Exclusive: ACR Convergence 2024| Focus Rheums

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

From the College

Bridge Funding Award Keeps Researcher on the Path to Her Passion

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On June 25, 2008, the American College of Rheumatology Research and Education Foundation received a letter from Sujata Sarkar, MD, one of the first recipients of the ACR REF/Arthritis Foundation Bridge Funding Award. In that letter Dr. Sarkar wrote, “I am very thankful to you … This award has come to me at a very crucial and vulnerable time in my academic career as a junior researcher.” The crucial and vulnerable time to which Dr. Sarkar refers is the time when she would need to search for alternative funding to pay for her rheumatology research career—or leave academia altogether.

I Am an Advocate

Charles King, MD  |  

It was the best of times, it was the worst of times; it was the age of wisdom, it was the age of foolishness.” Cliché perhaps, but certainly fitting in describing the practice of rheumatology of late. We have been blessed with a widening array of therapies with which to treat rheumatologic illnesses. The advent of the biological era promises even greater potential for meaningful reductions in disability and death from these diseases.

Vasculitis

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Vasculitis is a general term for a group of rare diseases that involve inflammation of blood vessels. There are many types of vasculitis, and the different diseases that fall under this term may vary significantly when it comes to symptoms, severity, and duration. Most forms of vasculitis are rare and affect both men and women of all ages.

Keep Your Money by Giving It Away

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If you read last month’s article, “Why the REF” (p. 13), written by Leslie J. Crofford, MD, president of ACR Research and Education Foundation (REF), announcing the REF’s new planned giving program, you may have asked yourself, “How can I benefit from this program?” The answer: The REF’s planned-giving program is designed to help you plan your legacy while supporting the mission of the REF—to improve patients’ lives through support of research and training that advances the prevention, treatment, and cure of rheumatic diseases. Put simply, you benefit monetarily, but—more importantly—you feel satisfaction because you helped ensure the future of rheumatology by making a charitable gift to the REF.

Incorrect Reimbursements—Is This Your Practice?

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Imagine you have received a remittance for patient John Doe for charge 99214 in the amount of $69.89. Your billing staff reconciles the money and updates the account. Would you consider this a successful reimbursement? If so, it may surprise you to know you have just been underpaid by $20 because the correct fee schedule was $89.89.

Osteonecrosis of the Jaw

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Osteonecrosis of the jaw (ONJ) is a condition in which an area of jawbone is not covered by the gums that has lasted for more than eight weeks. ONJ occurs when a facial bone begins to starve from a permanent or temporary lack of blood. As the name indicates—with osteo meaning bone and necrosis meaning death—the bone begins to die, causing pain and deterioration.