American Contact Dermatitis Society (ACDS)

Message from the President

Dear ACDS Member:

It’s hard to believe that summer is already upon us. We have many exciting updates for you. First, we are delighted to announce that the ACDS has become a Key Collaborating Organization of the American Board of Dermatology, with the goal of identifying and addressing knowledge, practice, and quality gaps for board-certified dermatologists and ensuring that assessments and maintenance of certification activities remain relevant for our membership. A big thank you to the Education Committee, led by Dr Salma de la Feld, for spearheading this effort!

The ACDS also recently partnered with the CDC for World Hand Hygiene Day to promote best practices for skin care in health care workers. Please consider applying for a committee here if you are interested in joining our education or advocacy efforts.

A few other updates:

Dermatitis Updates

The American Contact Dermatitis Society (ACDS) is pleased to announce that new journal rankings are out, and the Dermatitis journal went from ranking 12th to 9th out of all Dermatology journals, with an impact factor of 5.2. Congratulations to the Dermatitis team. You can access the Dermatitis journal here.

Upcoming ACDS Meetings

Registration is currently open for the ACDS Fall Meeting at our exciting new location: Park City, UT! You can view the agenda here. In addition, we hope to see you at the ACDS 35^th Annual Meeting on March 7, 2024 in San Diego, CA! Please be on the lookout for more information on this event.

It is my hope that you, our members, have had every opportunity to stay healthy and happy this year.

If you have member news or information you would like highlighted in a future ACDS Newsletter, please email it to info@contactderm.org.

Sincerely,

Jennifer K. Chen, MD
ACDS President

American Contact Dermatitis Society
555 E. Wells Street, Suite 1100
Milwaukee, WI 53202
Phone: (414) 918-9805
Fax: (414) 276-3349
Email: info@contactderm.org
www.contactderm.org

Inside This Issue

President's Message

2023 Fall Meeting

Highlights

Basics of Patch Testing Workshop

Resident Travel Award

Social Events

Registration OPEN: ACDS 2023 Fall Meeting!

We look forward to welcoming attendees to Park City, UT for the ACDS 2023 Fall Meeting, October 12-14, 2023, to be held at The Chateaux Deer Valley.

Fall Meeting Highlights

2 day programming with afternoons open for exploring the great outdoors in Park City
Hot topic sessions on demystifying cosmetics
Deep Dives into Fragrances, Acrylates, and Topical Steroid Withdrawal
Food and Systemic Contact Allergens regarding eosinophilic esophagitis, oral contact, and dietary avoidance
ABC's of Advocacy and Billing Challenges
Innovations and Controversies
Key Note Speaker: Peter Lio, MD - "Atopic Dermatitis: What's Boiling Over?"

Click here to see a full agenda.

NEW

Basics of Patch Testing Workshop for beginners
- *limited availability, additional fees apply
"Ask the Experts" Panel Discussion - your chance to ask the experts anything!
- Panel experts include:
  - James S. Taylor, MD
  - Erin Warshaw, MD, MS

Back to the Top

Register Now!

We are pleased to offer in-person and virtual registration options to ensure that everyone has access to the education and connections you want and need.

In-Person and Virtual Registration Rate Options
	Before 9/19/2023	On or After 9/19/2023
ACDS Members	$295	$350
Non-Member Physicians	$395	$450
Affiliate / Researcher / Industry	$275	$330
Nurse / Physician Assistant	$145	$200
Residents / Students	$25	$50
Basics of Patch Testing Workshop (In-person only)
ACDS Members	$75	$100
Non-Member Physicians	$125	$150
Affiliate / Researcher / Industry	$50	$75
Nurse / Physician Assistant	$50	$75
Residents / Students	$25	$50

Back to the Top

Basics of Patch Testing Workshop

Resident Travel Award

The ACDS is excited to announce a resident opportunity for those interested in attending the Fall Meeting. The ACDS will be offering up to five Fall Meeting Travel Awards for dermatology residents to attend both the Basics of Patch Testing Workshop and the Fall Meeting General Sessions for FREE. An additional $1,000 towards travel related expenses is included.

To learn more about the ACDS Fall Meeting Resident Travel Award, please review the eligibility criteria here and pass along to any resident who might be interested. Additional questions can be forwarded to info@contactderm.org.

ACDS wishes to thank Dormer Laboratories, Inc. / Chemotechnique Diagnostics for this opportunity.

Back to the Top

Join Us for Social Events

Friday Evening Networking Reception

Join us for a casual networking reception on Friday, October 13, 2023, from 6:00pm - 8:00pm at The Spur Bar & Grill in downtown Park City. Guests are welcome to attend for an additional fee. No persons under 21 years of age are permitted inside.

Saturday Networking Lunch

Join us for a networking lunch following the conclusion of the last session on Saturday, October 14th from 12:00pm - 1:30pm in the Monet Room of The Chateaux Deer Valley.

