Usually, the premeeting courses help set the tone for the days of learning that follow at the ACR’s annual meeting.
But 2020 is no typical year, so ACR Convergence 2020 organizers have moved these special sessions to after the annual meeting’s regular sessions conclude as part of the Extended Programming sessions.
The Review Course will take place on Tuesday, Nov. 10, and both the Basic Research Conference and Clinical Research Conference will happen on Saturday, Nov. 21. Another popular session, the Radiology Bootcamp, also moves to Tuesday, Nov. 10.
Swamy Venuturupalli, MD, Chair of the ACR Education Committee, said that ACR Convergence 2020 organizers moved these sessions to help mitigate potential fatigue from virtual sessions and also to allow for greater participation from international attendees.
“By now, everybody’s been on so many Zooms and other video conference meetings that your eyes glaze over after a while and you tend to not retain as much information,” Dr. Venuturupalli said. “We were very cognizant of that, knowing that the material that’s presented in the premeeting courses is extremely dense, very technical, and most often about research. It’s content that you really need to have a clear mind where you can focus.”
While the timing has changed, attendees can expect the same level of quality in the content. And all of these extended programming sessions are included when you register for the All-Access Pass.
Radiology Bootcamp
Tuesday, Nov. 10 | 10 a.m. – 12:35 p.m. EST
Radiology Bootcamp prepares participants to interpret imaging studies and appraise the most useful studies to effectively assess different disease states, using a comprehensive approach to imaging interpretation and the selection of modalities depending on each patient’s disease process. Session topics are:
- Musculoskeletal Imaging: Disease/Case-Based Assessment of Inflammatory Arthropathies
- Musculoskeletal Imaging: Disease/Case-Based Assessment of Productive Arthropathies
- Chest Imaging in Rheumatic Diseases
ACR Review Course
Tuesday, Nov. 10 | 10 a.m. – 4 p.m. EST
Participants will get a practical review of several issues encountered by rheumatologists, and provide a state-of-the-art approach to their diagnosis, management and treatment of both common and uncommon rheumatic diseases. Session topics are:
- All Things Vasculitis
- Osteoporosis: An Overview
- Liver Disease for the Rheumatologist
- Pregnancy in Rheumatic Disease
- Pediatric Rheumatology Update for the Adult Rheumatologist
- Seronegatives & Psoriatics: Navigating Therapy
- Lupus Nephritis: Updates in Diagnosis & Treatment, Calcineurin Inhibitors & More
- RA: What’s New in 2020?
2020 Practice Management and Coding Update
Tuesday, Nov. 10 | 10 a.m. – 4 p.m. EST
Providers and practice administrators will review the changes to the evaluation and management (E/M) code descriptors for telehealth, office, and other outpatient visits in 2021. The guidelines covered will strengthen practice flow essential to running a successful rheumatology practice beyond providing clinical service. Session topics are:
- Keynote Address: A New Way of Practice Management for 2021 and Beyond
- That Was Then, This is Now: New Patient Visit in 2021
- The New Era of Coding for the Established Patient
- 2021 Coding Guidelines for Medical Decision Making
- 2021 Coding Guidelines for Billing Time
- Documentation for E/M Code Changes in 2021
BRC: Rheumatology in the Molecular Dimension: Insights from Single-Cell and Omics Technology
Saturday, Nov. 21 | 10 a.m. – 4:45 p.m. EST
The last decade has witnessed a surge in the development of high-dimensional molecular techniques that enable unprecedented views of our immune system. Next-generation sequencing holds promise in uncovering elusive mechanisms that drive rheumatic diseases. This course will examine recent discoveries in inflammatory conditions made by single-cell sequencing, imaging, and related approaches. Session topics are:
- The Tumor-Immune Landscape
- Checkpoint Immunotherapy-Induced Autoimmune Events Dissected Down to the Single-Cell Level
- The AMP Consortium: Disease Deconvolution of RA and Lupus
- Novel T Cell Subsets Involved in Autoimmunity
- Immunogenomics, Cellular Network and Atlases
- Immune Cells Across Individual Pediatric Lupus Patients
- BCR Repertoires Across Autoimmune Diseases
- Antibody Reactome Patient Profiling
- TCR Repertoire Shaping by HLA Alleles
- Molecular and Cellular Mechanisms of Autoimmunity to Extracellular DNA
- Single-Cell Technologies to Profile Microbe-Host Interactions
- Mapping Uncharted Landscapes of Host-Microbiota Communication
CRC: Optimizing RCTs in Rheumatology: Past, Present and Future
Saturday, Nov. 21 | 10 a.m. – 4:45 p.m. EST
This year’s CRC will focus on optimizing randomized clinical trials (RCTs) in rheumatology and musculoskeletal disorders. Thought leaders from the fields of epidemiology, outcomes research, biostatistics, clinical science, and rheumatology will highlight the modern analytic toolset available to scientists who plan to design and conduct RCTs in rheumatology-related fields. Session topics are:
- Navigating the Winding Road of RCT Designs: Superiority, Non-Inferiority, Adaptive Designs
- Modern Statistical Toolset: Can We Fix Design Deficiencies with Statistical Tools?
- Road to Success: Reflections of NIH Reviewer
- Surrogate Outcomes & Indirect Comparisons: FDA Perspective
- Outcomes Selection: The Balance Between Objective and Subjective (Patient-Reported) Outcomes
- Long Run for a Short Gain: Pros and Cons of a Short Trial Duration
- How to Turn ‘More’ Into ‘Better’: Use Causal Inference Methods to Draw Proper Inferences Over the Long Term
- The Role of Mechanistic RCTs
- Challenges and Opportunities in Using ML & NLP to Define Eligibility Pool
- Addressing Heterogeneity of Treatment Effect: Proper Techniques for Slicing and Dicing
- Need for Implementation RCTs in Rheumatology: Past, Present and Future
- NIAMS vision for RCT in rheumatic and musculoskeletal diseases: past, current and future