May is recognized as National Arthritis Awareness Month, a time to bring attention to the more than 46 million Americans living with arthritis and related inflammatory diseases. In honor of the occasion, the Rheumatology Research Foundation is launching #RheumLife, a social media campaign to bring awareness to the severity of rheumatic disease. Through Twitter and…
Rheumatology Drug Updates: Infliximab Biosimilar Gets FDA Approval & More
April 5, 2016, marks a revolutionary day in the treatment of autoimmune diseases: The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved an infliximab (Remicade) biosimilar, known as Inflectra (infliximab-dyyb). Infliximab-dyyb, which is administered by intravenous infusion, is the first biosimilar drug approved to treat rheumatic disease in the U.S.1 Infliximab-dyyb has received approval for almost…
Implementing Successful Care Management Programs for High-Cost Patients
As healthcare delivery increasingly moves from volume-based care to value-based care, providers are needing to adopt new practices to meet what is now commonly referred to as the triple aim of healthcare delivery—improving the patient experience of care (which includes satisfaction and quality), improving the health of populations and reducing cost.1 Among the most difficult…
Addressing the Rheumatology Workforce Shortage
In 2008, the American College of Rheumatology Workforce Study Advisory Group published a comprehensive rheumatology workforce analysis.1 It concluded: Based on assessment of supply and demand under current scenarios, the demand for rheumatologists is expected to exceed supply in the coming decades. Strategies for the profession to adapt to this changing health care landscape include…
Study Associates Higher Risks with Total Joint Arthroplasty among Patients with Hepatitis C
A study that looked at the impact of hepatitis C on short-term outcomes of total joint arthroplasty found an increase in co-morbidity compared with patients without the liver disease. The number of people in need of total joint arthroplasty is expected to rise in conjunction with an aging population and advances in hepatitis C treatments….
Rheumatologist Shares Lessons Learned in 20 Years as Program Director
When I came to Washington University School of Medicine (WUSM) in St. Louis in 1996 to become fellowship program director, the previous program director had left, and the two fellows who had been selected both backed out (this was before the match). I was handed a stack of manila folders, which contained the previous documentation….
Opinion: Adhering to Standards of Care Helps Manage Risk
Medicare and other third-party payers have started predicating reimbursement on adherence to standards of care. Post hoc chart reviews have resulted in substantial take-backs for failure to adhere to those values in cardiology, pulmonology and expanding to other areas. Outpatient medicine is also being subjected to such scrutiny. The question of standards and who sets…
Phase 2 of HIPAA Audit Program Launches
With many competing priorities facing physician practices, HIPAA compliance and security is not a topic that usually makes it to the top of the list. But this is not the case with the Department of Health and Human Services’ Office for Civil Rights (OCR), because it has initiated a new phase of audits of physician…
Participate in Virtual Hill Meetings through the ACR
On May 12, ACR leaders representing the Board of Directors, the Affiliate Societies Council and the Committees on Government Affairs and RheumPAC took the ACR’s policy message to Capitol Hill. There is power in numbers, so we hope you will participate in your own Virtual Hill Day by visiting Legislative Action Center and letting your…
Biosimilars: Expanded Treatment Options
Soon, biosimilars will be available as treatment options for our patients. Biosimilars are being introduced to the U.S. market in the hope that they will spur competition and drive down the price of these expensive medicines. Previous articles in The Rheumatologist have touched on various issues surrounding these new therapies, and everyone in the rheumatology…
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