The prescription is a powerful tool for a physician. As rheumaÂtologists, we prescribe many things—drugs, physical therapy, durable medical equipment—but what about stress reduction? We are very specific about times of day to take medications and in what manner. Patients ask: With or without food? With other medications? Before or after other prescribed medications? If…
Hurricane Ida intensified in the last two weeks of August 2021, battering the Cayman Islands and Cuba before hitting the Louisiana coast as a Category 4 storm just before Labor Day weekend.1 At landfall, Ida blasted southern Louisiana with maximum sustained winds of 150 knots, then turned in a north-northwestern direction to hit the New…
If enacted as is, the proposed CY 2023 Medicare Physician Fee Schedule and Quality Payment Program would make significant cuts to reimbursement for evaluation and management services, creating financial instability for providers. On a positive note, it would extend some telehealth flexibilities 151 days beyond the official end of the public health emergency.
When my daughter was a second-year internal medicine resident at Massachusetts General Hospital, Boston, she called me excitedly one evening. “Dad,” she reported, “I think I saw the optic nerve for the first time today with an ophthalmoscope.” I suppose I should have shared her exuberance, except that when I went to medical school, a…
At my first Advocacy Leadership Conference as a member of the ACR’s Insurance Subcommittee, I discovered the power of stories from the clinic and how lawmakers value clinicians’ input on healthcare legislation.
When it comes to experiencing burnout, time spent in an electronic health records (EHR) system appears to be only a minor contributing factor. Although clinicians and other healthcare professionals may log many hours at the keyboard putting information into the EHR, other factors likely play a bigger role in the workplace exhaustion and feelings of…
In response to ACR and provider concerns about administrative burden, CVS Caremark has issued a streamlined version of its prior authorization forms for many biologic drugs.
This month, we offer an overview of the federal No Surprises Act, which stipulates that healthcare insurers may not surprise patients with out-of-network care bills, instead requiring healthcare providers and insurers to broker price compromises between themselves. The No Surprises Act, enacted on a bipartisan basis in December 2020, protects patients from surprise billing from…
Practices that received Provider Relief Funds between April 10–June 30, 2020, and did not file a report may request to submit a late report and avoid having funds recouped.
The ACR is working with partners in several states to legislate against policies that require physicians to acquire provider-administered drugs through a preferred specialty pharmacy designated by a payer or pharmacy benefit manager.