Lupus Virtual Provider Education Series: All Activities
Program Information
Assess your rheumatology medical knowledge and enhance your patient care. With the Lupus Virtual Provider Education Series you receive:
- Seven online educational activities, multiple-choice questions with in-depth answer rationales
- Activity topics include recognizing the signs and symptoms of lupus, lab testing, lupus flares, lupus nephritis, lupus and pregnancy, laboratory testing, medications management, and preventative care and maintenance
- 7.00 AMA PRA Category 1 Credits™ with a passing score of 80% or higher
Target Audience
Frontline healthcare providers with the following credentials: MD, DO, PA, and NPLearning Objectives
Upon completion of these activities, participants should be able to do the following:
- Identify the presenting signs and symptoms of lupus, with a special focus on presentations and prevalence in minority populations
- Utilize the ACR's criteria for classification of SLE to evaluate and refer a potential lupus patient to a rheumatologist
- Facilitate co-management of a lupus patient with his/her rheumatologist, with special attention to mediation adherence, monitoring for adverse effects, and laboratory and symptom monitoring, especially in situations where the rheumatologist is geographically distant
- Identify and manage lupus-specific preventative care concerns, including vaccinations, cardiovascular health, fertility, and long-term consequences of medications
Activity 1 - What Is Lupus?
Upon completion of this activity, participants should be able to do the following:
- Identify classic and atypical presentations of lupus, focusing on patient signs and symptoms and physical examination findings
- Discuss with patients and with peers the differential diagnosis of patients presenting with symptoms that may suggest lupus
- Highlight high-yield lupus-specific questions when taking a patient history and review of systems to help refine the differential diagnosis
- Describe the demographics of lupus and highest-risk populations for lupus complications
Activity 2 - Laboratory Testing in Lupus
Upon completion of this activity, participants should be able to do the following:
- Identify and understand lab studies typically sent when evaluating a new patient with lupus
- Utilize the ACR Lupus Classification Criteria and understand its limitations in the clinical setting
- Appreciate the clinical nature of a lupus diagnosis, understanding that laboratory testing represents only one of several components necessary for diagnosis
Activity 3 - Medications in Lupus
Upon completion of this activity, participants should be able to do the following:
- Implement the general approach to medications in lupus, using a few case studies to illustrate prescribing patterns
- Identify the role corticosteroids play in morbidity in Systemic Lupus Erythematosus (SLE) and know situations where increasing corticosteroids may or may not be beneficial
- Create strategies to assist with medication access for the uninsured or underinsured
Activity 4 - Identifying and Managing Lupus Flares
Upon completion of this activity, participants should be able to do the following:
- Recognize signs and symptoms that may indicate a lupus flare
- Utilize high-yield lupus-specific questions and physical examination findings to help confirm a lupus flare or make a lupus flare less likely
- Identify high acuity signs and symptoms that may warrant hospital admission
Activity 5 - Special Topics in Lupus
Upon completion of this activity, participants should be able to do the following:
- Utilize basic treatment paradigms for lupus nephritis
- Distinguish between proliferative and membranous lupus nephritis
- Recognize classic dermatologic manifestations of lupus
- Identify important considerations for lupus in pediatric populations, including chronic steroid exposure, bone health, medication dosing, and transition to adult care
Activity 6 - Lupus in Pregnancy
Upon completion of this activity, participants should be able to do the following:
- Utilize important considerations for fertility and family planning in patients with lupus including medication considerations, lupus activity, and hypercoagulability
- Identify antiphospholipid antibody syndrome and its implications in patients desiring pregnancy
- Identify the role of SSA and SSB antibodies in neonatal congenital cardiac conditions
- Recognize neonatal lupus
Activity 7 - Health Maintenance and Preventative Care Considerations in Lupus
Upon completion of this activity, participants should be able to do the following:
- Explain the risk factors for premature coronary artery disease in lupus patients and risk modification strategies
- Recognize osteoporosis risk factors and its treatment considerations in women of childbearing age
- Identify appropriate immunization schedules for lupus patients and understand contraindications to immunization among patients on immunosuppressive medications
Registration Information
Registration is complimentary. Click Enroll to register for the full curriculum. You can optionally enroll in each activity by clicking on an activity name below.
Lupus Virtual Provider Education Series Activities
CME Information
Accreditation Statement
The American College of Rheumatology is accredited by the Accreditation Council for Continuing Medical Education to provide continuing medical education for physicians.
Designation Statement
The ACR designates this enduring activity for a maximum of 7.00 AMA PRA Category 1 Credit(s)™. Physicians should claim only the credit commensurate with the extent of their participation in the activity.
Faculty and Disclosures
ACR Disclosure Statement
It is the policy of the American College of Rheumatology (ACR) to ensure that Continuing Medical Education (CME) activities are independent and free of commercial bias. To ensure educational content is objective, balanced, and guarantee content presented is in the best interest of its learners' and the public, the ACR requires that everyone in a position to control educational content disclose all financial relationships with ineligible companies within the prior 24 months. An ineligible company is one whose primary business is producing, marketing, selling, re-selling or distributing healthcare products used by or on patients. Examples can be found at accme.org.
Nature of Financial Relationships
Faculty participating in an ACR-sponsored activity must disclose to the planning committee and audience all financial relationships with ineligible companies any financial or other relationship(s) with a ineligible company including, but not limited to:
- Advisor or review panel member
- Consultant
- Employee
- Officer or Board Member
- Grant/research support
- Speaker/honoraria includes speakers bureau, symposia, and expert witness
- Independent contractor
- Ownership Interest
- Royalties
- Intellectual property/patents
- Stock options or bond holdings in a for-profit corporation or self-directed pension plan
- Other financial or material support
None: Has no relevant financial relationship(s) with ineligible companies to disclose.
Authors
- Sam Lim, MD, MPH (Content Creator, Reviewer) - No relevant financial information to disclose
- Amanda Sammut, MD (Content Editor, Reviewer) - No relevant financial information to disclose
Content Reviewers
- Ben Smith, PA-C - 6
- Kori Dewing, DNP, ARNP - No relevant financial information to disclose
- Janet Jolly, NP - No relevant financial information to disclose
Acknowledgment of Support
This activity is not corporate-sponsored.
This project is supported by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) as part of a financial assistance award totaling $7 million dollars with 100 perfect funded by CDC/HHS. The contents are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily represent the official views of, nor an endorsement, by the CDC/HHS, or the U.S. Government.