The ACR & the National Psoriasis Foundation (NPF) have published a joint Guideline for the Treatment of Psoriatic Arthritis (PsA). The guideline will serve as an aid to practitioners managing active PsA in patients.
Megan Elizabeth Bowles Clowse, MD, MPH & David Leverenz, MD |
As rheumatologists, we have a love-hate relationship with the corticosteroid prednisone, a feeling many of our patients share. It’s our most effective medication to quickly shut down an overactive immune system. When we have a patient with life- or organ-threatening autoimmune disease—severe lupus affecting the kidneys or vasculitis causing hemorrhage in the lungs, for example—large…
Paula Marchetta, MD, MBA, & Abby Abelson, MD, FACR |
The ACR and the Rheumatology Research Foundation have a rich history of collaboration and significant achievement. In many ways, our collaboration has become the classic triple threat of medicine, as we endeavor to support research, advance clinical care and expand education in so many intertwined and inseparable ways. Although we are greatly encouraged by the…
2018 is coming to a close, and somehow, I have managed to make it through a year as the physician editor of The Rheumatologist without being sued or fired, so I thought this would be a good time to pause and reflect on lessons learned—and to give thanks. My first lesson: this is a lot of…
A typical patient with a rheumatic disease needs a multifaceted treatment approach to address comorbidities, minimize disability, promote quality of life and improve survival. To achieve these outcomes, rheumatology research has evolved from examining a single treatment to studying the best treatment approaches. Examples of these strategy trials include how to best combine pharmaceutical therapies,…
The evaluation of a child with arthralgia who has a normal physical examination provides a challenge to rheumatologists. Here are some insights into assessing and treating children with musculoskeletal pain syndromes…
Hydroxychloroquine is not currently used to treat patients with antiphospholipid syndrome (APS). But new research in APS-induced mice shows hydroxychloroquine may improve endothelium-dependent dilation and reduce reactive oxygen species generation…
In 2018, did you interact with the Medicare payment system, receive payment for a consultation code or worry about the Centers for Medicaid & Medicare Services (CMS) reducing reimbursement through its proposal to combine evaluation and management codes in the Physician Fee Schedule? If your answer to any of those questions is yes, then you…
As of Jan. 1, 2019, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) will implement several coding and documentation policies to provide immediate burden reduction to providers. The 2019 Medicare Physician Fee Schedule Final Rule (MPFS) released Nov. 1, 2018, by the CMS contained significant changes to the Medicare Part B coding and documentation policies…