ACR on Air Podcast

During the COVID-19 pandemic, rheumatologists and rheumatology health professionals have found themselves in an unprecedented situation where the rise of telehealth has been key to treating their patients. In this episode of ACR on Air, our host will speak with two experts, Jay Mehta. MD, MS, and Antanya Chung, CPC, CPC-I CRHC, CCP, ACR staff director of practice management, about telehealth best practices.

Speaker Jay Mehta - Jay Mehta, MD, MS, is an attending physician with the division of rheumatology and the pediatric rheumatology fellowship program director at the Children's Hospital of Philadelphia. He is currently a member of the ACR’s COVID-19 Practice and Advocacy Task Force where he helps drive the telehealth efforts, and he is also the chair of the ACR’s Pediatric Special Committee.

Speaker Antanya Chung - Antanya Chung, CPC, CPC-I CRHC, CCP, is the director of practice management for the American College of Rheumatology. In this staff role, she is responsible for provide broad-based support and expertise on a range of physician payment, coding/billing, and coverage issues. Ms. Chung is a staff liaison on the ACR’s COVID-19 Practice and Advocacy Task Force for telehealth coding and billing resources..

Resources:

• Telehealth Quick Reference Guide
• Telehealth Vendor Options
• Telehealth Provider Fact Sheet
• Patient Resource: How to Navigate Telehealth
• All ACR Telehealth Resources

Experiencing COVID-19 related drug shortages, practice issues, or any other problems? Send your comments and questions to COVID@rheumatology.org.
Please note that the ACR is membership organization representing rheumatologists and rheumatology healthcare professionals. However, we do not have rheumatologists / rheumatology professionals on staff to provide medical advice or prescribe medications. The ACR does not prescribe or sell medications to health care providers, patients or organizations.

The special COVID-19 series continues with a discussion on how to keep your practice going during this pandemic. Our host chats with Chris Phillips, MD, who runs a solo practice in Kentucky, and Dan Redinger, the ACR’s staff manager of advocacy and political affairs, who is keeping his eye on the federal COVID-19 stimulus package. Listen as they share best practices and tips for healthcare providers during this unprecedented time.

Speaker Chris Phillips - Chris Phillips, MD, is board certified physician in internal medicine and rheumatology in Paducah, Kentucky. He founded Paducah Rheumatology practice in 2010. He is a member of the American College of Rheumatology (ACR) and serves as chair of the ACR’s Insurance Subcommittee, as well as serving on the ACR’s COVID-19 Practice and Advocacy Task Force.

Speaker Dan Redinger - is the manager of advocacy and political affairs for the American College of Rheumatology. In this staff role, he is responsible for advancing RheumPAC as well as fostering ACR/ARP member engagement in the College’s advocacy efforts. He graduated from Davidson College with a bachelor’s degree in political science and a concentration in mathematics.

Resources:

• ACR Guidance on the CARES Act Provider Aid Disbursement
• ACR Guidance on Paycheck Protection Program
• Telehealth
• ACR Infusion Guidance
• ACR Discusses Economic Support for Practices  
• Suggestions from the American College of Rheumatology for Patients During the COVID-19 Pandemic: How to Navigate Telehealth

Experiencing COVID-19 related drug shortages, practice issues, or any other problems? Send your comments and questions to COVID@rheumatology.org.
Please note that the ACR is membership organization representing rheumatologists and rheumatology healthcare professionals. However, we do not have rheumatologists / rheumatology professionals on staff to provide medical advice or prescribe medications. The ACR does not prescribe or sell medications to health care providers, patients or organizations.

In light of the current COVID-19 pandemic, the American College of Rheumatology (ACR) has dedicated the next few episodes of ACR on Air to the challenges that have arisen, along with information about the available resources and guidance. The first episode in this special series looks at the drug shortages surrounding hydroxychloroquine (HCQ) and the its initial uses to treat the coronavirus. In this episode, our host talks with Dr. David Karp, ACR president-elect, and Amanda Grimm Wiegrefe, the ACR’s staff director of regulatory affairs.

Speaker David Karp - David Karp, MD, PhD, is the chief of the rheumatic diseases division at the University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center where he has been on faculty since 1991. He directs laboratory and clinical research on rheumatoid arthritis and for the past 25 years he has studied the human immune system in health and disease. Dr. Karp currently serves as president-elect for the American College of Rheumatology.

