Video: Every Case Tells a Story| Webinar: ACR/CHEST ILD Guidelines in Practice

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

Is Arthroscopic Meniscal Surgery Effective?

  |  

A recent review examined the effectiveness of arthroscopic mensical surgery in treating meniscal injuries. Researchers determined that little evidence exists to support the use of arthroscopic meniscal surgery and more studies that directly compare it with nonoperative treatments are needed…

Novel Astrocytic Autoantibody Associated with Relapsing Meningoencephalomyelitis

Will Boggs, MD  |  

NEW YORK (Reuters Health)—An autoantibody to glial fibrillary acidic protein (GFAP) is associated with relapsing autoimmune meningoencephalomyelitis that is responsive to immunotherapy, researchers report. “Autoimmune GFAP meningoencephalomyelitis is the second autoimmune neurological disease in which the target of the immune attack is recognized to be the astrocyte type of brain cell,” Dr. Vanda A. Lennon…

U.S. Justice Department to Push Prosecutors on Opioids

Reuters Staff  |  

WASHINGTON (Reuters)—The U.S. Justice Department will enlist federal prosecutors to help fight the nation’s opioid crisis by sharing information on overprescribing doctors and coordinating with public health officials to address addiction, USA Today reported on Friday. “You can’t just have an enforcement strategy alone,” Attorney General Loretta Lynch told the newspaper in an interview. She…

Medicare Program Focuses on Rural Patients

  |  

For arthritis patients who live in farming communities, just getting to rheumatologist Lynne Peterson, MD’s, office in Bismarck, N.D., can take a lot of time and energy. “Because of the shortage of rheumatologists, patients living in rural areas tend to receive inadequate rheumatologic evaluation and care,” says Dr. Peterson, whose clinic is located at Sanford…

How to Get Your EHR Up … & Keep It Running

  |  

Implementing a new electronic health record (EHR) system is no easy task—and one that a physician shouldn’t tackle alone. From the onset, you need to get buy-in from your practice’s colleagues. To do this, designate a physician champion to take charge of the effort. “This is a challenging position, because it’s difficult to convince people…

Express Scripts Tries to Rein in Pricey Inflammatory Drugs

Reuters Staff  |  

NEW YORK (Reuters)—Express Scripts Holding, the largest manager of U.S. drug benefits, on Thursday launched a program aimed at tightening spending on drugs for pricey inflammatory conditions such as rheumatoid arthritis. It is the latest Express Scripts effort intended to reduce spending on prescription drugs, such as last week’s announcement of a diabetes program. Early…

Hours Spent Record Keeping May Fuel Physician Burnout

Lisa Rapaport  |  

(Reuters Health)—For every hour doctors spend treating patients during a typical workday, they devote nearly two more hours to maintaining electronic health records (EHR) and clerical work, a small U.S. study suggests. Time spent in meaningful interactions with patients is a powerful driver of physician career satisfaction, but increased paperwork and time on the computer…