Antiphospholipid syndrome (APS) is an autoimmune disease associated with frequent clotting in arteries and veins and fetal losses. The clotting results from the presence of proteins in the blood—called antiphospholipid autoantibodies (aPL)—formed against the person’s own tissues.
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Key Grassroots Opportunity
Congress is in recess August 11 through September 5. During this time, members of Congress are meeting with constituents in their district offices, so this is a great opportunity for you to…
2008–2009 REF Award Recipients
The ACR Research and Education Foundation (REF) ensures the future of rheumatology by guaranteeing that there will be well-trained rheumatologists and rheumatology health professionals to provide quality care to the patients who need it.
Do You E-Prescribe—or Just Think You Do?
You’ve bought an electronic medical record (EMR) with e-prescribing capabilities or stand-alone e-prescribing software and are enjoying the benefits of seamlessly writing a computer-generated prescription. Prescriptions are forwarded to the pharmacy where they enter the computer system exactly as they were sent. After all, that’s the benefit of e-prescribing, right?
Collect Co-pays, Deductibles, and Co-insurance Every Time
Do you know how many patients leave physician practices without paying their co-pays? The number is startling, and the cost for rheumatology practices is substantial.
Opportunities Abound at Annual Meeting
The 2008 ACR/ARHP Annual Scientific Meeting will offer multiple opportunities for attendees to increase their knowledge of rheumatic diseases. New educational programs and returning favorites will give attendees multiple chances to enhance their education and make good use of their time at the meeting.
Pseudogout
Pseudogout is a type of arthritis that, as the name implies, can cause symptoms similar to gout, but which are a reaction to a different type of crystal deposit. This type of arthritis may be one of the most misunderstood forms, and is often mistaken for gout and other conditions, including RA. Proper diagnosis is important because untreated pseudogout may lead to a severe form of joint degeneration and ongoing inflammation, resulting in chronic disability.
REF and AF Partner to Provide an Additional “Bridge Funding”
Fostering promising investigators is imperative to the future of rheumatology, so when the ACR Research and Education Foundation (REF) board of directors discovered that outstanding applicants were not being funded through the National Institutes of Health (NIH) K-series grant program (the NIH’s career development award program) due to budgetary constraints, the REF quickly called a meeting with the Arthritis Foundation (AF) and the NIH to discuss a solution.
Help Find a Cure for RA
The ACR REF established the Within Our Reach: Finding a Cure for Rheumatoid Arthritis (RA) campaign in 2006 with one goal in mind: to find a cure for RA.
Systematically Improve Practice Operations Performance
Imagine coming into your practice one morning to discover that your entire staff has quit. There are no two-week notices, no leaves of absence, and no one has stuck around to answer your questions—they all just walk out the door.