From BILAG to BLIPS--disease activity assessment in lupus past, present and future

During the past 16 years, members of the British Isles Lupus Assessment Group (BILAG) have met on a regular basis and have been instrumental in devising a comprehensive disease activity index and, in association with others in the international rheumatological community, devising and/or testing damage and patients self-assessment indices. The history of what the BILAG group has achieved is set out here and the latest attempts at computerisation and improvements in the Disease Activity Index itself are described.