NEW YORK (Reuters Health)—The American College of Physicians (ACP) has issued a baker’s dozen of recommendations intended to guide the effective use of telemedicine in primary care settings. “The recommendations balance the potential benefits and expanded use of telemedicine with the importance of maintaining the patient-physician relationship and patient safety,” Hilary Daniel from American College…
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Vaccinations for Immunocompromised Patients Are Shared Responsibility of Specialists, Primary Care Physicians
Infectious Diseases Society of America recommends both physician groups educate patients, household members on importance of vaccines

Rheuminations: How to Counteract Patients’ Eroding Trust in Healthcare
At first, there was an incomprehensibly loud explosion. And out of that explosion, about 4.5 billion years afterward, emerged the world’s first rheumatologist. Only a few notable things have happened between these two events, but the most important dynamic has been the continuous expansion of our universe. If the speculations of many cosmologists are correct,…

Precision Medicine on a Population Level: Can Digital Health Technology Improve Access to Rheumatologic Care?
Over our 25 years as rheumatologists, care has advanced greatly. We each completed our rheumatology training in the late 1990s when both infliximab and etanercept first arrived on the U.S. market, ushering in the era of biologics in rheumatology. Since this time, our greater understanding of the immunologic basis of many rheumatic diseases has translated…

Palliative Care for Inclusion Body Myositis, a Case Report
“Our patients’ goals for their care aren’t always the same as ours. We’re typically focused on disease control, and they’re often focused on quality of life. Having ongoing discussions about care goals is the only way to know when it’s time to switch gears. Would you know when to refer your patients to palliative care?…

3 AC&R Study Summaries: Frailty & Prefrailty in RA, Premature Mortality in Gout & Using Recruitment & Multidisciplinary Care Incentives to Improve Access
Frailty & Prefrailty in Patients with RA TNF-α inhibitors associated with higher infection risk By Namrata Singh, MD, MSCI, Katherine D. Wysham, MD, James S. Andrews, MD, & Una E. Makris, MD Why was this study done? Frailty and prefrailty are more common and occur at a younger age in patients with rheumatoid arthritis (RA)…

The Roles of the Interdisciplinary Rheumatology Team in Patient Care Highlighted
To work together effectively, clinicians and rheumatology professionals need to understand the roles of every member of the interdisciplinary team. To enhance this understanding, the ARP Interprofessional Practice & Management Committee has undertaken a project to describe the modern roles of members of the interdisciplinary team in a series of fact sheets. The first three…

New Quality Measures Aim to Address Gaps & Inequities in Lupus Care
Through a project to reduce gaps and inequities in lupus care and treatment, ACR work groups have developed five quality measures focused on clinical and patient-reported outcomes and are integrating them into the RISE registry to support patient care and research.

To the Bone: Experts Discuss Developments in Osteoporosis Care
During ACR Convergence 2023, experts discussed developments in the treatment and diagnosis of osteoporosis, addressing risks of treatment discontinuation, the use of bone turnover markers in patient assessment and vitamin D.

The Importance of Health Literacy in Clinical Care
EULAR 2023—It is not enough to practice medicine by the book; rather, communication with patients and understanding their goals for patients are vital to high-quality care. At EULAR 2023, the session titled The Promise of Health Literacy in Clinical Care provided a treasure trove of insights for many clinicians. Definitions & Actions The first speaker…