Table 1.
The grading system for Center of Excellence in systemic lupus erythematosus
| Classification | Items | Grading Rules | Scores |
|---|---|---|---|
| Basic items (100 points) | Basic requirement (5 points) |
The candidate center must be affiliated to a tertiary general hospital with a stand-alone Department of Rheumatology |
5 points |
| Requirements of organization (20 points) | More than 60% of the department personnels are attending physicians. | 5 points | |
| The department has at least one expert specialized in systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE). | 5 points | ||
| ◆ Member of national academic associations—5 points | |||
| ◆ Chairman of provincial academic associations—4 points | |||
| ◆ Standing committee member of provincial academic associations—3 points | |||
| The department has at least two rheumatologists who are experienced in the standard-of-care of SLE. | 5 points | ||
| The department has a multi-disciplinary team (MDT) that is composed of experts from nephrology, hematology, respiratory and critical care medicine, cardiology, neurology, dermatology. The commitment of this team is to coordinate with interdisciplinary management, consultation and patient referral. | 5 points | ||
| Requirements of service (35 points) |
The department registered patients with SLE using the online Chinese Rheumatism Data Center (CRDC) system. |
5 points |
|
| ◆ A total of 800 or more patients are registered—5 points | |||
| ◆ A total of 500-799 patients are registered—4 points | |||
| ◆ A total of 300-499 patients are registered—3 points | |||
| ◆ A total of less than 300 patients are registered—1 point | |||
| The department has access to laboratory examinations, including urine test for urine protein quantification, blood tests for serum complement level, serum C-reactive protein level and erythrocyte sedimentation rate. | 3 points | ||
| The department has access to serum autoantibody tests, including antinuclear antibody (ANA), anti-dsDNA, anti-Smith, and antiphospholipid antibody profile. | 3 points | ||
| The department has the access to imaging examinations, including ultrasound, computed tomography (CT), Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), etc. | 4 points | ||
| The department has the access to renal biopsy. | 5 points | ||
| The department has the access to conventional medications for SLE and biological agents approved by China Food and Drug Administration (CFDA): | 10 points | ||
| ◆ Glucocorticoid—2 points | |||
| ◆ Hydroxychloroquine—2 points | |||
| ◆ Immunosuppressants, including mycophenolate mofetil, cyclophosphamide, leflunomide, methotrexate, tacrolimus, cyclosporine and azathioprine—1 point for each but not exceed 4 points; | |||
| ◆ Biological agents, such as belimumab, telitacicept, rituximab, etc. —2 points | |||
|
|
The department provides patient education and follow-up service. |
points |
|
| Requirements of stan- dard-of-care (40 points) | The department has more than 300 follow-up patients annually. | 15 points | |
| Over 90% of SLE patients meet the 2012 SLICC or 2019 EULAR/ACR classification criteria of SLE. | 5 points | ||
| Over 10% of SLE patients reached lupus low disease activity state (LLDAS) at the last follow-up visit. | 10 points | ||
| Over 50% of follow-up patients visit the clinic every six months. | 5 points | ||
|
|
Over 80% of follow-up patients are regularly screened for severe complications and organ damages. |
5 points |
|
| Additional items (50 points) | The department has a standardized medical biobank for sample collection and storage. | 10 points | |
| The quality of autoantibody tests meets the quality requirement of CRDC. | 5 points | ||
| The department was certified as clinical research center: | 5 points | ||
| ◆ National or provincial level—5 points | |||
| ◆ City level—3 points | |||
| The department was certified as quality control center: | 5 points | ||
| ◆ National or provincial level—5 points | |||
| ◆ City level—3 points | |||
| The department provides physician education and training related to SLE: | 8 points | ||
| ◆ National continuing medical education (CME) program—2 points for each but not exceed 6 | |||
| ◆ Routine training for rheumatologists and physicians in MDT—2 points | |||
| Local academic development and medical training led by the department: | 7 points | ||
| ◆ Academic conferences and teaching round in city hospitals—1 point for each activity but not exceed 2 points | |||
| ◆ Specialty training for rheumatologists from city hospitals—1 point for each group but not exceed 3 points | |||
| ◆ Remote consultation for critical cases from city hospitals—1 point for each consultation but not exceed 2 points | |||
| Original articles related to SLE were published or accepted in the last three years (as the first or correspondent affiliation) by the department: | 5 points | ||
| ◆ JCR Q1—5 points | |||
| ◆ JCR Q2—4 points | |||
| ◆ JCR Q3—3 points | |||
| ◆ JCR Q4—2 points |
JCR, journal citation report.