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

Practice Support

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Coding MRI Procedures

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The Current Procedural Terminology (CPT) manual has six codes to bill for Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) of the upper extremity.

Pack Your Schedule with Noontime Clinical Reviews

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This year, the ACR will introduce new programming at the ACR/ARHP Annual Scientific Meeting. One of the new highlights will be Noontime Clinical Reviews, which have been created to fill in the midday break from programming. These sessions will focus on reviewing clinical topics in rheumatology and will address practical issues relevant to practicing clinicians. Here is a list of the 2009 Noontime Clinical Reviews.

Streamlined Funding Portfolio Increases Efficacy

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The ACR Research and Education Foundation recently completed a comprehensive review of its core awards and grants portfolio to assure that it was effective in meeting the needs of junior or early career physician-scientists and health professionals.

PQRI Now Includes RA Measures Group

Salahuddin Kazi, MD, Melesia Tillman, CPC, CCP, and Amy S. Miller  |  

In 2008, the only Physician Quality Reporting Initiative (PQRI) measure that applied to rheumatoid arthritis (RA) was disease-modifying antirheumatic drug therapy. For 2009, five new RA measures were included, for a total of six measures in the new RA Measures Group. The five new measures were developed in 2008 by the National Committee for Quality Assurance in collaboration with the ACR and the American Medical Association’s Physician Consortium for Performance Improvement and were subsequently adopted by Medicare.

The Dos and Don’ts of Documentation

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In order for a physician to be reimbursed for his or her services, those services must be documented. Your documentation should be able to stand on its own; it is your story of the visit. Just imagine if the news reported, “two people found dead” and nothing else. You would want to know who, when, where, and possibly why. A good news story gives all pertinent information, and your documentation should do the same.

Use Communication Style Clues to Manage Your Employees

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Over the last two months, “From the College” provided insight on the Five Rs of physician leadership: recruitment, realization, recognition, redirection, and retention. The Five Rs give great guidance in managing the leadership process, yet they will be far less effective if you lack the ability—or willingness—to successfully communicate with your employees.

Identity Theft: Red Flag Rules Take Effect

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The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) has adopted a rule that requires creditors to institute programs to spot suspicious activity (commonly called “red flags”) that may signal identity theft, and the red flag rules take effect May 1, 2009. The FTC defines a creditor as any entity that regularly accepts deferred payment for goods and services.