With many competing priorities facing physician practices, HIPAA compliance and security is not a topic that usually makes it to the top of the list. But this is not the case with the Department of Health and Human Services’ Office for Civil Rights (OCR), because it has initiated a new phase of audits of physician…
On May 12, ACR leaders representing the Board of Directors, the Affiliate Societies Council and the Committees on Government Affairs and RheumPAC took the ACR’s policy message to Capitol Hill. There is power in numbers, so we hope you will participate in your own Virtual Hill Day by visiting Legislative Action Center and letting your…
May is recognized as National Arthritis Awareness Month, a time to bring attention to the more than 46 million Americans living with arthritis and related inflammatory diseases. In honor of the occasion, the Rheumatology Research Foundation is launching #RheumLife, a social media campaign to bring awareness to the severity of rheumatic disease. Through Twitter and…
Never underestimate the power of dreams and the influence of the human spirit. … The potential for greatness lives within each of us. —Wilma Rudolph, U.S. Olympic sprinter & winner of three gold medals From Spinnaker to Wheelchair It can be an unnerving experience when the patient you are about to see is young and…
A recent JAMA Pediatrics article found that 83% of clinicians admitted to coming to work while sick and 95% admitted to knowing that it could be dangerous for their patients.1 “The decision to work sick is shaped by systems-level and sociocultural factors,” the study authors wrote. In speaking with rheumatologists on the matter, I found…
Hand and digit pain are common presenting symptoms to primary care physicians, rheumatologists, physiatrists and neurologists. There are many causes, but quality and location of the pain can be important clues to the diagnosis. Glomus tumors, neurovascular hamartomas of the glomus body, are an uncommon cause of hand pain. The glomus unit itself is a…
A task force of the American Society for Bone and Mineral Research (ASBMR) has released new recommendations delineating the potential benefits and risks of prolonged therapy with oral and IV bisphosphonate therapy and providing guidance on duration of bisphosphonate therapy for postmenopausal osteoporosis.1 The task force makes clear that data and clinical experience on which…
Soon, biosimilars will be available as treatment options for our patients. Biosimilars are being introduced to the U.S. market in the hope that they will spur competition and drive down the price of these expensive medicines. Previous articles in The Rheumatologist have touched on various issues surrounding these new therapies, and everyone in the rheumatology…
The number of scientific articles retracted increased 10-fold between 1988 and 2008 (from 0.002% in the early 1980s to 0.02% in 2005–2009), according to a paper published in the Journal of Medical Ethics.1 The authors did note that the number of articles listed in Medline each year has also increased over time, from approximately 300,000…
When working with a newly diagnosed patient to determine a treatment plan, ensure the patient has a good understanding of the diagnosis, the options available and what the options entail. “It is important to help patients understand that there are choices, and that their decisions should be based on what matters to them,” says Susan…
Recruiting new patients requires a multi-faceted approach. A rheumatologist must have a solid brand and marketing platform, as well as an active strategy to attract and convert new patients. This might involve embracing social media, having a website, developing a referral network, being involved in your community and nurturing existing patients. Your brand includes such…
In 2008, the American College of Rheumatology Workforce Study Advisory Group published a comprehensive rheumatology workforce analysis.1 It concluded: Based on assessment of supply and demand under current scenarios, the demand for rheumatologists is expected to exceed supply in the coming decades. Strategies for the profession to adapt to this changing health care landscape include…
A study that looked at the impact of hepatitis C on short-term outcomes of total joint arthroplasty found an increase in co-morbidity compared with patients without the liver disease. The number of people in need of total joint arthroplasty is expected to rise in conjunction with an aging population and advances in hepatitis C treatments….
April 5, 2016, marks a revolutionary day in the treatment of autoimmune diseases: The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved an infliximab (Remicade) biosimilar, known as Inflectra (infliximab-dyyb). Infliximab-dyyb, which is administered by intravenous infusion, is the first biosimilar drug approved to treat rheumatic disease in the U.S.1 Infliximab-dyyb has received approval for almost…
As healthcare delivery increasingly moves from volume-based care to value-based care, providers are needing to adopt new practices to meet what is now commonly referred to as the triple aim of healthcare delivery—improving the patient experience of care (which includes satisfaction and quality), improving the health of populations and reducing cost.1 Among the most difficult…
What do dietitians do to help manage patients with rheumatic disease? Dietitians are well integrated, for example, in the practice of nephrology and diabetes, but few are active in the specialty of rheumatology. However, dietitians are recognized as part of the team of providers designated to care for patients with rheumatic disease by the ACR….
Recent enforcement activities of the Department of Health and Human Services’ Office for Civil Rights (OCR) have shown an increase in fines and penalties assessed against smaller providers for failing to comply with the privacy, security and breach notification requirements of the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA). Historically, OCR has focused on larger…
Medicare and other third-party payers have started predicating reimbursement on adherence to standards of care. Post hoc chart reviews have resulted in substantial take-backs for failure to adhere to those values in cardiology, pulmonology and expanding to other areas. Outpatient medicine is also being subjected to such scrutiny. The question of standards and who sets…
A 55-year-old female patient returns for her second infliximab infusion. Her temperature is 98°F, her height is 5’6″ and her weight is 151 lbs. She received 210 mg infliximab via infusion. The patient arrived at the clinic at 8:15 a.m. and left at 10:55 a.m. Can this encounter be coded correctly? Yes No A 38-year-old…
When I came to Washington University School of Medicine (WUSM) in St. Louis in 1996 to become fellowship program director, the previous program director had left, and the two fellows who had been selected both backed out (this was before the match). I was handed a stack of manila folders, which contained the previous documentation….
“No more excuses.” At least, that’s what Amanda Nelson, MD, MSCR, now tells her patients. As a rheumatologist, assistant professor in the School of Medicine at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill (UNC) and clinical researcher at UNC’s onsite Thurston Arthritis Research Center, Dr. Nelson says patients often provide a litany of legitimate—and sometimes…
Associate Editor of The Rheumatologist on Working Sabbatical Maura Daly Iversen, PT, DPT, SD, MPH, professor and chair of the Department of Physical Therapy, Movement, and Rehabilitation Sciences at Northeastern University, a behavioral scientist in the Division of Rheumatology, Immunology, and Allergy at Brigham and Women’s Hospital, a lecturer at Harvard Medical School, Boston, and…
Take the challenge. B—No. Although the documentation states the patient arrived at the clinic at 8:15 a.m. and left the clinic at 10:55 a.m., it does not document the actual start and stop times of the infusion. According to CPT, when reporting codes for which infusion time is a factor, use the actual time over…
Dear Friends and Colleagues, With your strong support and commitment, RheumPAC has grown again for the eighth straight year, allowing us to do even more on your behalf. Not only did we exceed our original goal by raising more than $150,000. More importantly, these donations came from nearly 350 ACR and ARHP members—a new record….