Mary Beth Nierengarten is a writer, editor and journalist with over 25 years of medical communications experience. She is a regular contributor to a number of online and print publications and writes in most clinical areas, as well as on health policy and economic issues. She lives in Minneapolis and can be reached at [email protected].
While the latest version of the Republican-sponsored healthcare bill once again falters and its prospects of becoming the new law of the land fade, plenty of advocacy work is continuing on behalf of rheumatologists and rheumatology practices. The ACR, along with multiple partners, has renewed its push for regulatory relief in a number of areas…
For years, guidelines from various organizations have recommended osteoporosis screening in women and men starting at a specific age or based on specific risk factors. Among these guidelines are those developed by the U.S. Preventive Services Task Force (USPSTF) that recommend universal osteoporosis screening for women 65 years of age and older and for targeted…
Management of rheumatoid arthritis (RA) is complex. The ever-expanding availability of new drugs requires that rheumatologists and patients constantly consider treatment strategies and targets aimed at both disease control and symptom relief while remaining cognizant of the increasing high cost of emerging medications. Given such complexity, guidelines to inform rheumatologists about the most recent developments…
In response to the required changes in reimbursement from fee for service to value-based payment under the Medicare Access and CHIP Reauthorization Act (MACRA) of 2015, the ACR is exploring development of a rheumatology-specific alternative payment model (APM) for rheumatologists and practices, which would provide an additional option for payment other than the Merit-Based Incentive…
Rheumatologists now have another treatment option to offer their patients with one of, if not the most, difficult autoimmune diseases to treat. New data add to the growing evidence of the safety and benefit of stem cell transplantation for patients with systemic sclerosis with internal organ involvement. New results of the Scleroderma: Cyclophosphamide or Transplantation…
On April 7, 2017, the Institute for Clinical and Economic Review (ICER) published its final report, titled, Targeted Immune Modulators for Rheumatoid Arthritis: Effectiveness & Value.1 The stated objective of the report was to assess the comparative clinical effectiveness of the targeted immune modulators (TIMs) used to treat patients with moderate to severe active rheumatoid…
WASHINGTON, D.C.—Conference goers who braved the final day of the 2016 ACR/ARHP Annual Meeting were awarded for their stamina by learning about issues relating to the damage caused by systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) during the session Systemic Lupus Erythematosus—Clinical Aspects and Treatment V: Damage and Morbidity. Minimizing Damage: Early Use of GC-Sparing Strategies Jayne Little,…
WASHINGTON, D.C.—Experts at the 2016 ACR/ARHP Annual Meeting session, Systemic Lupus Erythematosus—Clinical Aspects and Treatment IV: Biomarkers, reported on a number of recent studies showing advancement in our understanding of the disease mechanisms underlying systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) that place these patients at risk for cardiovascular disease (CVD) and other comorbidities. Mechanisms of CVD Risk…
WASHINGTON, D.C.—Clinical aspects of managing patients with rheumatoid arthritis (RA) in remission were discussed by a panel of experts at the 2016 ACR/ARHP Annual Meeting during the session titled Rheumatoid Arthritis—Clinical Aspects IV: Managing Patients in Remission. Among the issues raised were strategies to taper or discontinue biologic therapies, as well as clinical predictors of…
WASHINGTON, D.C.—Ongoing investigation into the disease mechanisms of inflammatory myopathies is generating needed information for the development of potential future therapeutic targets, and current data from clinical trials have shed light on myopathy concerns in different cohorts of patients. These issues were all discussed in a session titled Muscle Biology, Myositis, and Myopathies I during…