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Target Audience

This activity has been designed for rheumatologists and internists who provide care and support to patients with moderately to severely active rheumatoid arthritis. Other healthcare professionals involved in the care of these patients may also participate.

Activity Description

The primary goals of therapy in rheumatoid arthritis are improvement in the signs and symptoms of RA, improvement in patient-reported outcomes, and inhibition of structural progression. Recent research indicates that a treat-to-target (T2T) approach, widely accepted in other areas of medicine, is also the best way to proactively aim for these treatment goals in RA. In 2010, an international task force devised and published ten recommendations on treating RA to target (Smolen JS, Aletaha D, Bijlsma JWJ, et al. Treating rheumatoid arthritis to target: recommendations of an international task force. Ann Rheum Dis. 2010:69:631-637).

This CME-certified presentation hosted by Allan Gibofsky, MD, provides an overview of recent developments in the management of patients with moderate-to-severe RA including a comprehensive review of the recently published T2T recommendations.

Learning Objectives

As a result of participating in the activity, participants will be better able to

• Designate remission as the primary therapeutic goal for their patients with RA to minimize adverse structural and functional outcomes
• Explain how the radiologic benefits associated with early, aggressive therapy can be achieved in their practice
• Evaluate how alternative biologic treatment strategies can benefit their patients who do not respond, become intolerant, or lose response to synthetic disease-modifying antirheumatic drugs (DMARDs) or tumor necrosis factor (TNF)-inhibitors
• Integrate into practice a treat-to-target strategy utilizing biologic agents with different mechanisms of action
• Employ strategies for minimizing adverse events in their practice among their RA patients

Accreditation Statement

This activity has been planned and implemented in accordance with the Essential Areas and policies of the Accreditation Council for Continuing Medical Education (ACCME) through the joint sponsorship of the American Academy of CME and Alliance Medical Communications. The American Academy of CME is accredited by the ACCME to provide continuing medical education for physicians.

Credit Designation

The American Academy of CME designates this enduring material for a maximum of 0.75 AMA PRA Category 1 Credits^TM. Physicians should claim only the credit commensurate with the extent of their participation in the activity.

Commercial Support

Support for this activity has been made possible through an educational grant from  

Disclosure of Unlabeled Use

Dr. Allan Gibofsky disclosed that this presentation will not review off-label or investigational use of products.

Conflict of Interest Statement

According to the disclosure policy of the Academy, all faculty, planning committee members, editors, managers and other individuals who are in a position to control content are required to disclose any relevant relationships with any commercial interests related to this activity. The existence of these interests or relationships is not viewed as implying bias or decreasing the value of the presentation. All educational materials are reviewed for fair balance, scientific objectivity and levels of evidence. Disclosures are as follows:

Allan Gibofsky, MD, JD, FACP, FCLM

Independent Clinical Peer Reviewer
Rodolfo V. Curiel, MD, Assistant Professor of Medicine, Rheumatology Fellowship, Program Director, The George Washington University, Washington, DC: No relevant financial relationships with any commercial interests.

Medical Writer
Melinda Tanzola, PhD: No relevant financial relationships with any commercial interests.

Planning Committee
John JD Juchniewicz, MCIS, American Academy of CME and Deborah Dean and Michelle Yechout, Alliance Medical Communications: No relevant financial relationships with any commercial interests.

Hardware / Software Requirements

To access this activity hardware and software requirements are noted below.

Windows Requirements:

• Operating system: Windows XP Service Pack 2 or later
• Browser: Internet Explorer 7 or later, Mozilla Firefox 2 or later
• Internet connection: DSL, cable modem, or other high-speed connection
• Flash: Adobe Flash Player 8 or later

Macintosh Requirements:

• Operating system: Mac OS X v10.3 or later
• Browser: Mozilla Firefox 2 or later
• Internet connection: DSL, cable modem, or other high-speed connection
• Flash: Adobe Flash Player 8 or later

Privacy Policy

For more information about the American Academy of CME privacy policy, please access http://www.academycme.org/privacy.htm

Copyright

© 2011. These CME activities are held as copyrighted © by the American Academy of CME and Alliance Medical Communications. Through this notice, the Academy and Alliance Medical Communications grant permission of its use for educational purposes only. These materials may not be used, in whole or in part, for any commercial purposes without prior permission in writing from the copyright owner(s).