New Home Light Therapy System Proves Effective in Psoriasis Treatment

Clarify Medical recently announced the results of a clinical study observing the impact of the Clarify Home Light Therapy System to treat patients suffering from plaque psoriasis. The small sample study monitored the use of the phototherapy system on eight adult patients for 10 weeks. All participants experienced reductions in lesions, with a mean improvement of 57% PSI. In a comment to AP News, SBS faculty member Lawrence D. Eichenfield, MD explained the value of the study’s initial findings: “[This] novel delivery system supports the ability to deliver home phototherapy for chronic skin diseases in a user-friendly, effective method that should allow high adherence and compliance leading to positive patient outcomes.”

RUC Procedure Codes Explained By Mark Kaufmann, MD

First established in 1992, the role of the Specialty Society Relative Value Update Committee (RUC) has long bewildered practicing physicians. At an event for the American Academy of Dermatology, SBS faculty member Mark D. Kaufmann explained in detail the RUC’s process of code valuation: "It's a pretty obscure process that you don't learn in residency. Because you will eventually receive [physician] a survey, you need to understand how important it is and that you'll need to take time to fill it out in a thoughtful manner." Dr. Kaufmann assured physicians that while the code process is often ubiquitous, the system has been developed to adapt to the ever-changing field of dermatology.

Mark Nestor, MD, PhD Leads New BirchBioMed Study

BirchBioMed has begun a new study focused on the “clinical evaluation, development and commercialization of anti-scarring drugs, autoimmune therapeutics and novel strategies for transplantation.” The study has recently enrolled its first subjects to observe the reduction of keloid scars with the use of FS2. As the principal investigator, SBS Chair Mark Nestor, MD, PhD, will lead a team in observing the impact of a twice-daily application of FS2-formulated moisturizer for 120 days. Scars will be assessed using both the Patient and Observer Scar Assessment Scale (POSAS) and Vancouver Scar Scale (VSS) during each patient visit.