Biologics have been a great advance in therapeutics, but at great cost. Although biologics account for less than 1% of all prescriptions in the USA, they account for 28% percent of the cost of prescribed medications.
On October 1st, your coding memory will be getting a big and unwelcomed upgrade.
Even if the goverment shuts down, ICD-10 implementation goes forward.
Below are several sources to review what's ahead and what you should be focused on at this point.
Study 329 was published in 2001, and became a pivotal study for the anti-depressant drug Paxil (paroxetine). In 2002, over 2 million prescriptions were written for Paxil. But this drug and this study are currently under the microscope – largely because of concerns about safety and suicide risk, especially in children and adolescents.
Dozens of medical societies pressed the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) to temporarily halt implementation of the final stage of Meaningful Use, a program that rewards and penalizes clinicians based on how effectively they use electronic medical records.
October is Raynaud's Awareness Month according to the Raynaud's Association (http://www.raynauds.org), and a whopping 80 percent of sufferers are not aware they have the disorder and do not seek treatment. The Raynaud's Associations estimates that Raynaud's affects 15-30 million people (5-10% of the population).
Knee replacement surgery is on the rise, and so is the cost.
A recent article by Dr. Joseph Eastern of the Pediatric News Network addressed an issue that confronts all practitioners - how do you handle email from patients?
PLOS has reported the results of the 2012 US National Health Interview Survey that focuses on fibromyalgia. The NHIS incorporated characteristics drawn from the 2010 American College of Rheumatology preliminary fibromyalgia criteria to identify the prevalence of FM from a national survey of 8446 persons that are representative of 225.7 million US adults.
Biosimilars are rapidly growing. Many of these will have their first introduction to countries outside of the USA. There is concern whether biosimilars will provide identical pharmacodynamics, biological function, efficacy and toxicity to reference products, both in the short and long term.
A recent article from Healio.com reviewed the FDA’s Pregnancy and Lactation Labeling Rule (PLLR) that became effective June 30th. This rule applies only to currently marketed prescription drug products available in the United States and does not affect the labeling of drug products available over-the-counter.
Why let your practice mix grow according to word-of-mouth, preferred provider listings and beauty parlor gossip? Be all you can be with a marketing plan for your practice and career.
Long-term management of osteoporosis can be challenging, and given the increasing number of choices, the best sequence of drug use has not been addressed adequately.
Secukinumab (Cosentyx) is an anti-IL-17 monoclonal antibody currently approved for use in moderate to severe psoriasis. It has also been studied in psoriatic arthritis (PsA) and shown to be safe and effective.
The disease activity score (DAS28) has been developed as a dynamic assessment tool and a therapeutic response measure for use in clinical trials and practice. Although intended for use in patients with rheumatoid arthritis, its utility has been applied in the assessment of other inflammatory arthropathies.
Newsweek has reported that the American Board of Internal Medicine has struggled in the last year with increasing criticism over its requirements for maintenance of certification, or MOC.
