A storm has been brewing down the street from my office. It is a David & Goliath dispute, pitting young children and their families against a renowned pediatric institution, Boston Children’s Hospital. It concerns the fate of a half-acre swath of green space, the Prouty Garden, replete with meandering paths, fountains and a towering redwood…
My nurse, Joanne, took me aside before I began my next consult. “Room No. 5, breast implant patient. Her lawyer organized the records.” She handed me a hefty three-ring notebook organized by color-coded tabs. “Her attorney called just now,” Joanne raised an eyebrow, “and told me to tell you that, to save time, he highlighted…
I read the 2015 ACR Workforce Study Report with great interest as one who served on the 2005 Manpower Taskforce.1,2 I found it disappointing that the deficit in rheumatologist FTEs that we predicted a decade ago has become a fact. Of even greater concern, the strategies we proposed to address this problem have not been…
This past June, Yvonne Golightly, PT, MS, PhD, helped launch an international group of researchers focused on foot and ankle osteoarthritis. At the time, Dr. Golightly, an assistant professor in the department of epidemiology at the University of North Carolina (UNC), Chapel Hill, N.C., was attending the American College of Rheumatology (ACR)/European League Against Rheumatism (EULAR)…
When treating adolescent patients who are making the important, sometimes bumpy crossing from a pediatric to an adult rheumatology practice, there’s no one-size-fits-all approach. “We have to be flexible on the receiving end when talking with these patients, and flexible with their families, too,” says Peter A. Nigrovic, MD, director of the Center for Adults…
To be an effective practice owner, it is necessary to understand the financial circumstances and environment of the practice’s operation. Well-managed practices prevent the loss of time and money. Therefore, to improve productivity and operating efficiencies, you need to have a basic understanding of billing and payment initiatives that will impact the practice’s bottom line….
“Burnout? In rheumatology fellowship? You’re kidding me, right?” That was the response of one of my very good friends from residency who is now a cardiology fellow, when I told him that I was concerned that one of my co-fellows, at another institution, was on the verge of burning out. Stepping back, I could understand…
You started a medical practice and, through the years, have developed policies, procedures, strategies, work products, client relationships and confidential information that are specific to your practice and its success. As your practice grows, you know you will need to hire more employees. You also understand, however, that any potential employee may pose a risk…
The decision to continue or discontinue immunomodulatory medications during pregnancy is a difficult one for both patients and physicians. On the one hand, when left untreated, rheumatic conditions can cause harm to an unborn child, as well as to the pregnant mother. On the other hand, medications can be harmful to a developing fetus. In…
“Yes sir.” That was the response of Raymond Scalettar, MD, DSc, FACP, when his commanding officer told him the U.S. Army wanted him to switch specialties—from gastroenterology to rheumatology. There was only one problem. Dr. Scalettar wasn’t exactly sure what that would entail. That was the mid-1950s. Back then, rheumatology was barely out of the womb. Residency…