Speaker Amanda Grimm Wiegrefe - Amanda Grimm Wiegrefe is the director of regulatory affairs for the American College of Rheumatology. In this staff role, she is responsible for all activities and policies within the Executive Branch, including CMS, FDA, CDC, and NIH. Amanda has over 10 years of experience working with a number of specialty societies, including dermatology, psychiatry, and cardiothoracic surgery. She has a Master of Science, Health Sciences in Regulatory Affairs from The George Washington University.

Resources:

• Drug Shortages
• COVID-19 Global Rheumatology Alliance

Experiencing COVID-19 related drug shortages, practice issues, or any other problems? Send your comments and questions to COVID@rheumatology.org.
Please note that the ACR is membership organization representing rheumatologists and rheumatology healthcare professionals. However, we do not have rheumatologists / rheumatology professionals on staff to provide medical advice or prescribe medications. The ACR does not prescribe or sell medications to health care providers, patients or organizations.

In this episode, our guest, Daniel Solomon, MD, MPH, takes us on a journey through the life cycle of a manuscript and getting published. With more than 400 published articles under his belt, Dr. Solomon offers key tips on writing and submitting your work, how to promote your research, spotting predatory journals, and more. He also shares valuable insight on publishing trends he’s seen over the past 25 years.

Speaker Daniel Solomon - Daniel Solomon MD, MPH, is an associate physician at Brigham and Women's Hospital and a professor of medicine at Harvard Medical School in Boston. Dr. Solomon is a population scientist focusing on the epidemiology and health services of rheumatic disease. He serves as the Chief of the Section of Clinical Sciences in the Division of Rheumatology at BWH, and he teaches and mentors primarily in rheumatic disease, epidemiology and pharmacoepidemiology. He is currently the deputy editor of the American College of Rheumatology’s Arthritis & Rheumatology journal. You can follow him on Twitter at @danielhsolomon or contact him via email at dsolomon@bwh.havard.edu.

Resources:

• Arthritis & Rheumatology
• ACR Open Rheumatology
• Arthritis Care & Research call for Editor-in-Chief applications
• Follow the ACR journals on Twitter

The final 2019 ACR/ARP Annual Meeting edition of Hot Topics is here. Suleman Bhana, MD, and Dr. Ali Duarte-Garcia, MD, MS, chat with our host, Jon Hausmann, MD, about the last few studies featured in press conferences at the meeting.

Speaker Suleman Bhana - Suleman Bhana, MD, is a practicing rheumatologist at Crystal Run Healthcare in the Hudson Valley area of New York. He is currently serving as the chair of the American College of Rheumatology’s Communications and Marketing Committee.




 

Ali Duarte Garcia - Ali Duarte Garcia, MD, MS, is a rheumatologist and an Assistant Professor of Medicine at the Mayo Clinic College of Medicine and Science. He recently received a 2019 American College of Rheumatology Distinguished Fellow Award.




 

Resources:

• Abstract #1345 – Are There Differences in Efficacy and Safety of Biological Disease-modifying Antirheumatic Drugs Between Elderly-onset and Young-onset Rheumatoid Arthritis?
• Abstract #1339 – Risk of Immunotherapy Related Toxicity in Patients with Rheumatoid Arthritis
• Abstract #2854 -- Delay Between the Onset of Psoriasis and Arthritis in PsA Patients from the PsART International Cohort
• Abstract #2911 – A Randomized, Open Labelled Clinical Trial to Investigate Synovial Mechanisms Determining Response – Resistance to Rituximab versus Tocilizumab in Rheumatoid Arthritis Patients Failing TNF Inhibitor Therapy
• Abstract #920 – Adenosine Deaminase 2 as a Circulating Biomarker of Macrophage Activation Syndrome
• Abstract #1817 – Arthropathy of Down Syndrome: An Under-diagnosed Inflammatory Joint Disease that Warrants a Name Change
• Abstract #2722 – The Down Syndrome Arthropathy Cohort in the New Childhood Arthritis and Rheumatology Research Alliance (CARRA) Registry: Clinical Characteristics, Treatment and Outcomes
• Abstract #1813 – New Medications are Needed for Children with Juvenile Idiopathic Arthritis
• 2019 ACR/ARP Annual Meeting Press Conferences