Discussing aching joints, sore muscles and tender limbs is all in our day’s work. We are rheumatologists; we deal in misery. But trying to parse the true meaning of these terms is among the most vexing of clinical challenges.
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Opinion: Role of Rheumatology Nurse Should Be Expanded
The care of patients with rheumatic diseases has undergone a great transition, with high expectations for both patients and healthcare professionals to achieve quality outcomes for the many different disorders. Integral to this goal is the development of new care models, with evolving roles for the various care providers on the multidisciplinary team.1-3 A new…
Rheumatology Coding Corner Question: Billing for Trigger Point Injection, Office Visit
A 35-year-old established female patient returns to the office for a follow-up visit for her diagnosis of fibromyalgia. She complains of pain, stiffness and swelling in her left and right shoulders and her neck. The pain is considerably worse in the morning. She denies any fever, cough or dyspnea. The physician performs a problem-focused exam….
APS: What Rheumatologists Should Know about Hughes Syndrome
The problem that dogs the work of all of those treating patients with antiphospholipid syndrome (APS) is the apparent lack of knowledge of the syndrome, both by the general public, as well as by swaths of the medical fraternity. Perhaps it was ever thus—a syndrome less than 40 years old could be described as new,…
Rheumatologists, Physical Therapists Partner to Offer Patients Pain Relief, Improved Quality of Life
When rheumatoid arthritis (RA) left Stefanie Gluckman fighting chronic pain and relegated to a wheelchair, she turned to Lori Rubenstein Fazzio, DPT, PT, MAppSc, YTRX, of Mosaic Physical Therapy in Los Angeles, for relief. Dr. Rubenstein Fazzio knows what it’s like to suffer from excruciating pain. After sustaining career-threatening injuries in a horseback accident in…
Rheumatologist Relishes Challenges of Solo Practice, Kayaking
To practice rheumatology, you’ve got to love a challenge and be prepared to navigate some twists and turns before arriving at the right diagnosis. Rheumatologist and avid kayaker William Truslow, MD, says the same qualities apply to running rivers. “The toughest part is the mental attitude—feeling that I can do this,” says Dr. Truslow, a…
Sjögrens Syndrome: The Need to Bridge Patient Symptoms & Objective Findings
Despite a generation of advances in molecular biology, a huge gap exists between the Sjögren’s syndrome (SS) patient’s description of their symptoms and the objective findings. Current issues include: Many SS patients are misclassified as either rheumatoid arthritis (RA) or systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE), even within rheumatology clinics. Frequently, the sickest SS patients with extraglandular…
Rheumatologist Steven S. Overman Reflects on His Last Day of Practice, Future of Specialty
I am a few weeks post-retirement. Having written thank you notes and completed urgent home projects, I swing in a hammock at our currently fire-threatened cabin north of Winthrop, Wash., and reflect. I feel like a young boy while freely flipping pages of a hand-scribed picture book, The Principles of Uncertainty, by Maira Kalman. She…
Opinion: Insurance Companies Use Medically and Fiscally Irresponsible Formularies
Receipt of an unsolicited communication that a sweepstakes award has been won may con some people (especially, but not limited to, those underprivileged or undereducated as to legalities), but can’t fool all of the people all of the time. The names of the organizations and products involved are often marketing tool inventions, which imply special…
Arthritis Power App Can Help Patients Monitor Symptoms, Improve Office Visits
For the past 16 years, the website, creakyjoints.org, founded by arthritis patient Seth Ginsberg and social entrepreneur Louis Tharp, has offered arthritis patients and their families a safe online community where they can receive meaningful support and education. In March, the online portal added a new initiative—Arthritis Power, the first-ever patient-led, patient-generated, app-based research registry…
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