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Blogs

The Retiring Rheumatologist

Just last week, I went to a doctor’s retirement party.  It was festive, with honors and ribbing for the lucky one, but there was an asterisk to his milestone. Retirement was not anticipated or planned for. What is your retirement plan?

The IL-6 Wars

In the years to come, the availability of numerous new IL-6 inhibitors it will either complicate treatment decisions, alter existing treatment paradigms, or result in an all-out war against TNF inhibitor dominance. Data, differences and time will tell.

KOLs Predict: What Will the Next Year Bring?

A new subspecialty may emerge. New drugs will be approved (but it will be difficult for patients to get coverage for them). And an American team will win the World Series. All these and more: here are predictions for 2017 and beyond from rheumatologists across the country and around the world.

 

Writing Effective Appeal Letters

Getting the right drug to the right patient isn’t quite as easy as it should be. Here's a collection of appeal trench war musings and tactics with a sample letter for all to use.

Building a Better Rheumatologist

Are you efficient, productive and accurate in what you do?  Could you be better? Or do the job differently?

The Dying Hospital Consult

Hospital consults – “nobody goes there anymore”, and not because it’s too crowded (a quote from the late great Yogi Berra), but rather because it’s a poor investment of time and resources.

Women: stand up for yourselves!

I was recently offered a project that paid a lot less than what I feel my time is worth. My research on compensation suggests a male colleague would have been offered at least 2-3 times as much for the same project. At first I was insulted, but then I took a deep breath and said to myself, I need to negotiate for a higher price. Why not?