In 1982, my wife (also a rheumatologist) and I attended our first American Rheumatism Association (now the ACR) national meeting. After the meeting we stayed with a friend in a suburb of Boston, where we also had the opportunity to meet our hostess’ in-laws, a retired general practitioner and his wife. When her father-in-law shook…
Over the past two decades, many physicians have ironically abrogated their intellectual abilities by resigning themselves to a fate of being worthless unless they work for someone else. Many factors have contributed to this process, including, but not limited to, declining reimbursements, escalating costs, onerous electronic record mandates, intense competition from hospital conglomerates and burdensome…
Each fall, the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) Office of Inspector General (OIG) puts out its Work Plan for the upcoming fiscal year to summarize its initiatives and priorities for new and ongoing work of HSS programs. Below is a summary of the key areas the OIG will focus on in 2017: Drug…
As part of the Rheumatology Research Foundation’s Visibility Initiative, the Rheum Life campaign was developed as a way to share a patient’s perspective of what life is like with a rheumatic disease. Rheum Life also provides insight into current Foundation-funded research and the impact it will have on the lives of these patients. Exposure to…
CPT: 20611-LT, J7325 X 1 ICD-9: 715.16—Osteoarthritis, localized, primary, lower leg ICD-10: M17.12—Unilateral primary osteoarthritis, left knee Note: When billing for 20611—Arthrocentesis, aspiration and/or injection, major joint or bursa (e.g., shoulder, hip, knee, subacromial bursa), with permanent recording and reporting, there must be a permanent photograph of the needle placement in the patient’s medical chart….
A 50-year-old male patient returns to the office for a follow-up visit for a diagnosis of generalized primary osteoarthritis of multiple sites. The patient tells the medical assistant that he is experiencing sharp throbbing pain in his left hip and right and left knees. He states the pain level is 6 out of 10 and…
Wash your hands. This most basic tenet of proper hygiene has been drummed into our heads for years. It’s an obvious infection prevention activity, yet for years, compliance among physicians and other caregivers has been lackluster. To rectify this matter, regulatory agencies began auditing hospital staff adherence to this axiom of infection prevention. Not only…
The Case You’re working in a busy rheumatology practice with wait times of two to three months for new outpatient consultations. A hospital administrator requests that his daughter see you right away. All but one of your urgent appointment slots for the week is already filled, and there are several patients on a waitlist; these…
Although gout is one of the most effectively treated of all rheumatic diseases, it is among the worst-managed diseases long term, as shown by many studies. “Treatments are excellent, yet are dramatically under-utilized,” says Theodore Fields, MD, FACP, rheumatologist, Hospital for Special Surgery (HSS), New York. “This is because some gout patients feel better between…
GCA Relapse Possible When Discontinuing Tocilizumab In a Phase 2 randomized, controlled trial, tocilizumab, an anti-IL-6 biologic agent, was shown to induce and maintain remission for up to 52 weeks in patients with giant cell arteritis (GCA).1 During this trial, patients with GCA were randomized in a 2:1 ratio to receive 8 mg/kg bodyweight tocilizumab…