Like the medical profession itself, the education of doctors serving in rheumatology fellowships across the nation marches on despite the unexpected hurdles posed by the COVID-19 pandemic. Practice Changes “The pandemic has changed the way our fellows see patients; we are now seeing almost all patients using telemedicine,” says Bonita Libman, MD, FACR, FACP, fellowship…
In 2018, Gerson Bernhard, MD, FACP, MACR, received a call from a primary care physician at a rural clinic in Florida who was treating patients with varying degrees of arthritis. One patient’s case was more complex than the others. Dr. Bernhard guided the doctor through the patient’s history, reviewed lab results, referred related studies, expanded…
Recent research found women with COPD and asthma—even those who have never smoked—are at a higher risk of developing rheumatoid arthritis…
With telemedicine platforms and Zoom calls, technology is playing a large role in how rheumatology fellows are seeing patients and participating in lectures and conferences…
ATLANTA—Research into possible genetic drivers of the axial spondyloarthritis (axSpA), including the role of the genetic marker HLA-B27, is advancing, John D. Reveille, MD, professor and vice chair of medicine at the University of Texas McGovern Medical School, Houston, told attendees at the 2019 ACR/ARP Annual Meeting. Dr. Reveille delivered the Philip Hench, MD, Memorial…
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…
When I first met Ms. Miller (name changed), quite frankly, I couldn’t wait to get out of the room. I’m sure she couldn’t either. A woman in her 40s with systemic lupus erythematosus, poorly controlled asthma and fibromyalgia, she seemed to have every conceivable symptom. And, worse than that, due to a long history of…
Take the challenge. Answer: No, if billed as incident-to for the NP. Note: The patient’s current insurance carrier is Blue Cross Blue Shield of Massachusetts (BCBS of MA). Under BCBS of MA, nurse practitioners and nurse practitioner primary care providers are not allowed to perform or interpret radiology services. Therefore, the physician would have to…
Imagine leaving the hospital after suffering a heart attack without being treated for hypertension or being started on a beta blocker. What would we think of the hospital where patients are never educated about the relationship between treating hypertension and reducing myocardial infarction and stroke risk? Unfortunately, this happens every day with osteoporosis and fractures…
In the past decade, the treat-to-target concept has gained broad acceptance. Both the ACR and European League Against Rheumatism (EULAR) management recommendations include adding biologic therapies to the treatment regimen for rheumatoid arthritis (RA) patients who do not sufficiently respond to methotrexate monotherapy. “What EULAR says is that if [methotrexate use fails], you should essentially…