Although systemic lupus erythematosus still does not have a definite cause or cure, rheumatologists and researchers over the past 50 years have witnessed and contributed to a great deal of progress that helps patients, says Peter H. Schur, MD, director emeritus of the Lupus Center, Brigham and Women’s Hospital, and professor, Harvard Medical School, Boston. Dr. Schur’s…
A comparison study of the serious infection burden among patients with lupus found no major differences in patients treated with three separate immunosuppressive drug regimens. Given that serious infections are among the leading causes of hospitalizations and death in patients with systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE), researchers investigated whether the incident rates differed in patients who…
When he worked for a multi-specialty practice, Jonathan M. Greer, MD, FACR, FACP, president, Arthritis and Rheumatology Associates of Palm Beach, and affiliate clinical professor of medicine, Nova Southeastern University, Boynton Beach, Fla., found that there were too many restrictions and controls and no way to enhance the revenue stream for rheumatologists. So he moved on…
NEW YORK (Reuters Health)—Itch intensity in moderate to severe plaque psoriasis can be substantial, and may be on a par with the notoriously itchy skin condition atopic dermatitis, new research suggests. “Both conventional wisdom and some of our classic dermatologic textbooks have stated that psoriasis is not particularly itchy,” corresponding author Dr. Alexa B. Kimball…
WASHINGTON (Reuters)—The U.S. Supreme Court on Monday cut the time it will take for copycat versions of biologic drugs to get to the market in a pivotal ruling about an expensive class of medicines that can yield billions of dollars in sales for drug companies. The justices, in a 9–0 ruling, overturned a lower court…
The Medical Decision Making (MDM) of an evaluation and management (E/M) visit is one of the three components of determining the level of a patient’s visit. But the MDM can sometimes be the most difficult component, as this is where the provider’s thought process is quantified in deciding the correct level of E/M service. In the…
Take the challenge. CPT: 99213, 96413, 96415 x1, J1745 x 20* ICD-10: M05.09 This encounter is coded as 99213 because: History—The history of present illness is extended. The review of systems is detailed, and two of the three past, family, social history were documented, which makes the history level detailed. Exam—There are four systems examined,…
The second annual ACR Division Directors’ Conference took place in Chicago on March 10–11. The conference opened with a presentation on the use of the ACR’s Rheumatology Informatics System for Effectiveness (RISE) Registry in academic medical centers by Salahuddin “Dino” Kazi, MD, from UT Southwestern Medical Center, and Jinoos Yazdany, MD, MPH, from the University of California…
An 83-year-old established female patient who resides in a skilled nursing facility (SNF) and is diagnosed with rheumatoid arthritis with rheumatoid factor in multiple joints returns to the office for her first infliximab infusion. She denies fevers, cough, dyspnea or concurrent illness, but has joint pain and swelling in both elbows and her left wrist….
Investigators at Brigham and Women’s Hospital recently discovered a novel subset of peripheral helper T cells (TPH) that drive rheumatoid arthritis (RA) inflammation. Originally published in the February issue of Nature, findings from this study provided bedrock knowledge for developing new RA therapies. Now, with funding from the Rheumatology Research Foundation, investigators are expanding on…