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

New York Orders UnitedHealth to Pay $100,000 to Settle Antitrust Probe

Sarah N. Lynch  |  

WASHINGTON (Reuters)—The New York Attorney General has ordered UnitedHealth Group to pay a $100,000 fine after an investigation found the insurance provider engaged in anti-competitive practices involving elder and long-term care products, according to a person familiar with the matter. The settlement, which was signed late Wednesday, centers on efforts by UnitedHealth to force nursing…

Patients Leaving Hospitals Often Don’t Understand Care Plans

Lisa Rapaport  |  

(Reuters Health)—Many patients leaving the hospital don’t understand follow-up care plans because the instructions are tailored to people with higher reading levels and more education, a recent U.S. study suggests. The American Medical Association already recommends that written health information be targeted to a sixth grade audience because nearly half of the U.S. population is…

Living with RA: Study Examines the Value of Patient Involvement in Creating Clinical Practice Guidelines

Arthritis Care & Research  |  

“The lived experience with RA is itself a valuable form of expertise,” writes Dr. Liana Fraenkel, MD, MPH, and her colleagues in their latest research. To examine the value of this expertise and how it can be incorporated into clinical practice guidelines, researchers developed 18 questions for which two panels—one physician dominated and one comprising entirely patients—would develop recommendations. For a majority of these questions, the patient panel made the same recommendations as the physician panel, with similar recommendation strengths…

The RUC’s Work & Where You Fit In

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To ensure adequate and appropriate reimbursement, rheumatologists must provide detailed information about their services to the people advocating on their behalf. With the proper information, advocates can then do the work necessary to secure the appropriate values for these services. These advocates are members of the Relative Value Update Committee (RUC), a volunteer committee of…

Researchers Describe Controversial Study of Surgeon Training

Andrew M. Seaman  |  

(Reuters Health)—Whether surgical trainees should be able to work long shifts is a matter of fierce debate, and the methods of a controversial study aimed at answering that question were outlined in a top surgical journal. The results won’t be available until February. In the meantime, critics of the study say it exposed residents and…

The Microbiome’s Role in Inflammatory Arthritis

Arthritis & Rheumatology  |  

Despite the relative novelty of the human microbiome as an area of study, a substantial body of evidence has accumulated addressing its potential involvement in the pathogenesis of rheumatic disease. This review article explores the available data in animal and human studies, focusing on the role of the intestinal microbiome in rheumatoid arthritis (RA), psoriatic arthritis (PsA) and the spondyloarthritidies (SpA)…