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

Brave New MACRA World

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Sweeping changes in how physicians are paid for patient care are on the way. The Medicare Access and Children’s Health Insurance Program (CHIP) Reauthorization Act of 2015, or MACRA, tossed out the Sustainable Growth Rate formula and ties reimbursement to quality measures. A Helpful Presentation Because 2017 is the first performance year under the new…

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…

Pharmacokinetics May Be Factor in Success of Pegloticase Therapy for Gout

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We read the case report by Dr. Diana Girnita and colleagues (“Severe Refractory Gout: What options are left when pegloticase fails?” The Rheumatologist, August 2016) with interest. A case is reported of a subject with 20 years of chronic refractory gout who failed to respond to pegloticase therapy, and the potential roles of anti-drug antibodies or…

Mechanistic, Epidemiologic Clues Suggest Possible Link Between Obesity, Inflammation in Rheumatoid Arthritis

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Obesity has an established systemic inflammatory component. Could that be a trigger for the inflammation seen in rheumatoid arthritis (RA) and other rheumatic diseases? Although there is no direct scientific evidence, both mechanistic and epidemiologic clues do give some intriguing suggestions of a possible link. “At first, we thought that fat was involved only in…

Rheumatoid Arthritis Research Provides New Insights on Risk Factors, Identification Tools, Intervention

Rheumatoid Arthritis Research Provides New Insights on Risk Factors, Identification Tools, Intervention

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Established wisdom holds that patients with rheumatoid arthritis (RA) will fare better if their disease is diagnosed as early as possible, and treatments with disease-modifying drugs are started before inflammation can do more damage to joints and tissue. Usually, early diagnosis means spotting the clinical signs of disease, but new research tells us more about…