The ACR–Indian Rheumatology Association (IRA) International Fellows Exchange Program was developed in 2016 to foster scientific collaboration between members of the ACR and junior rheumatologists representing the IRA. I was lucky enough to be selected to participate in this exchange initiative, and I can’t thank these two organizations enough for working together to provide this…
There are moments that the words don’t reach There is suffering too terrible to name You hold your child as tight as you can And push away the unimaginable —Lin Manuel Miranda A friend of mine was killed a few days ago. By the time you read this column, the scars will have already started…
Every year at the end of January, ACR and ARP volunteers gather in Atlanta to learn more about a subject we seldom are taught in any formal way in our professional training: leadership. The 2019 Leadership Development Conference took place on Saturday, Jan. 26 and offered participants a unique opportunity to step away from their…
WASHINGTON (Reuters)—On Feb. 1, a U.S. judge threw out the state of Maryland’s bid to protect the healthcare law, known as Obamacare, in a ruling that also sidestepped a decision on whether President Donald Trump’s appointment of Matthew Whitaker as acting attorney general was lawful. In a win for the Republican president, Baltimore-based U.S. District…
(Reuters Health)—A new rule proposed by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) may make it almost impossible to uncover hazards such as dirty air, polluted water and environmental toxins, researchers say. The rule mandates that all underlying data from studies be made available to any and all researchers in the interests of transparency. But while…
The ACR has been engaged in a measured, inclusive process with rheumatologists to determine if rheumatology board certification should move from the American Board of Internal Medicine (ABIM) to the American Board of Allergy and Immunology (ABAI), which would become a new, combined board of Allergy, Immunology and Rheumatology. “As ACR leaders have traveled around…
NEW YORK (Reuters Health)—New student-documentation guidelines from the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) require careful implementation to avoid reductions in meaningful teaching physician involvement, according to a new report. The revised Medicare Claims Processing Manual allows the teaching physician to verify in the medical record any student documentation of services, rather than re-documenting…
Winston Churchill once said, “There is nothing wrong with change, if it is in the right direction.” So—with this, our first presidential column of 2019—we are bringing you news of a change or two. First, ARHP, our health professionals’ membership division, has changed its name to the Association of Rheumatology Professionals, or ARP. This new…
NEW YORK (Reuters Health)—The 2019 edition of the American College of Physicians (ACP) ethics manual provides a six-step approach to resolving ethical dilemmas and adds or expands sections that address emerging issues in 21st century medicine.1 “The Manual provides succinct guidance on issues that affect the patient-physician relationship, and also issues that have to do…
NEW YORK (Reuters)—New York City has launched a $100 million health insurance program to cover 600,000 uninsured residents, including those unable to afford coverage and those living in the United States illegally, Mayor Bill de Blasio said on Tuesday. De Blasio, now in his second term as mayor of the country’s most populous city, has…