Reviewing the Overarching Umbrella of Psoriatic Disease

At the recent Dermatology Times Horizons in Advanced Practice meeting in Tampa, Florida, conference chairs Douglas DiRuggiero, DMSc, MHS, PA-C; Lakshi Aldredge, MSN, ANP-BC, DCNP; and Omar Noor, MD, reviewed complex atopic dermatitis, type 2 inflammation, psoriasis, chronic hand eczema (CHE), and hidradenitis suppurativa patient cases to an exclusive group of dermatology nurse practitioners and physician assistants in 6 breakout groups.

DiRuggiero, a board-certified physician assistant at the Skin Cancer & Cosmetic Dermatology Center in Cartersville, Georgia, first presented “Skin Deep, Joint Smart: Targeted Therapies for Psoriasis and Early Psoriatic Arthritis Prevention.” During the session, DiRuggiero discussed psoriasis in high-impact sites, overall psoriatic disease, and available therapies.

Stay tuned to Dermatology Times for a deep dive into each chair’s sessions, as well as more interviews with Aldredge and Noor.

Interview With Douglas DiRuggiero, DMSc, MHS, PA-C

Q: Can you provide an overview of your first Horizons in Advanced Practice breakout session on targeted therapies for psoriasis and psoriatic arthritis?

DiRuggiero: I had the opportunity to talk about psoriatic disease. The first thing that we talked about as a group is not labeling patients as having psoriasis or psoriatic arthritis, but actually talking about psoriatic disease, or PSD. PSD is an umbrella of diseases that falls underneath what we call psoriasis: the comorbidities and co-manifestations beyond the joints, as well as the mental burden. All of these things are incorporated into PSD.

Q: What were some of the key takeaways from attendees?

DiRuggiero: Overall, I think people enjoyed the collaboration of talking about how do you approach things with your patients? How many comorbidities do you present in one visit? We came to a consensus that this is about building trust over time with these patients, addressing issues as the visits accumulate, and helping them reach their maximum potential by talking to them about weight loss, smoking management, support groups, and their mental health, while also talking about the advanced therapies that are available to halt the progression of the disease itself.

Q: As a chair of Horizons, what is the value of the meeting to you?

DiRuggiero: Any time you have young clinicians who are rubbing shoulders with those who are more experienced or APPs who want to be more peer-to-peer, you’re going to see light bulbs going off. You’re going to see folks exchanging phone numbers and emails, and that’s what Horizons did. It's about people getting together and sharing their real-world experiences. “How do you say this to a patient? Oh, I like that idea. I like the way you said that.” And it's neat to see people say those phrases to each other.

It really is about collaboration, and that fosters the best environment for learning. You can sit in a conference session and hear things, but you don't always do those things. You go back home on a Monday, and you get right back to your busy routine. But when you’ve spoken about those things and massaged the way of doing it, you're more prone to go back and actually change a habit, a way you decide to describe something, how you describe a therapeutic, or how you chart something. When you hear other people talking about how to do that, it has a greater impact. It has a greater hook on you to make that something that becomes a tangible benefit to you and for your patients.

Keep up with upcoming Dermatology Times events here.