Diana M. Girnita is a rheumatologist.

Why adopt a lifestyle pyramid for rheumatoid arthritis?

Conditions
November 2, 2022

Rheumatoid arthritis is a common autoimmune disease affecting approximately 1.5 million people only in the United States. The most common symptoms that will bring patients to the doctor are:

Unfortunately, rheumatoid arthritis is not only a disease of the joints. Chronic, ongoing inflammation …

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Why adopt a lifestyle pyramid for rheumatoid arthritis?

Why expand telemedicine for arthritis patients?

Tech
September 29, 2022

One in four Americans carry a diagnosis of arthritis, a significant cause of limitation from basic life activities to disability. One in ten adults has to limit their activities due to pain caused by this disease. Yet, a massive shortage of specialist physicians and geographical and licensure barriers restrict access to specialized medical care, especially in rheumatology offices. Also, the cost of arthritis is 303 billion dollars yearly …

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Why expand telemedicine for arthritis patients?

Focus on the rheumatoid arthritis patient, not on their disease

Conditions
September 16, 2022

Medical school, residency, and fellowship taught me pathophysiology, diagnosis, and the most advanced treatments for autoimmune diseases like rheumatoid arthritis. As an attending physician, seeing my own patients, I noticed that targeted therapy is not able to control the disease in all patients with rheumatoid arthritis. The results varied. I could not stop asking myself, why is it so different?

In my previous article, I wrote about one of my patient’s …

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Focus on the rheumatoid arthritis patient, not on their disease

The role of nutrition in rheumatology patients

Conditions
July 31, 2022

Five years ago, I met a patient that changed my view on practicing traditional medicine, especially when it comes to rheumatology. For years, I was proud to be in a booming field that provided patients with a new therapy every few years. As a physician and scientist, I believe that targeted therapy offers tools to treat patients like never before, but I have noticed that results vary over time.

Daniel was …

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The role of nutrition in rheumatology patients

10 steps to create your direct specialty care clinic

Physician
June 17, 2022

Three years ago, I was a physician in the “traditional” medical system seeing 25 to 28 patients every day. I spent hours writing notes to provide proper documentation for the correct billing code. Often, my time was spent calling insurance companies to justify the appropriateness of my medical care. More and more hours were spent on completing tasks for insurance companies rather than patient care. Like many of my colleagues, …

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10 steps to create your direct specialty care clinic

The emergence of direct specialty care

Physician
September 6, 2021

One day, a primary care physician located about two hours away called my office in a desperate attempt to find a rheumatologist. His lovely 64-year-old patient, very healthy otherwise, recently developed a severe and disabling inflammatory arthritis. After conservative treatments failed, he tried to refer the patient to the traditional medical system. However, they could not get a sooner than six months appointment. This is a symptom of a broken …

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The emergence of direct specialty care