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In Advocacy, Slow and Steady Wins the Race

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Earlier in the year, it seemed that healthcare reform was stopped in its tracks because of the Massachusetts Senate special election—which placed Republican Scott Brown in the seat held by the “Liberal Lion,” Edward M. Kennedy. The Senate Democrats lost their supermajority and the momentum to pass President Obama’s healthcare reform legislation subsided. But through strong lobbying by the president, Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.), and Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.), Congress passed the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (H.R. 3590)—comprehensive healthcare reform—on March 21, and the president signed the bill into law on March 23.

Coding and Billing for Facet Joint Injections

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Billing and coding is not as easy as one might think. The rules are constantly changing—and the codes for facet joint injections, which have changed frequently over the years, are a prime example. To make sure your practice is in compliance, billers, coders, and physicians should remain informed of the correct coding guidelines for facet joint injections. No one in a physician’s practice should ever assume that, because they coded a procedure a certain way in years past, it is still the status quo. Every rheumatologist and his or her staff should understand the what, why, and where of facet joint injections.

Call Your Lawmakers the Week of March 15

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The elimination of consultation code services, the repeated battle to avert Medicare cuts, the need for increased research funding, the creation of a loan repayment program for pediatric rheumatologists, and fair costs for drug therapies are all issues that members of Congress have influence over. All of these issues affect the rheumatology profession, whether you are a clinical practitioner, researcher, academic, or health professional.

Join the Electronic Health Information Exchange Community

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Effective and efficient health information exchange has the potential to revolutionize rheumatology practices by simply delivering necessary patient information where and when it is needed in a complete and logical format. The list of its potential benefits—including streamlined administrative processes, efficient communication, and reduction of redundant testing—is limited only by the willingness of physicians to implement clinical and administrative technology and modify workflow to accommodate electronic processes.

Is Improving Your Career One of Your Resolutions?

Cynthia M. Piccolo  |  

Another New Year’s has just passed, and if you’ve opted for one of the typical resolutions, you’ve decided to lose weight, exercise more, or quit a nasty habit like smoking. If you’re one to make resolutions, have you considered adding a career-related resolution to your self-improvement goals for the new year? Most of us spend a significant portion of our lives at work, so it makes sense.

Letters to the Editor: In Memoriam

The Rheumatologist  |  

One more prescribing rule [See “Rheuminations,” September 2009, p. 6], honored mainly in the breach, in our overspending climate: don’t prescribe an expensive brand when generics are as good or better, especially Nexium (which I have never prescribed) versus omeprazole, Lipitor versus simvastatin (which now costs the VA three cents a pill), and—for rheumatologists who are writing 80% Uloric—allopurinol except for the 10% who might need Uloric.