The Medicare Payment Advisory Commission (MedPAC) reported to Congress in January that Medicare’s switch to a payment method known as ASP, or Average Sale Price, has reduced spending on drugs in the Medicare Part B program. This system reflects actual market spending, rather than wholesale prices.
Sniff 101 and Other Lessons
Sometimes doctors don’t speak the same language
Clinician Call to Action
Use teamwork, screening, and scheduling to improve efficiency—and patient care
Coding Corner Answer
February’s Coding Answer
Physical Intimacy, Sex, and Rheumatic Disease
Sexuality is like the crazy auntie in every family. Everyone knows she’s part of the family, and she’s there at all the gatherings, but no one wants to talk about her, or to her,” says Amye Leong, MBA, of a subject she’s very passionate about: sexual experience and the rheumatology patient. Leong is the speaker for the April 17 ARHP audioconference.
ACR State-of-the-Art Clinical Symposium
Join the ACR in Chicago April 13–15 for the 2007 State-of-the-Art Clinical Symposium. The symposium will start with a focus on lupus with presentations on pathophysiology, trial metrics, and a review of recently completed clinical trials. Saturday afternoon will include an update on several diseases including Sjögren’s syndrome, fibromyalgia, pediatric vasculitis, and myositis. Following RA presentations Sunday morning, the symposium will conclude with the always-popular “Year in Review” presentation.
Coding Changes for 2007
Note these CPT and Healthcare Common Procedure Coding System (HCPCS) code changes…
AMA and ACR Physician Practice Information Survey
The American Medical Association (AMA), with the support of the ACR and more than 60 other medical specialty societies, will begin conducting a multispecialty survey of America’s physician practices this year.
Twenty Questions, Part 2
Outcomes measures can standardize care—but they can’t standardize patients
Professional Partners
Rheumatologists and nurse practitioners team up to improve workflow and patient care