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Guidance

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What the Election Means for Rheumatology

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The 2018 U.S. midterm elections mobilized American voters, bringing more than 100 million people to the polls.1 It also brought the House of Representatives under the control of Democrats, while Republicans maintained control of the Senate, splitting the legislative branch between two parties. As the 116th Congress prepares to convene in January 2019, the ACR’s…

Is More Better? Weight Loss Analysis in Older Patients with Knee OA

Arthritis Care & Research  |  

Obesity is a modifiable risk factor for many patients with knee osteoarthritis (OA), and the National Institutes of Health recommend an initial weight loss goal of 10%. But how does losing more weight affect knee OA patients? In a new study, researchers compared the outcomes of knee OA patients who lost more and less than the recommended 10% of their baseline weight, finding significant improvement in health-related quality of life and reduction in pain for patients who lost twice what’s recommended…

Protect Your Practice: Action Update From the ACR’s Insurance Subcommittee

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Both private and academic rheumatology practices face payer challenges that put the health of their patients and their practices at risk. To make sure the rheumatologist perspective is heard by payers, “the ACR’s Insurance Subcommittee (ISC) serves as the interface between payers and our members and ACR colleagues,” explains Sean Fahey, MD, a rheumatologist in…

RheumPAC Champions Recognized

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Election Day 2018 has come and gone, and a new class of legislators will be joining the ranks of Congress in January. RheumPAC is the most important tool we have to establish relationships with our new legislators and this year, our ACR volunteer leaders stepped up and matched all donations to RheumPAC leading up to…

Gene Therapy for OA

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Background & objective: One of the major challenges in the treatment of chronic joint diseases, such as osteoarthritis (OA), is the need to provide sustained bioavailability of a therapeutic agent within the joint. Systemically administered drugs cannot sufficiently reach the synovial space, and intra-articularly injected agents are cleared from the joint fluid rapidly by the…

ACR Leaders Outline Advocacy Victories, Threats

Thomas R. Collins  |  

CHICAGO—ACR leaders described a series of looming legislative and regulatory threats to rheumatologists and their patients—including the proposed collapsing of evaluation and management (E/M) coding and potential changes to step therapy rules—and urged everyone in the field to make their voices heard to quash the proposals. They also recounted recent victories in the policy realm…

ARHP Lifetime Achievement Award Winner: Christina H. Opava, PhD, RPT

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CHICAGO—Christina H. Opava, PhD, RPT, is the recipient of the 2018 ARHP Lifetime Achievement Award, which was presented (along with the other ACR and ARHP awards) during the opening session of the 2018 ACR/ARHP Annual Meeting on Oct. 20. “Receiving this award is an immense honor,” she tells The Rheumatologist. “My first thought was that…