Exclusive: ACR Convergence 2024| Focus Rheums

An official publication of the ACR and the ARP serving rheumatologists and rheumatology professionals

U.S. Governors Urge Trump to Make Health Insurance Payments

Reuters Staff  |  

WASHINGTON (Reuters)—Democratic and Republican U.S. governors on Wednesday urged the Trump administration, as well as Congress, to continue funding payments to health insurance companies that make Obamacare plans affordable, calling it critical to stabilizing the insurance marketplace. In a statement, governors joined insurers pressuring Republican President Donald Trump to stand down from threats to cut…

U.S. Launches Opioid Fraud and Detection Unit

Sarah N. Lynch  |  

(Reuters)—U.S. Attorney General Jeff Sessions unveiled on Wednesday a plan to go after doctors and pharmacies suspected of healthcare fraud by over-prescribing and unbridled distribution of addictive pain medications known as opioids. In a speech at a Columbus, Ohio, police academy, Sessions said a new Opioid Fraud and Abuse Detection Unit pilot program would also…

U.S. FDA Panel Votes Against Approval of Arthritis Drug Sirukumab

Toni Clarke  |  

(Reuters)—The benefits of Johnson and Johnson’s experimental rheumatoid arthritis drug sirukumab do not outweigh the risks, an advisory panel to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration concluded on Wednesday. The panel voted 12-1 that the drug should not be approved, citing safety concerns, including an imbalance in the number of deaths in patients taking sirukumab…

Refocus Your Practice with Invigorating Sessions in San Diego

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The landscape of practice management and coding methodologies continues to be challenging in the current healthcare environment, and rheumatology practices must maintain focus on managing an effective and efficient practice. Join us at the 2017 ACR/ARHP Annual Meeting, Nov. 3–8 in San Diego, and gain knowledge and understanding of best practices in an ever-changing environment…

RISE Registry Report

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The Rheumatology Informatics System for Effectiveness (RISE) Registry is the ACR’s registry for quality improvement and reporting. Aggregated statistics and trends seen in the RISE Registry will be published monthly in The Rheumatologist. Visit www.RISEregistry.org to learn how you can use RISE to improve your patient care. As a Qualified Clinical Data Registry, RISE provides an…

Molecular Profile Hints at Inflammatory Processes in Chronic Fatigue

Lisa Rapaport  |  

(Reuters Health)—People with severe symptoms of chronic fatigue syndrome have a molecular signature in blood made up of 17 immune system signaling molecules that are elevated, which may provide insight into how inflammation contributes to the condition. “Of the 17 cytokines that correlated with severity, 13 are proinflammatory, likely contributing to many of the symptoms…

More Than a Third of U.S. Adults Prescribed Opioids in 2015

Andrew M. Seaman  |  

(Reuters Health)—The U.S. needs to curb excessive opioid prescribing and improve access to pain management techniques, suggests a new government study. Researchers found that more than one third of U.S. adults were prescribed the medications in 2015 and many also misused the drugs. “A very large proportion and large number of adults use these medications…

Insurers to Fill Obamacare Gaps in Ohio’s Individual Market

Reuters Staff  |  

(Reuters)—Five health insurance companies in Ohio, including Molina Healthcare Inc., have stepped up to sell health plans in 19 counties that would have been without Obamacare individual coverage in 2018, the state’s insurance regulator said on Monday.1 Ohio’s Department of Insurance said it had worked to draw in insurers for the 20 counties that were…

Trump Aims at Insurers in Battle Over Healthcare Subsidies

Susan Heavey & Caroline Humer  |  

WASHINGTON/NEW YORK (Reuters)—U.S. President Donald Trump on Monday took aim at the nation’s health insurers in an escalating threat to cut the healthcare subsidy payments that make Obamacare plans affordable, one day after urging Republican senators to continue working to undo his Democratic predecessor’s healthcare law. “If ObamaCare is hurting people, and it is, why…

Online Risk Calculator for Knee OA Influences Patient Risk Perception

Arthritis Care & Research  |  

A new tool for assessing the risk of developing knee osteoarthritis (OA) may be useful for knee OA education. A recent study found the online risk calculator, OA Risk C, was effective in helping patients better understand their personal risk of developing the disease. It may also motivate some patients to embrace exercise-related behavior changes…