How are COVID-19 and physical distancing restrictions at work affecting rheumatology professionals? The Rheumatologist interviewed clinical pharmacist Wendy Ramey, BSPharm, RPh, CSP, to discuss how the pandemic has changed the way her staff supports rheumatologists at the University of Kentucky Specialty Pharmacy and Infusion Services, Lexington. Ms. Ramey describes how these unprecedented times affect patients,…
Under the onslaught of developing information on COVID-19, one health system found a way to streamline communication using a secure tool it already had access to.
How are COVID-19 and current restrictions on physical distancing affecting rheumatologists? The Rheumatologist interviewed Karim Masri, MD, to ask how the pandemic has changed the way he and his clinic staff deliver patient care, and how these unprecedented times affect patients, staff and life outside the office. Dr. Masri is a practicing rheumatologist at Bon…
The Centers for Medicaid & Medicare Services (CMS) announced last week an extension of the 2019 Merit-Based Incentive Payment System (MIPS) reporting deadline to 8 p.m. EDT on Thursday, April 30. The extreme and uncontrollable circumstances policy has also been updated to automatically apply to any MIPS-eligible providers who do not submit data by the…
The new landscape for rheumatologists includes telemedicine, kids out of school and infection-prevention protocols. During the current pandemic, the practice of medicine, research and daily lives are changing to keep providers and patients safe…
Hundreds of rheumatology providers are using RISE registry data collected from their EHRs over the past year for required 2019 federal reporting.
The ACR is urging insurance companies to expand access to telehealth services and provide relief from administrative burdens to help providers focus on patient care at this critical time.
In partnership with rheumatology and other specialty organizations, the ACR is working against payer and employer policies that mandate specialty pharmacy acquisition of in-office treatments.
CMS has extended the deadline for 2019 MIPS submission to 8 p.m. EDT on April 30, 2020.
Effective immediately, the HHS Office for Civil Rights (OCR) has stated it will not impose any noncompliance penalties under the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) on physicians using any non-public facing service or audio or video communication technology (e.g., Apple FaceTime, Skype, Facebook Messenger, etc.) for telehealth services. This discretion applies to telehealth…