Reducing the time to diagnosis and initiation of appropriate treatment is paramount to intercept inflammatory damage in patients at the onset of rheumatic disease. But those targets can be delayed by provider shortages and other barriers to care. Since last June, Remission Medical, a virtual rheumatology clinic, has been partnering with Mayo Clinic to find…
One of the great joys of rheumatology is that it prioritizes systems-based thinking. Whether integrating data from radiographic imaging or piecing together a puzzling case of autoimmunity, rheumatologists are tasked with understanding how systems fundamentally work. In fact, this emphasis on systems-based thinking is often what draws and keeps the best and smartest physicians within…
Solomon et al. examined whether a mobile application (app) for patients with rheumatoid arthritis integrated in the electronic health record would be used by patients and rheumatologists.
For the 2023 Image Competition, the ACR sought images representing a diverse range of patients with idiopathic inflammatory myopathies (IIMs) or IIM mimics. Pneumomediastinum & Ulcerative Cutaneous Dermatomyositis These images depict a 22-year-old woman with a recent diagnosis of anti-melanoma differentiation-associated gene 5 (MDA-5) antibody dermatomyositis who sought evaluation of worsening skin rashes and pleuritic…
About 30 years ago, early in his career as a rheumatologist, Dirkjan van Schaardenburg, PhD, says patients with osteoarthritis experienced terrible problems with inflammation. The landscape has improved to the point that “people can live with it now,” he says. But they still need help. For example, osteoarthritis affects 7% of the global population, according…
SAN DIEGO—Older adults with rheumatoid arthritis (RA) comprise two groups: those who have lived with diagnosed RA since an early age (young-onset RA) and those who have new-onset RA diagnosed at an older age (≥65 years), known as late-onset RA or, formerly, as elderly onset RA.1 Individuals with late-onset RA have more acute and systemic…
During the height of the pandemic four years ago, I took every precaution to avoid, or at the very least, delay contracting COVID-19. I religiously wore a mask in all public settings, I washed my hands so frequently that my skin became dry and cracked, and I studiously maintained a six-foot distance from others. But…
Pachydermoperiostosis (PDP), also known as Touraine-Solente-Golé syndrome or primary hypertrophic osteoarthropathy, is a rare syndrome that can be inherited as autosomal dominant, autosomal recessive, or sporadically. This progressive disease primarily affects males, who tend to have more severe features than females. PDP usually occurs during adolescence, often starting around puberty.1 The main clinical features are…
Rheumatologist Rachelle Buchbinder, AO, MBBS (Hons), MSc, PhD, discusses reducing overdiagnosis, overtreatment, low-value care and waste in medicine.
Implicit bias can affect patient care at the physician level when they’re making treatment decisions and at the healthcare organization level when they’re choosing new hires. Here are insights into strategies rheumatologists can use to become aware of, and question, their implicit biases.