ATLANTA—Obtaining prior authorization to ensure services or prescription drugs are covered by a patient’s health plan consumes staff time, and delays or denials may cause patients to abandon treatment, according to speakers at the 2019 ACR/ARP Annual Meeting. In a session on Nov. 10, the experts shared tips to smooth the process. Train Staff on…
ATLANTA—With growing demand for access to rheumatologists in rural areas, a shortage in the number of rheumatologists and the ability to use technology as a bridge to patients in remote areas, telemedicine seems like a smart option. And it certainly can be, experts said at a 2019 ACR/ARP Annual Meeting session in November. But a…
Predictive data models can be used to identify when patients may miss their appointments, reduce these incidents and increase scheduling efficiency. Here are some tips for the physician practice setting…
Based on a request by the ACR Insurance Subcommittee, off-label use of mycophenolate for scleroderma has been added to a Medicare-approved compendium.
The Rheumatology Informatics System for Effectiveness (RISE) 2019 MIPS submission tool will open in mid-January. RISE staff are in the process of completing final data refreshes and reviews to ensure data accuracy. The ACR will notify all practices as soon as the submission tool is open. Practices are requested to complete their submission by March…
Although the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) is simplifying documentation through its Patients over Paperwork initiative, clinical documentation improvement (CDI) did not go away. CDI is not about how to code in ICD-10-CM or the Current Procedural Terminology (CPT); instead, it is a huge part of the solution in maximizing the integrity of…
The patient medical history is far more prominent in clinical decisions for rheumatology than for many common chronic diseases in which a gold standard biomarker, such as blood pressure or serum glucose, is applicable to diagnosis and management of all individual patients.1 Components of a subjective patient history may be recorded as structured, quantitative, standard,…
Using virtual reality in rehabilitation can have benefits—as long as it is properly understood. In fact, some evidence suggests benefits from the judicious use of immersive virtual reality with patients with rheumatic diagnoses. People tend to have a lower perception of effort compared with actual exertion and lower reports of pain with longer time to exhaustion.
A recent study reveals the common misconceptions of primary care physicians about rheumatologic care, such as the difference between inflammatory and non-inflammatory arthropathy. Researchers believe such misconceptions can be targeted to improve patients’ timely access to care and diagnosis…
It’s time to prepare for 2019 MIPS reporting via the Rheumatology Informatics System for Effectiveness (RISE) registry, and the ACR is here to help. To ensure you’re ready to submit your data to the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS), RISE users should take the following steps: Review your data in the dashboard; Make…