The UNITED RHEUMATOLOGY BLOG
Len and Cassie Calabrese COVID-19 Corner Issue #19 The Challenges of doing successful trials of immunomodulators in COVID-19 Since the beginning of the pandemic it has been apparent that patients with serious and advanced disease experience an inflammatory phase of the illness that the vast majority of individuals who recover from the infection do not. … Read more Len and Cassie Calabrese COVID-19 Corner Issue #19
Len and Cassie Calabrese COVID-19 Corner Issue #18 Genetics and COVID-19: A tectonic discovery!! The past few weeks have witnessed several breakthroughs in understanding the underlying genetic risks for COVID-19 infection. This is particularly important in trying to make sense of mortality rates. Overall, the global fatality rate has been hard to reconcile since patient … Read more Len and Cassie Calabrese COVID-19 Corner Issue #18
While September seems like an age ago, we at the Cleveland Clinic are still recovering from a whirlwind week that including our institution holding the presidential debate, and unless you have completely avoided TV, intranet, and social media you have heard that POTUS tested positive for COVID-19 2 days after leaving our facility, where he … Read more Len and Cassie Calabrese COVID-19 Corner Issue #17
Universal precautions in health care settings, Face Shields, Transmissibility As we move into colder weather months we wanted to take a moment to review what we have learned so far about the transmission of SARS-CoV-2 and what factors increase transmission. It appears that the most important factors are physical distance and duration of contact. Also … Read more Cassie and Len Calabrese’s Covid-19 Corner: Issue #16
We came together as a rheumatology community to discuss an array of topics relevant to our field, including but not limited to: Payer Initiatives and Programs Hear from various health plans and Pharmacy Benefit Managers Learn about the extensive expansion of the UR-GPO with McKesson Covid-19 Update from Cassie and Len Calabrese Update on United Rheumatology … Read more UR 2020 Fall National Conference
Amidst the COVID-19 craziness, do not forget about influenza vaccination As flu season quickly approaches we want to take a moment to highlight the importance of getting this years’ (and every years’) flu shot – a thought that may currently be on the back burner for patients and even some health care workers given everything … Read more Cassie and Len Calabrese’s Covid-19 Corner: Issue #15
COVID-19 Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs) onMedicare Fee-for-Service (FFS) Billing
After 5 years, United Rheumatology’s GPO is stronger than ever because of the dynamic nature of our management services organization and the collective engagement and mutual respect of over 660 member rheumatologists in 39 states. This is the simple truth. The recent and ongoing fictional spin by American Rheumatology Network (ARN) of our demise … Read more UR-GPO Stronger Than Ever!
COVID-19 Updates – a Potpourri of what we learned over the past 2 weeks We write today after a two-week hiatus and we wish we had brighter news of an effective vaccine ready for approval or effective treatment for COVID-19. While we don’t have anything groundbreaking to share we do feel there is some light … Read more Cassie and Len Calabrese’s COVID-19 Corner: Issue #14
Vaccine Boot Camp at Warp Speed Well we are now over the 40,000 article mark including 36,000 + in PubMed alone and we are desperate for clarity on many, many questions but lately, it’s all about the vaccines. We thought we would take a crack at distilling this uber complex field and turn you on … Read more Cassie and Len Calabrese’s COVID-19 Corner: Issue #13