New research found that older patients on prednisolone who are also treated with alendronate experience a significantly lower risk of hip fracture. Alendronate use was also associated with a lower risk of death…
Is your office at risk? Are all your business associate agreements (BAAs) in place, and is your office HIPAA compliant? As promised, and as part of its continued efforts to assess and enforce compliance with the HIPAA Privacy, Security and Breach Notification Rules, the Health and Human Services (HHS) Office for Civil Rights (OCR) continues…
MADRID—Determining what is a best practice in rheumatology and then implementing improvements based on what you find can be fraught with complexity, an expert said during the 2017 Annual European Congress on Rheumatology (EULAR). Examples are emerging of benchmarking projects in which electronic registers are used to improve patient care, said William Dixon, MD, chair…
MADRID—Calcification in osteoarthritis (OA) involves a series of pathways and interactions that feed off each other in a process that bears some resemblance to the transformation of cartilage to bone that takes place in the embryonic stage of human development, a researcher said here at the 2017 Annual European Congress on Rheumatology (EULAR). “My hypothesis…
Take the challenge. CPT codes: 99214-25, 20610-RT, J1030x1 Diagnoses: M05.79, M25.561 This is an established patient visit with an established diagnosis, along with a new diagnosis, which would have to be billed under the PA’s National Provider Number (NPI) and reimbursed at 85% of the fee schedule. Keep in mind that to qualify as an…
Our esteemed colleague, H. Ralph Schumacher Jr., MD, professor emeritus and former acting chief of rheumatology at the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine, and section chief of rheumatology at the VA Medical Center in Philadelphia, died at his home on July 30 from complications of amyotrophic lateral sclerosis. Dr. Schumacher was a true giant…
A recent study has helped researchers gain insight into the genome-wide regulation of mRNA stability in RA fibroblast-like synoviocytes (FLS). Chronic exposure of FLS to tumor necrosis factor appears to increase mRNA stability, enhancing the expression of inflammatory genes and the perpetuation of synovitis…
Opana ER Pulled from U.S. Market Last month, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) asked Endo Pharmaceuticals to remove oxymorphone hydrochloride extended release (Opana ER) from the U.S. market due to public health consequences related to abuse. The agency has concerns that the risks presented by the treatment do not outweigh its benefits.1 On…