CHICAGO—Could the addition of a pharmacist to rheumatology care teams improve patient satisfaction, decrease staff burnout or reduce medication-related problems? Three panelists in Integrating Pharmacists into the Workforce, a session at the 2018 ACR/ARHP Annual Meeting, shared positive experiences with this interdisciplinary care model. Less Burnout, More Satisfaction Ten years ago, the Arthritis Treatment Center…
(Reuters Health)—Technology makes it possible for patients to access medical records online, but a thicket of legal issues may still keep people from always seeing everything in their chart, some doctors say. The Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) gives U.S. patients the right to access their medical records and control who else has…
I tell my patients there are three types of science: 1) investigative science, which sometimes gets it right; 2) science in the courtroom, which is junk science; and 3) science in Washington, D.C., which is political science. Our decisions are based on art and science; our patients’ medications are brought to market based on science….
Rheumatologists practicing in rural and urban areas face different challenges. Robert Jackson, DO, discusses how technology, healthcare reform and hospital closures affect rheumatology practice in rural areas and its future…
Case You’ve been asked to see an inpatient for a rheumatologic consultation. After seeing the patient, you enter an initial consult note in the electronic medical record (EMR). The next day, when you write a follow-up note for this patient, you copy part of your assessment and plan from your prior note. Soon after you…
SINGAPORE (Reuters)—Whoever was behind the latest theft of personal data from U.S. government computers, they appear to be following a new trend set by cybercriminals: targeting increasingly valuable medical records and personnel files. This data, experts say, is worth a lot more to cybercriminals than, say, credit card information. And the Office of Personnel Management…
Use teamwork, screening, and scheduling to improve efficiency—and patient care