Computerization of healthcare in general, and medical records in particular, has opened additional areas of liability for medical practices that many may not be addressing. A data breach of patient records can have major financial and business impacts on the practice when they occur. Data Intrusions Increasing The number of data intrusions hit a record…
In a recent study, the use of anifrolumab in SLE patients was shown to be safe and effective, enabling some patients to decrease their oral steroids. Also, secukinumab has been approved in Europe to treat ankylosing spondylitis and psoriatic arthritis…
San Francisco is known for the Gold Rush, so it’s a particularly fitting place to collect a gold nugget. And so at the 2015 ACR/ARHP Annual Meeting in the Golden Gate City in November, the ACR and the ARHP honored a group of distinguished individuals who have made significant contributions to rheumatology research, education and…
James K. Smith, MD, believes in thinking several moves ahead. Consider your opponent. Gauge your strategy. Be aggressive when you need to be. Those are key aspects of his philosophy in rheumatology—and chess. Initiation Dr. Smith’s love of chess started after he had started his family. “I first got involved in the game through my…
Patient education has always been at the core of the nursing profession. Nurses pride themselves on being great teachers and patient advocates. When self-injectable biologics were first introduced to the market, one of the main goals was to make patients independent and put them in the driver’s seat of their own care. Yet without a…
NEW YORK (Reuters Health)—Careful use of antibiotics and corticosteroids can substantially improve the safety of autologous hematopoietic stem transplantation (HSCT) in patients with refractory Crohn’s disease (CD), researchers from Spain report. “Autologous HSCT is feasible but it is associated with severe adverse events and even mortality,” Dr. Elena Ricart from Hospital Clinic de Barcelona tells…
According to former ACR President Michael Weinblatt, MD, the future of drug therapies for patients with RA rests in the careful and intelligent prescription of current medications and treatment combinations, as well as better patient access through lower costs…
The FDA recently approved a form of naloxone hydrochloride in a nasal spray that will help counter opioid overdoses. The FDA also approved an ibuprofen injection as an adjunct to opioids for use in children 6 months and older…
A recent study examined the outcomes of care for RA patients provided by nurse practitioners or physician assistants working in tandem with rheumatologists, compared with that provided exclusively by rheumatologists. Over the two-year course of the study, results indicated that not only was care not compromised, but RA disease activity control may actually have been slightly better in these practices…
In multiple clinical studies, investigational biosimilars for etanercept were shown to be safe and effective for treating rheumatoid arthritis and moderate to severe plaque psoriasis…