For many months, the healthcare world has been significantly affected by the swift and pervasive effects of SARS-CoV-2, which causes COVID-19. The virus has severely affected the delivery of patient care by all providers, including those in hospitals and emergency care settings, who grappled with the response to massive influxes of COVID-19 patients, and those…
These are difficult times for rheumatologists. We have seen sharp declines in face-to-face patient visits since the COVID‑19 pandemic began. Many of us have questions about the best ways to maintain employee and patient safety while keeping our practices afloat and continuing to provide optimal care. The volunteer leaders at the ACR continue to care…
The rapid expansion of telemedicine in rheumatology, as well as changes to reimbursement and relaxed regulations, during the COVID-19 pandemic has served as an impetus for the ACR to review its position and release a new statement in support of optimized telemedicine practices.
Advocacy efforts on access and workforce issues in Florida are discussed.
Jane’s* hands and wrists had been swollen and painful for about eight weeks. Lab findings in the ambulatory consult that came to our office revealed a cyclic citrullinated peptide antibody count >250 u/mL. We all know where this story goes, including how important the early treatment window is. Our clinic reviews all consults and tries…
WASHINGTON (Reuters)—The U.S. Supreme Court ruled in favor of health insurers seeking $12 billion from the federal government under a program set up by the Obamacare law aimed at encouraging them to offer medical coverage to previously uninsured Americans. The 8–1 ruling authored by liberal Justice Sonia Sotomayor paves the way for a significant one-time…
Effective immediately, the HHS Office for Civil Rights (OCR) has stated it will not impose any noncompliance penalties under the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) on physicians using any non-public facing service or audio or video communication technology (e.g., Apple FaceTime, Skype, Facebook Messenger, etc.) for telehealth services. This discretion applies to telehealth…
In this time of COVID-19, you may be considering ways to deliver routine rheumatologic care via some form of telemedicine. Here are some of the legal considerations.
The Stark law and the Anti-Kickback Statute (AKS) are the U.S. healthcare system’s primary fraud and abuse laws, and highly anticipated proposed reform plans from the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) and the Office of Inspector General (OIG) were finally unveiled on Oct. 17, 2019. The proposed reforms would 1) clarify certain requirements…
ATLANTA—The rheumatology profession faces a severe shortfall of practitioners that threatens the ability to address patients’ needs. “Even if we doubled the number of positions for fellowship training, we wouldn’t meet the increasing demand on our workforce,” said Marcy B. Bolster, MD, associate professor of medicine at Harvard Medical School, Boston, and director of the…