“What are you?” A faculty member at the University of California, San Francisco (UCSF) School of Medicine posed this question to a resident while attending rounds. Both were portraying a scene involving micro-aggression during Differences Matter, a three-day orientation for first-year medical students. On the program’s first day, students are introduced to unconscious bias and…
Introduction Interest in rheumatology continues to grow, with more than 240 new adult and pediatric fellows to begin their training in the coming academic year. Given the broad and diverse career opportunities, it is an ACR goal to help guide trainees in their career decisions and professional development. Rheumatology fellowship often marks the transition from…
In recent years, providers and practice groups have been worrying about Meaningful Use (MU) and gaining knowledge on using certified electronic health record (EHR) technology to avoid payment penalties, earn incentives and increase practice efficiency. Now, with the release of the final rule for MACRA payment reform, physicians will have two options for payment paths:…
Collaboration among all providers—surgeon, rheumatologist, physical therapist, etc.—is essential for patients with a rheumatic disease who are about to undergo total joint arthroplasty to reach their goals, including reduced pain and improved mobility…
(Reuters Health)—A new study finds that as many as four in 10 people may develop hand osteoarthritis. Among women, researchers found the lifetime risk was 47% while for men it was about 25%. Obese people also had 11% higher lifetime risk than those who were not obese. Hand osteoarthritis can cause disability and problems with…
WASHINGTON (Reuters)—U.S. Democrats on Sunday criticized the lack of women on a working group in the Republican-led Senate that will craft a plan to pass legislation to repeal and replace Obamacare. As the Senate begins to wrestle with a Republican healthcare bill narrowly approved by the House of Representatives last week, senators questioned why the…
On April 7, 2017, the Institute for Clinical and Economic Review (ICER) published its final report, titled, Targeted Immune Modulators for Rheumatoid Arthritis: Effectiveness & Value.1 The stated objective of the report was to assess the comparative clinical effectiveness of the targeted immune modulators (TIMs) used to treat patients with moderate to severe active rheumatoid…
A little more than three years ago, rheumatologist Michael Brooks, MD, FACP, FACR, Cedar Rapids, Iowa, turned years of discussion into something tangible: He and his colleagues got the paperwork and financial requirements in order and officially started the Rheumatology Association of Iowa. “We had been trying to get something going statewide in terms of…
Multi-disciplinary care may be a slowly growing trend. One clinic in Ohio is raising the bar for lupus patients, serving as a one-stop center for diagnostic testing, imaging services and physical therapy. The clinic is also able to conduct basic research to advance lupus treatment and tests…
A recent study examined the relationship between complement activation and coronary artery disease in patients with rheumatic disease. Researchers found these patients had higher plasma terminal complement complexes and more complement activation in the vascular adventitia, which may accelerate cardiovascular disease and act as a target for new therapies…