Are outcomes better in a specialized lupus clinic compared with care provided in a general rheumatology setting? New research from Rush University, Chicago, studies this important care management question and finds the specialized clinic does indeed produce better outcomes.1 A big part of the difference may be due to the added experience specialty clinic clinicians…
The advent of quality-based healthcare, such as the Medicare Access and CHIP Reauthorization Act of 2015 (MACRA), requires rheumatology professionals to demonstrate their practice is based on interventions supported by the best available evidence and that their practice, in turn, provides quality care. These requirements have increased the need for methods to measure and quantify…
Ever wonder why some rheumatologists are more successful at starting or building a private practice than their peers? More than likely, their success is due in part to the patient-centered strategies embedded in their practices’ cultures. Although the ACR predicts a nationwide shortage of 2,500 rheumatologists within the next decade, many patients can still pick…
All healthcare professionals who work in rheumatology had to start adapting to a new landscape of reporting and documentation on Jan. 1 of this year when the Medicare Access and Children’s Health Insurance Program (CHIP) Reauthorization Act, or MACRA, began. As the changeover continues, the Sunday ARHP session, Your New Role in the Era of…
Changes to reimbursement introduced by the Medicare Access and CHIP Reauthorization Act (MACRA) will affect your Medicare income for 2019. “Rheumatologists generally know that MACRA is up and running,” says Angus Worthing, MD, FACR, FACP, clinical assistant professor of rheumatology at Georgetown University Medical Center and chair of the ACR’s Government Affairs Committee. “Virtually every…
This year’s ACR/ARHP Annual Meeting, which takes place Nov. 3–8 in San Diego, features several opportunities to learn more about the ACR’s Rheumatology Informatics System for Effectiveness (RISE) Registry, and the data and tools it offers rheumatologists. For the first time, RISE data will be presented at the Annual Meeting by rheumatologists outside of the ACR’s…
Members’ voices are crucial to making an impact on policies that have an impact on healthcare. Here, we’d like to thank members who have invested in the first half of this year, yielding $16,000 more than was raised over the same time period last year. In response to an in-depth examination of RheumPAC in 2016,…
For a rheumatology practice, rooming time can be leveraged to improve efficiency and patient care. Christie Bartels, MD, MS, and colleagues have studied this time frame and developed data-based tips and tools to decrease variation among staff and streamline practices…
Quality assurance and quality improvement (QA/QI) work makes sense to focus on. However, finding the time and resources for QI projects is not always easy. Until now, the business case for QI in rheumatology practice has not always been clear. However, this is changing with implementation of the Medicare Access and CHIP Reauthorization Act (MACRA)…
The American College of Rheumatology (ACR) continues to provide feedback to the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) about the implementation of the Medicare Access and CHIP Reauthorization Act (MACRA) of 2015 on behalf of rheumatologists. The bipartisan bill repealed the Sustainable Growth Rate and transitioned Medicare from fee for service to a system…