When Abby Paterson, PhD, started her doctoral work in product design and technology at Loughborough University in the United Kingdom in 2009, she says 3D printing was little known by clinicians or the general public. Now, the technology is seemingly everywhere. For Dr. Paterson, the advancing science has led to a promising project focused on…
After 60 years as a rheumatologist, Richard Panush, MD, has a unique perspective on the future of medical education, innovation and equality within our healthcare system. For all the recent changes and those to come, he says, “Medicine and rheumatology will be just fine—if not better.”
As healthcare delivery increasingly moves from volume-based care to value-based care, providers are needing to adopt new practices to meet what is now commonly referred to as the triple aim of healthcare delivery—improving the patient experience of care (which includes satisfaction and quality), improving the health of populations and reducing cost.1 Among the most difficult…
When working with a newly diagnosed patient to determine a treatment plan, ensure the patient has a good understanding of the diagnosis, the options available and what the options entail. “It is important to help patients understand that there are choices, and that their decisions should be based on what matters to them,” says Susan…
SAN FRANCISCO—To convey the plight of rheumatology patients in sub-Saharan Africa, Girish Mody, MD, head of rheumatology at the University of KwaZulu-Natal in South Africa and past president of the African League of Associations for Rheumatology, recounted a story during the 2015 ACR/ARHP Annual Meeting from the World Health Organization about a diabetes patient. The…
SAN FRANCISCO—A broadening of the medical community’s horizons in how pain is regarded and treated in older adults, including those with osteoarthritis and other rheumatic diseases, is sorely needed, a researcher said at the 2015 ACR/ARHP Annual Meeting. Incidence Studies show that a large percentage of older adults each year see physicians for such issues…
Value is the ratio of quality to cost. The delivery and measurement of healthcare quality, however, is complex. “We first need to understand and define the health outcomes that are important to patients. Then we need to put into place care pathways that will lead to those outcomes, and finally we need mechanisms to measure…
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…
Over the course of a month, you diagnose systemic sclerosis in two newly evaluated patients. Their responses to the news could not be more different. Patient 1 is a previously healthy 55-year-old man who is an avid bicyclist and skier. He presents with a several-month history of rapidly progressive skin tightening extending to the proximal…
At the 2015 ACR/ARHP Annual Meeting in San Francisco in November, the ACR and the ARHP honored a group of distinguished individuals who have made significant contributions to rheumatology research, education and patient care. In the December 2015 issue, The Rheumatologist reported on the ACR’s awards. This month, we speak with the ARHP winners about…