Amid rising drug costs and the growing influence of pharmacy benefit managers on patient care decisions, physicians are increasingly called upon to advocate for affordable, evidence-based treatments for their patients.

Subcategories:Clinical Criteria/GuidelinesEthicsLegal UpdatesLegislation & AdvocacyMeeting ReportsResearch Rheum
The ACR/CHEST ILD Guidelines in Practice, a video
In collaboration with the American College of Chest Physicians, the ACR released two new comprehensive guidelines aimed at improving the screening, monitoring, and treatment of patients with interstitial lung disease (ILD) secondary to systemic autoimmune rheumatic diseases (SARDs). Recently, Sindhu R. Johnson, MD, PhD, professor of medicine at the University of Toronto, Canada, director of the Toronto Scleroderma Program and principal investigator for the guideline, and Elana J. Bernstein, MD, MSc, Florence Irving associate professor of medicine in the Division of Rheumatology at Columbia University, New York City, and co-first author, presented a webinar to talk about how the guidelines were developed and present some of the recommendations and their rationale: Watch the recording now!
Amid rising drug costs and the growing influence of pharmacy benefit managers on patient care decisions, physicians are increasingly called upon to advocate for affordable, evidence-based treatments for their patients.
The ACR is accepting applications for this year’s Advocates for Arthritis event, which will be held virtually on Sept. 27–28. This annual event brings together patients and rheumatology professionals to advocate for our subspecialty on Capitol Hill. Applications are also open for the Advocacy 101 program, which provides advocacy training for ACR/ARP members. Apply today…
In their new study, Fike et al. found Latino patients with rheumatic diseases have a higher rate of COVID-19 than the general Latino population. Obesity is a risk factor for COVID-19, and COVID-19 is a risk factor for rheumatic disease flare.
Vision loss, implications of treatment and more—Sarah Mackie, BMBCh, PhD, MRCP, discussed the latest research on the evaluation and management of giant cell arteritis.
Convex-walking shoes, dietary supplements, advancements in nerve growth factor inhibitors and more—Xavier Chevalier gave an overview and new insights into treatments for osteoarthritis.
Laura Coates, MBChB, MRCP, PhD, described & compared the intricacies of different outcome measures, as well as implications for clinical practice & trials, for patients with psoriatic arthritis.
Marilynn Larkin |
NEW YORK (Reuters Health)—Non-surgical care for knee osteoarthritis (OA) is uncommon among older adults, especially in regions of the U.S. where total knee arthroplasty rates are high, a large retrospective analysis shows.1 “As rheumatologists, we often think of knee arthroplasty as the last resort, after patients have tried and failed more conservative treatments, such as…
The Increasing Access to Osteoporosis Testing for Medicare Beneficiaries Act would set a $98 floor for Medicare reimbursement for the dual-energy X-ray absorptiometry (DXA) bone density test.
Over the past 18 months, the ACR’s Quality of Care (QOC) Committee has helped produce an impressive number of resources that will help rheumatologists deliver the best possible care. Working through specific projects supervised under its Criteria, Guideline, Guidance, and Quality Measure subcommittees, the QOC Committee has developed new sets of disease criteria, clinical guidelines,…
In early June, the ACR released an updated guideline on the management of rheumatoid arthritis, which includes new recommendations for specific high-risk groups.1 The guideline includes 44 recommendations—seven of which are strong and 37 conditional. It underscores the role of methotrexate as a cornerstone therapy and emphasizes minimizing glucocorticoids, when possible. Guideline Development Process At…