Exclusive: ACR Convergence 2024| Focus Rheums

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

From the College

Practice Page

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Practice management changes and opportunities in 2012

Health Professionals Bound for Chicago

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The 2011 ACR/ARHP Annual Meeting program offers a plethora of opportunities for health professionals to gain insight into emerging concepts in the diagnosis and treatment of rheumatologic disorders as well as improving quality of life in affected patients.

Journey from Early Career Grant Recipient to Preceptor

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Elaine Husni, MD, MPH, knew from an early age that she wanted to be a doctor. Along the way, she relied on the support of mentors and the ACR Research and Education Foundation Awards and Grants program to help establish her career in rheumatology, eventually landing her in her current role as the department vice chair for the Arthritis and Musculoskeletal Center at the Cleveland Clinic.

Speak Up This Summer

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Congress continues to make health policy decisions that directly affect you and your patients. It is critical that rheumatology professionals speak up about patient access to quality care, physician payment reform, research funding, and the multitude of concerns you and your colleagues face every day. Congress is on summer recess August 8–September 5, so now is the perfect time to reach out to your legislators and educate them on issues affecting the rheumatology community.

Hire the Best Job Applicants Based on the Number Rating They Give Themselves

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Psychologists say healthy self-esteem and work ethics are inextricably linked. Whether children are nurtured by circumstances and people who supported their self-esteem or damaged by those that don’t, the way in which they come to perceive themselves plays a big part in how they interact with others throughout their lives.

Practice Page

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Government Exclusion Program : Can It Affect Your Practice?

Is the Electronic Health Information in Your Practice Really Safe?

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The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) Electronic Health Record (EHR) Incentive Program (Meaningful Use) provides for eligible physicians who demonstrate “meaningful use” of certified EHR technology to be eligible to receive up to $44,000 in Medicare incentive payments over five years or up to $63,750 in Medicaid incentive payments over six years. But what does it really mean to achieve “meaningful use” for the EHR Incentive Program, and what will your practice need to do to meet the required objectives?

Pain Perspective in Scleroderma

Susan L. Williams Judge, MN, ARNP  |  

Systemic sclerosis (SSc; scleroderma) is a disease in which inflammatory and fibrotic changes result in overproduction and accumulation of collagen and other extracellular matrix proteins, resulting in intimal vascular damage, fibrosis, and occasionally organ dysfunction affecting the gastrointestinal, lung, heart, and renal systems. There are two classifications of SSc—limited cutaneous or CREST (calcinosis, Raynaud’s, esophageal dysmotility, sclerodactyly, and telangectasias) syndrome, where skin thickening occurs mainly in the distal extremities and facial/neck areas and internal organ involvement, if present, occurs later in the disease process; and diffuse cutaneous disease where there is a more rapid progression of skin thickening from distal to proximal and organ involvement can be severe and occur early in the disease. As noted by various authors, there is no “crystal ball” into which one can look to see the outcome of the disease, and involvement varies significantly from one person to the next.