It’s not uncommon for a new patient to arrive at the medical offices of Alan Schenk, MD, in Laguna Woods, Calif., and immediately ask him about his musical career. In addition to being a board-certified rheumatologist for the past 32 years, Dr. Schenk is also an accomplished acoustic jazz guitarist and mandolin player. Music First “I…
Richard Meehan, MD, can still hear the distinctive sound of footsteps that would travel along a gravel path toward his wooden hut in the middle of the night in Iraq. “I’d hear somebody walk from the command post, either toward my hut or the operations officer who slept in the hut next to mine,” says…
The Rheumatology Research Workshop (RRW), a two-day meeting designed to promote interactions between early and established investigators to foster collaboration and facilitate career mentoring, was held this year on June 24–25 in Atlanta. Each year, the workshop includes scientific lectures, elevator pitch presentations, poster sessions and scheduled time for interaction with senior investigators to exchange…
Connect with colleagues at the Basic Research Conference (BRC) and the Clinical Research Conference (CRC) pre-meeting courses at the 2016 ACR/ARHP Annual Meeting! The ACR has an exceptional array of research leaders lined up for this year’s BRC and CRC sessions on Friday, Nov. 11, and Saturday, Nov. 12 in Washington, D.C. Get ready to…
Brian Le, MD, a rheumatology fellow at the Medical College of Georgia at Augusta University (MCG), credits an excellent mentor and two Rheumatology Research Foundation preceptorships with guiding his career toward rheumatology. “Working with Dr. Laura Carbone has opened up a lot of doors for me,” says Dr. Le. “I wouldn’t have such a great relationship with…
Heraclitus of Ephesus (c. 500 BC) is credited with the saying, “The only constant is change.” Now, centuries later, change is meteoric, and especially in healthcare and health policy, the pace of change is relentless. Rheumatology and other specialties continue to face challenges that threaten the ability to deliver compassionate, competent care to patients. The…
ZURICH (Reuters)—The U.S. Food and Drug Administration has granted breakthrough status to Roche’s rheumatoid arthritis medication Actemra (tocilizumab) for giant cell arteritis, the Swiss drugmaker said, a step which could help it broaden applications for the medicine. Giant cell arteritis is a chronic, potentially life-threatening autoimmune condition caused by inflammation of large and medium-sized arteries,…
One year after the official go-live of the International Classification of Diseases, 10th revision (ICD-10), the coding language is scheduled to undergo an evolution, with nearly 1,975 additions, more than 300 deletions and 425 revisions. This brings the total set of diagnosis codes to more than 71,480. The new and revised clinical modification codes (ICD-10-CM)…
UnitedHealthcare recently announced plans to expand its pilot Lab Benefit Management Program to Texas, as of March 1, 2017. The pilot program, which is administered by BeaconLBS, was first launched in Florida in October 2014. Under the pilot, providers are required to use a tool called Physician Decision Support to order certain labs for UHC…
For more than a decade, the ACR’s Government Affairs Committee (GAC) has given rheumatologists a voice in the halls of Congress. Since 2007, that voice has been amplified by RheumPAC, the bipartisan political action committee for ACR/ARHP members that helps advance the policy goals of the College, rheumatology professionals and their patients. “RheumPAC allows us…