ACR Convergence 2025| Video: Rheum for Everyone, Episode 26—Ableism

An official publication of the ACR and the ARP serving rheumatologists and rheumatology professionals

UnitedHealth Sees More Growth in 2017 When It Exits Obamacare

Caroline Humer and Ankur Banerjee  |  

(Reuters)—UnitedHealth Group Inc, the largest U.S. health insurer, on Tuesday raised the possibility of stronger profit growth in 2017 as it exits the government-subsidized insurance market commonly known as Obamacare, encouraging investors who have been negative on the sector. The company said losses in that business were within expectations in the third quarter, news that…

2015 Workforce Study Results: More Rheumatology Clinicians Needed

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Will there be enough rheumatology clinicians available to treat a growing patient population in the future? Not unless serious steps are taken now, according to the American College of Rheumatology’s 2015 Workforce Study of Rheumatology Specialists in the United States. The study’s complete findings will be presented at a panel discussion session at the 2016…

Road Rules for Social Media: As More Rheumatologists Go Online to Tweet, Chat or Post, They Must Learn How to Tread Wisely

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For many practices, the benefits of social media—connecting with patients and exchanging ideas with colleagues—outweigh the risks, says R. Swamy Venuturupalli, MD, FACP. If rheumatologists set strategies for engagement and help shape the conversations, social media can be leveraged for research, community outreach, patient support and more…

Unclear If Sports Raise Later Arthritis Risk

Carolyn Crist  |  

(Reuters Health)—Playing team sports, especially soccer, at the elite level may lead to a higher risk for osteoarthritis, but the existing research is of such low quality it’s hard to say for sure, according to a recent review. In an analysis of past studies filled with conflicting results, researchers found that long-distance running was the…

Do Fatty Acids Underlie Rheumatoid Arthritis Pathology?

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According to a new study, patients with aggressive rheumatoid arthritis (RA) have lower levels of non-esterified fatty acids, which coincide with an enhanced Th1 response. Researchers suggest that lower EPA and DHA at the onset of RA may exacerbate inflammation, and fatty acids may become a novel therapeutic target for the disease…

Roche Gets Boost from FDA in Bid to Expand Uses for Actemra

Reuters Staff  |  

ZURICH (Reuters)—The U.S. Food and Drug Administration has granted breakthrough status to Roche’s rheumatoid arthritis medication Actemra (tocilizumab) for giant cell arteritis, the Swiss drugmaker said, a step which could help it broaden applications for the medicine. Giant cell arteritis is a chronic, potentially life-threatening autoimmune condition caused by inflammation of large and medium-sized arteries,…

ICD-10 2.0: An Evolving Data Set

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One year after the official go-live of the International Classification of Diseases, 10th revision (ICD-10), the coding language is scheduled to undergo an evolution, with nearly 1,975 additions, more than 300 deletions and 425 revisions. This brings the total set of diagnosis codes to more than 71,480. The new and revised clinical modification codes (ICD-10-CM)…

UHC Expands Pilot Lab Benefit Management Program

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UnitedHealthcare recently announced plans to expand its pilot Lab Benefit Management Program to Texas, as of March 1, 2017. The pilot program, which is administered by BeaconLBS, was first launched in Florida in October 2014. Under the pilot, providers are required to use a tool called Physician Decision Support to order certain labs for UHC…