ACR launches free website with rheumatology guidance for primary care physicians
Click Here to Manage Email Alerts
Key takeaways:
- RheumForPrimaryCare.org offers info on rheumatic symptoms, case studies and appropriate lab tests and medications.
- Its goal is to help providers supplement a decreasing rheumatology workforce.
The American College of Rheumatology has launched a free online resource to help primary care physicians identify and treat rheumatic conditions.
The website, called Rheumatology for Primary Care, allows health care providers to quickly reference symptoms, see example images, review case studies and learn what laboratory tests and medications might be appropriate, the ACR said in a press release.
The goal is to enable PCPs and advanced practice providers to supplement a declining rheumatology workforce. Developing the website was “a sensible next step to working collaboratively with our primary care colleagues,” Beth Jonas, MD, a member of the ACR Workforce Solutions Committee and past chair of the ACR’s committee on training, said in the release.
“By creating this resource for our primary care colleagues, we can help reinforce rheumatology skills amid a pending workforce shortage and, most importantly, meet patients’ needs,” Jonas said. “We want rheumatologists to have the support they need at a time when physician availability and patient access can be challenging.”
Jonas added that the website can help address the problem of patients with rheumatic symptoms waiting “months, even years,” before receiving the proper diagnosis and treatment.
“The more knowledgeable a primary care physician or [advanced practice provider] is regarding appropriate referrals for rheumatic diseases, the faster patients can receive proper diagnosis and better care,” she said.
The website is available here: https://rheumforprimarycare.org.
Click Here to Manage Email Alerts