to update information from the previous surveys conducted in 1999 and 2003.

Annual Meeting Looks at the Business of Rheumatology

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In response to the need for education to help a busy practicing rheumatologist tackle some of the business tasks associated with practice, the 2010 Annual Meeting Planning Committee has created a new track: the Business of Rheumatology. This track was created to help the busy private practitioner identify sessions that address pertinent and timely business issues, such as coding, reimbursement, the impact of healthcare reform, EHRs, and other business-related issues.

Breaking Down Medical Decision Making

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The medical decision making (MDM) of an evaluation and management visit is just one part of a patient’s visit. Rheumatologists can make the mistake of thinking that the level of visit can be determined just by the MDM, but that is often not the case.

REF President: Annual Giving Is the Foundation of Our Core Awards

E. William St.Clair, MD  |  

Annual giving is a fundraising component of the ACR Research and Education Foundation’s (REF’s) comprehensive development plan—the other main sources being the Industry Roundtable and planned giving, otherwise known as The Legacy Society. What has always struck me about annual giving is the munificence of our donors. When it comes to annual giving, most donors are ACR members whose spirit of generosity makes it possible for the REF to fulfill its mission of advancing research and training to improve the health of people with rheumatic diseases.

Recent Study Improves Understanding of Preclinical Rheumatoid Arthritis

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A study recently published in Arthritis Care & Research (AC&R) reveals a novel approach for the study of preclinical rheumatoid arthritis (RA). The investigators conducting the study sought to determine if these RA-related biomarkers could also be found in healthy subjects in order to investigate relationships between genetic and environmental factors and the presence of these biomarkers. Their goal is to study how these biomarkers evolve.