Every day, rheumatology patients live with the realities of having a chronic disease that requires a lifetime of treatment. This knowledge can be an emotional burden, and some people deal with it better than others. Emerging research is showing that those patients who exhibit emotional control are better able to cope and ultimately experience a…
Dr. Simon Helfgott’s essay, “Barking at the Moon,” in the July 2015 issue of The Rheumatologist, about the unintended consequences of EHRs (electronic health records) prompted me to share my experience regarding the newly recognized KeMo disease. Keyboarding and mouse-clicking (KeMo) activity now consumes about 50% of the medical clinician’s day, as the modern EHRs…
The American College of Rheumatology Workforce Study Group has been working diligently to develop the 2015 workforce study survey. Ten years have elapsed since the last workforce study, and much has changed since then. This study will help us understand the character and composition of the overall rheumatology workforce, identify demographic and employment trends, and…
NEW DELHI (Reuters)—For nearly two years, Parkway Pantai has delayed the opening of its 450-bed India hospital, the Singapore-based medical firm’s bid to cash in on one of Asia’s fastest growing private healthcare markets, as it waited for the necessary permits. Parkway, a unit of the world’s second largest healthcare group by market value IHH…
(Reuters Health)—The reason why many doctors find electronic health records (EHR) difficult to use might be that the software wasn’t properly tested, researchers suggests. Current guidelines and industry standards suggest that new EHR software should be tested by at least 15 end users with a clinical background to make sure they are usable and safe…
NEW YORK (Reuters Health)—The American College of Physicians (ACP) has issued a baker’s dozen of recommendations intended to guide the effective use of telemedicine in primary care settings. “The recommendations balance the potential benefits and expanded use of telemedicine with the importance of maintaining the patient-physician relationship and patient safety,” Hilary Daniel from American College…
LONDON (Thomson Reuters Foundation)—Many of the world’s biggest challenges, such as encouraging people to buy life-saving drugs or unpicking deeply rooted sexism, can be tackled by using subtle psychological cues to change the way people behave, according to experts in London. Behavioral economics, also known as “nudging,” is about making people more likely to make…
GENEVA (Reuters)—Governments are not doing all they should to tackle the deadly Middle East Respiratory Syndrome, a committee of health experts at the World Health Organization said on Thursday. The WHO’s emergency committee, which meets regularly to consider the international response to the disease, said in a statement that its advice had not been completely…
(Reuters Health)—Going without sleep the night before does not affect the performance of doctors doing elective surgery the next morning, according to a new Ontario study that runs contrary to research demonstrating that sleep-deprived physicians pose a hazard to patients. The odds of having a surgery-related problem were 22.2% when the doctor had been treating…
As the Oct. 1 deadline to transition to ICD-10 approaches, the CMS has released multiple resources, including a joint guidance statement with the AMA that details one year of claims leniency to help physicians adjust to the new coding system and smooth the transition process…