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Telemedicine Less Utilized in the South and Urban Areas
MMWR has reported on a July 2020 survey study from 1,009 Health Resources and Services Administration–funded health centers showing that urban Health centers were more likely to provide virtual visits than those in rural areas.
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Best of 2020: New EULAR/ACR Classification Criteria for SLE
The European League Against Rheumatism (EULAR) and the American College of Rheumatology (ACR) have jointly developed new classification criteria for systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE); prompted by the need for criteria that were both highly sensitive and specific. The net result is improved sensitivity and specificity, but the use of positive ANA requirement along with a longer list of weighted criteria ensures its utility in SLE research (including early or latent SLE), but not clinical practice.
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Best of 2020: Infusions in the Time of Coronavirus
After years of bemoaning the challenges of telemedicine, our rheumatology clinic transition entirely to a remote clinic in the space of a week. One of the few good things to come out of this crisis is that we may learn that in-person visits are not as critical as we thought, which may in turn help our specialty’s access issues. The only thing we can’t do remotely, however, are infusions.
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Encouraging Rheumatology Fellowship Match for 2021
The results of the National Residents Matching Program (NRMP) match in rheumatology are out and show that rheumatology fellowship was both competitive and highly sought after.
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Lung Cancer Survival With Autoimmune Disease
Lung cancer risk is often increased with inflammation and autoimmune disease; a recent analysis suggests that patients with autoimmune disease do not have worse survival, even though they may have received less than the standard-of-care treatments.
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RheumNow Podcast – Stop These COVID Mistakes (12.11.20)
Dr. Jack Cush reviews the news and journal reports from this past week on RheumNow.com.
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Medicare Physician Fee Schedule Final Rule Released
Centers for Medicare & Medicaid's CY 2021 Medicare Physician Fee Schedule final rule provides much-needed increases in Medicare reimbursement for the evaluation and management (E/M) services provided by rheumatologists and other cognitive care specialties to Medicare beneficiaries.
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Colchicine Approval Took a Huge Toll on CMS
Colchicine, the old gout drug often cited as a cheap anti-inflammatory, hasn't been such a good deal since FDA approval, a study in JAMA Internal Medicine showed.
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US Differs from Worldwide Drug Reimbursements
"The US has nearly 4.5% of the world’s population but accounts for more than 40% of global drug spending" reports JAMA Internal Medicine. US drug prices are nearly double those of Australia, Canada, and the United Kingdom, and the US spends twice as much on retail and nonretai
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Are Rheums Attending ACR 2020?
ACR 2020 (aka ACR Convergence) is just around the corner, with the opening ceremonies and lecture starting Thursday, November 5th; followed by the full meeting beginning the next morning, Friday November 6th.
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High Burnout Rates Among Rheumatologists
Bergman and colleagues have studied a large cohort of US rheumatologists and found that nearly half meet at least one criterion defining "burnout" among physicians.
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Remdesivir FDA Approved for Hospitalized COVID-19
The FDA has approved Gilead Sciences Inc’s antiviral drug remdesivir for treating patients hospitalized with COVID-19, making it the first and only drug approved for the disease in the United States.
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Outpatient Visits Return to Pre-COVID Rates
The COVID-19 pandemic dramatically impacted outpatient care - numbers, scope, quality, etc, but a recent study suggests that while COVID has changed the scope of care, the numbers of outpatient visits have risen to near pre-pandemic numbers.
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TNF Inhibitors or non-TNF Biologics - First Best Choice?
Prospective observational findings from the CORRONA registry of rheumatoid arthritis (RA) patients compared clinical outcomes between initial aggressive therapy using either a tumour necrosis factor inhibitor (TNFi) or a non-TNFi (biological disease-modifying antirheumatic drugs (bDMARDs) and tar
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COVID Transmission from Young to Old
The CDC has analyzed temporal trends in percent positivity by age group in COVID-19 hotspot counties before and after their identification as hotspots.
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RheumNow Podcast – Bad Disease & Bad Outcomes (10.9.20)
Dr. Jack Cush Reviews the news and journal articles from the past week on RheumNow.com.
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RheumNow Podcast – Cardiovascular Risk in Psoriatic Disease (9.25.20)
Dr. Jack Cush reviews the news and Journal articles from the past week on RheumNow.com.
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