The beep of the cellphone text got me off the armchair. I had been feeling cozy and comfortable. Outside the window, it was a blissful winter wonderland—the one, I believe, Nat King Cole intended when recording “The Christmas Song.” But at the same time, I was anxious to hear whether my clinic would be canceled…
Rheumatologists worried about the future of their private practices might want to consider jumping onto the super group trend that allows physicians and other providers with similar services to team up to share opportunities and minimize financial burdens. The biggest concern for private practice physicians watching the trend but not yet embracing it is fear…
Case You’ve been asked to see an inpatient for a rheumatologic consultation. After seeing the patient, you enter an initial consult note in the electronic medical record (EMR). The next day, when you write a follow-up note for this patient, you copy part of your assessment and plan from your prior note. Soon after you…
Whether you’re considering selling your practice, growing your practice or maintaining the status quo, it’s important to periodically do a checkup on your internal operations and compliance with the law. It’s always preferable to discover problems within your practice and correct them (if possible) before those issues are discovered by third parties, such as the…
Jonathan Hausmann, MD, a pediatric and adult rheumatology fellow at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center and Boston Children’s Hospital, remembers seeing a patient with a red, swollen and tender big toe early in his fellowship and diagnosing his patient with gout. He was happy to be able to help the patient, and he called in…
Glucocorticoids: The Debate Continues Déjà vu … In past decades, rheumatologists have seen, heard, practiced and taught much of what has been argued in the “ongoing debate” on the use of glucocorticoids (GCs) in the management of rheumatoid arthritis (RA).1 It is heartening to note that eminent professors have stuck to their premise all these…
Bonus: Listen to excerpts from our conversation with Dr. Weinblatt. Michael Weinblatt, MD, is the co-director of clinical rheumatology at Brigham and Women’s Hospital in Boston, a professor of medicine at Harvard Medical School, past president of the American College of Rheumatology, and co-director of the ACR Winter Rheumatology Symposium at Snowmass, Colo. Those are…
Sleep disturbance is an important medical problem, requiring intervention, not simply to reduce latency to its onset, but to ensure achievement of the depth of sleep that has been documented to restore homeostasis and prevent the falls that are responsible for so much morbidity and mortality.1 Sleep disturbance is present in 50% of people over…
New research published in May indicates a possible connection between B cells and the occurrence of systemic lupus erythematosus symptoms.
NEW YORK (Reuters Health)—Tofacitinib is better than placebo (and noninferior to etanercept) for treating patients with moderate-to-severe chronic plaque psoriasis, according to Pfizer’s OPT Compare trial. In an earlier 12-week, phase 2b, dose-ranging trial, the oral JAK inhibitor tofacitinib proved to be more effective than placebo for treating patients with moderate-to-severe plaque psoriasis. Based on…