Back to the Top

ACDS wishes to thank the following for their support of the ACDS 2023 Fall Meeting:

Back to the Top

Summer is here with vacations, time spent in the great outdoors, travel, family activities, summer holidays and enjoyment for Americans. For journals such as Dermatitis, and other dermatology journals in the publication realm, the summer marks another important milestone: Claravite Analytics releases their data related to journal performance. This includes impact factor (IF) and “standings” or ranking of our journal relative to other journals using the IF as the basis for such ordering of dermatology journals. This year’s analytics is of special interest to the journal because it represents our first performance metric with our new publisher, Mary Ann Liebert after our transition from our prior publishing partner, Wolters Kluwer.

IF is a rolling average of the last two calendar years of publication data. Earlier this week, we received our annual update related to our ranking and Impact Factor (IF) for the calendar years 2020 and 2021 that were cited in 2022. This important metric represents the number of citations divided by the number of citable articles published during the indicated timeframe. For the years 2020 and 2021, Dermatitis published a total of 121 articles that were considered citable (Studies, Reviews and Case Reports) and there were a total of 626 citations in 2022. This year’s IF (2022) is 5.2 (626 divided by 121), which represents the highest IF achieved by our journal!

Clarivate analytics now reports an IF with only 1 decimal place. In prior years, the IF was reported with up to three decimal places. This year’s impact factor represents a small increase compared to last year’s impact factor of 5.185. There is good news here in that our impact factor has achieved stability, despite an increasing number of citable articles (last year, there were 92 citable articles; this year there were 121 citable articles during the assessed two-year cycle).

The other good news related to the journal is that despite a lack of significant increase in IF, our journal ranking improved. We are now ranked #9 among 70 dermatology journals; placing us in the top 15% of dermatology journals. Last year we were ranked #12 among 69 dermatology journals. How did this happen? It occurs when other (competing) dermatology journals experience a drop in their IF (instability in their IF between years). Of note, our main competitor, Contact Dermatitis has an IF of 5.5, and is ranked #7 among 70 dermatology journals, so we are ‘gaining ground’ on the competition.

There remains significant work to be done. We cannot be satisfied with our current standing, as we must strive for excellence and further improvements in the journal that will result in further increases in our IF and ranking among dermatology journals. We are confident our editorial office policies and strategies related to journal submissions and acceptance rates are effective, and the expansion of the domains of interest of the journal (contact, atopic, occupational drug and environmental) will attract increasing numbers of high-quality articles. Thus, we anticipate continuing the steady ascent of Dermatitis IF and rankings among dermatology journals.

For all of these successes, I thank the editorial office and the advisory board, the clinical researchers who have submitted articles, the reviewers, the publication committee, the executive committee and the members of the ACDS for their support.

As always, the editorial office encourages feedback from our membership related to the journal about innovation, improvements to the print and online journal, and the publication process.

I wish the members of the ACDS an enjoyable, productive and safe summer.

Submitted by:
Anthony Gaspari, MD

Back to the Top

Now published by Mary Ann Liebert, Inc. and led by Anthony Gaspari, MD, Dermatitis® is the leading peer-reviewed scientific journal in contact dermatitis, and the only journal in its field that publishes leading research in atopic, contact, occupational, environmental, and drug dermatitis.

The journal is an essential resource for dermatologists, allergists, immunologists, and toxicologists and is now available only from Mary Ann Liebert, Inc. - make sure you and your colleagues don't miss an issue!

Click here to request access from your institutional library now.

Back to the Top

Report from the 2023 AMA Annual Meeting

Representatives from the American Contact Dermatitis Society (ACDS) attended the Annual Meeting of the American Medical Association (AMA). Bruce Brod, MD, MHCI, FAAD, and James S Taylor, MD, FAAD served as the delegate and alternate delegate respectively for ACDS. Both delegates are members of the AMA Dermatology Section Council, which represents dermatology at the AMA. The meeting took place in Chicago from June 9 to 13, 2023. The ACDS co-sponsored three resolutions, including one that urged the AMA to prioritize fixing the flawed Medicare payment system.

The following are highlights from the meeting:

Payment Policy

Recognize the need for urgent advocacy and legislative efforts to reform Medicare physician payment as a top priority.
Emphasize the importance of increased funding for federal and state advocacy budgets specifically aimed at achieving Medicare physician payment reform. This includes ensuring that physician payments are annually adjusted to match the annual percentage increase in the Medicare Economic Index.
Require the AMA Board of Trustees to provide regular updates on the progress made in achieving Medicare payment reform until a predictable, sustainable, and fair physician payment system is achieved.

Scope of Practice

Call for joint licensing and regulation of certified nurse practitioners, certified registered nurse anesthetists, certified nurse midwives, and clinical nurse specialists by both state medical and nursing boards.
Instruct the AMA to investigate the movement of non-physician health professionals (e.g., physician assistants and nurse practitioners) across different specialties.
Advocate for legislation or regulations that ensure only physicians supervise the provision of emergency care services in emergency departments.
Collaborate with relevant stakeholders to oppose any legislation or regulation that allows pharmacists to test, diagnose, and treat medical conditions. This expansion of scope of practice has been introduced in 17 states.

