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

Telehealth Visits May Be an Option After Surgery

Andrew M. Seaman  |  

(Reuters Health)—People may happily, and safely, forgo in-person doctors’ visits after surgery by opting instead for talking with their surgeons by phone or video, suggests a small study of U.S. veterans. Most patients preferred the virtual visits and the doctors didn’t miss any infections that popped up after surgery, the researchers report in JAMA Surgery….

Moving to ICD-10 Has Promises, Challenges

Will Boggs, MD  |  

NEW YORK (Reuters Health)—While the new International Classification of Diseases, Tenth Revision, Clinical Modification (ICD-10-CM) codes offer greater diagnostic precision, their implementation will require training of clinicians, coders, and other staff to minimize payment denials or delays from both public and private payers. Brian Outland and colleagues from the American College of Physicians in Washington,…

IBD Tied to Higher Risk of Invasive Pneumococcal Disease

David Douglas  |  

NEW YORK (Reuters Health)—Patients with inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) are at slightly increased risk of invasive pneumococcal disease (IPD), according to Danish researchers. In a paper online Sept. 8 in The American Journal of Gastroenterology, Bjørn Kantsø of Statens Serum Institut in Copenhagen and colleagues note that the inappropriate immune response against infective agents seen in…

ACR’s New AS & Nonradiographic Axial SpA Treatment Recommendations

American College of Rheumatology  |  

ATLANTA—The American College of Rheumatology (ACR) has released new recommendations for the treatment of ankylosing spondylitis (AS) and non-radiographic axial spondyloarthritis (SpA). The guideline was developed with the Spondylitis Association of America (SAA) and the Spondyloarthritis Research and Treatment Network. It summarizes recommendations for both pharmacologic and non-pharmacologic treatments, including rehabilitation, management of patients with…

U.S. Antitrust Lawmakers Express Concern About Insurance Mergers

Diane Bartz  |  

WASHINGTON (Reuters)—Republican and Democratic lawmakers expressed concern about two multi-billion dollar insurance mergers on Tuesday, using a Senate hearing to take issue with the companies’ arguments that they face expanding competition from new rivals. Sen. Mike Lee (R-UT), who chairs the Senate Judiciary Committee’s antitrust subcommittee, said he was worried that consumers would be “locked…

U.S. Says 17.6 Million Americans Have Gained Health Insurance

Reuters Staff  |  

(Reuters)—The U.S. national healthcare reform law has extended health insurance coverage to 17.6 million Americans, according to a new government report on Tuesday, up from its previous estimate of 16.4 million. The number of uninsured has decreased because of changes in the law that allowed young people to stay on their parents’ health plans for…

How Medicare’s Chronic Care Management Payments Could Affect Primary Care

Will Boggs, MD  |  

(Reuters Health)—Medicare’s new “chronic care management” (CCM) payment program could make it more financially feasible for physicians to deliver services between visits. Under the new program, Medicare could reimburse primary care practices about $40 month for such things as medication management and communication with other doctors for patients who have two or more chronic medical…

Adventist Health System to Pay $118 Million to Settle Fraud Claims

Brendan Pierson  |  

(Reuters)—Florida-based healthcare system Adventist Health System has agreed to pay $118.7 million to settle a whistleblower lawsuit that accused it of paying kickbacks to doctors in exchange for referrals, attorneys for the plaintiffs announced on Monday. The agreement comes in a lawsuit filed by three former employees of Adventist’s Park Ridge Health hospital in Hendersonville,…