The rapid expansion of telemedicine in rheumatology, as well as changes to reimbursement and relaxed regulations, during the COVID-19 pandemic has served as an impetus for the ACR to review its position and release a new statement in support of optimized telemedicine practices.
Fellowship Training Goes Virtual: COVID-19 Pandemic Creates Training Challenges
With telemedicine platforms and Zoom calls, technology is playing a large role in how rheumatology fellows are seeing patients and participating in lectures and conferences…
The Potential for Telemedicine to Supplement In-Person Care
Even before I started my rheumatology fellowship, I knew it would be a demanding career, diagnosing complex diseases with only a few management options in seriously ill patients. What I didn’t appreciate as much before is how badly we are needed across the country. According to the 2018 outcomes report from the National Resident Matching…
Some Telemedicine Barriers Are Down During COVID-19 Pandemic
Telerheumatology—which refers to the application of electronic communication technology to clinical encounters from a distance between rheumatologists and their patients—has the potential to extend a workforce projected to experience significant shortfalls, making it more accessible to more patients. Multiple barriers that stood in the way of taking full advantage of this promise are now down—at…
Adjusting Patient Care to Social Distancing: Q&A with Bryant Uy, MPH, PA-C
Working within a community experiencing a high number of confirmed COVID-19 cases is requiring a strategic approach to manage patient care…
Mobilizing a Long-Term Telemedicine Solution: Q&A with Karen Ferguson
Looking beyond the COVID-19 pandemic, one practice has combined its telemedicine functionality with long-term workflow solutions, including telemedicine technology that integrates with its electronic health records system…
Transitioning to a Virtual Practice: Q&A with Lisa Criscione-Schreiber, MD, MEd
A quick shift to virtual teaching and patient care is just one of many changes rheumatologists at Duke University are adapting to during the COVID-19 pandemic…
Reimbursement Tips: Telemedicine & Coding in the Time of COVID-19
Humans may fear change as a general rule, but we’re adaptable when we need to be. In this era of COVID-19 and social distancing, medical practices and payers are adapting to an increased use of telemedicine, which enables providers to see their patients without being in a room with them. To cope, the Centers for…
Finding Opportunity Through Challenge: Q&A with Vaneet K. Sandhu, MD, FACR, RhMSUS
The COVID-19 global pandemic is forcing telemedicine-only connections with patients and bringing existing rheumatology research to a standstill. However, these challenges are spurring opportunity and innovation, according to Vaneet K. Sandhu, MD, FACR, RhMSUS, director of rheumatology clinical operations at Riverside University Health System and associate fellowship program director in rheumatology at Loma Linda University…
How to Maintain Connections with Colleagues, Staff & Patients During a Pandemic: A Q&A with Reshma Khan, MD
As the cases of COVID-19 continue to rise in South Florida, Reshma Khan, MD, a rheumatologist at the Palm Beach Rheumatology and Wellness Center, Jupiter, Fla., is being careful to emphasize social distancing, but not social isolation. Dr. Khan believes that, during this pandemic, it’s more important than ever for rheumatologists to share support and…