Restrictive Covenants and Patient Access

Support policies, regulations, and legislation that prohibit non-compete covenants for all physicians in clinical practice who are employed by for-profit or non-profit hospital systems or staffing companies.
Oppose the use of non-compete covenants as a condition of employment for physicians in training, regardless of the accreditation status of their residency or fellowship training programs.
Instruct the AMA to study current physician employment contract terms and trends, providing recommendations to address the balance between legitimate business interests of physician employers and the protection of physician employment mobility, competition, and patient access to care.

Augmented Intelligence

Call for increased regulatory oversight of augmented intelligence usage in the review of patient claims and prior-authorization requests. This oversight should ensure that insurers follow a thorough and fair process that:
- Relies on accurate and up-to-date clinical criteria derived from national medical specialty society guidelines and peer-reviewed clinical literature.
- Involves reviews by doctors and healthcare professionals who are not motivated to deny care and possess expertise in the service being reviewed.
- Mandates human examination of patient records before denying care.

During the meeting, prominent dermatologist and Immediate Past President of the AMA, Dr. Jack Resneck, delivered a compelling speech to the AMA House of Delegates, addressing the challenges faced by physicians in the American healthcare system today.

Submitted by:
Bruce A Brod, MD, MHCI, FAAD
James S Taylor, MD, FAAD
Alexandra Flamm, MD, FAAD

Back to the Top

The American Contact Dermatitis Society is committed to advancing the care and understanding of dermatology and allergy through the promotion of education, research and advocacy. As part of this initiative, ACDS offers the following educational awards to help encourage research in these areas:

Clinical Research Award

The American Contact Dermatitis Society offers awards for the purpose of relevant clinical studies directed toward the subject of contact dermatitis. Studies that focus on clinical problems or have applications to clinical problems will receive preferential consideration. These awards will not exceed $5,000 each and will favor those in the $3,000 to $5,000 range.

Click here to see a list of past Clinical Research Award recipients.

Mentoring Award

ACDS Mentoring Awards are granted for the purpose of assisting young dermatologists including dermatology residents, dermatology fellows, or dermatologist up to 5 years out of residency to become leaders/experts in the field of contact dermatitis by acquiring additional academic skills which may not be available at their training institutions.

Click here to see a list of past Mentoring Award recipients.

Mid-Career Award

The ACDS Mid-Career Development Award provides financial support for ACDS members to defray the cost of acquiring specific skills and knowledge to enhance their professional development in some aspect of contact dermatitis and/or occupational dermatology.

Click here to see a list of past Mid-Career Award recipients.

Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, and Healthcare Disparities Award

The ACDS Diversity, Equity, Inclusion and Healthcare Disparities Award provides financial support for studies dedicated to the study of diversity, equity, inclusion (DEI), and healthcare disparities within dermatitis. These awards will not exceed $10,000 per year and will favor those in the $3,000 to $5,000 range.

Click here to see a list of past Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, and Healthcare Disparities Award recipients.

Outcomes Research Award

The ACDS Outcomes Research Award provides financial support for study of outcomes of dermatitis evaluation and management.

Click here to see a list of past Outcomes Research Award recipients.

For more information on any of these opportunities,
please visit our website here.

Back to the Top

Save the Date: 2024 ACDS 35^th Annual Meeting

Back to the Top

2024 Alexander A. Fisher Lectureship - Susan Nedorost, MD

Embracing the Complexities of Dermatitis

The ACDS Alexander Fisher Lectureship is awarded each year in honor of Alexander Fisher, MD, in recognition of his contributions to the field of contact dermatitis. This keynote speaker is selected based on his or her contributions to contact dermatitis, reflecting the spirit of Dr. Fisher's enthusiasm for the subject of contact dermatitis, and for sharing knowledge and experience in evaluating patients.

We are excited to announce that Susan Nedorost, MD, has been selected as the ACDS Alexander Fisher keynote speaker for the 2024 ACDS Annual Meeting to be held March 7, 2024, in San Diego, CA. It is the highest honor given by the Society and we look forward to her presentation entitled “Embracing the Complexities of Dermatitis”.

Susan Nedorost, MD, is Professor Emerita of Dermatology, Case Western Reserve University. She currently sees dermatitis patients in Columbus, Ohio for Dermatologists of the Central States. To learn more about Dr. Nedorost and this honor click here.

Back to the Top

Claim Your CME!

All content from the ACDS 34^th Annual Meeting is available for viewing on-demand now through December 31, 2023. This includes poster presentations, the Alexander Fisher Lecture, Fisher Resident Presentations, General Sessions, and Hot Topics.

Access is available to all those who registered for the ACDS 34^th Annual Meeting as an in-person or virtual attendee. Click below to access all on-demand content. You must be signed in to the ACDS website to gain access.