| People often spend more time preparing for their | | | | The rheumatology board exam is a grueling test. |
| vacations than they do selecting the right physician | | | | Twenty-one percent of first time applicants fail!! |
| to take care of the most important aspect of their | | | | (Statistics from the American Board of Internal |
| life, which is their health. This is particularly true when | | | | Medicine). |
| it comes to arthritis. And that's a shame because... | | | | One concern for many people is this: How much will |
| - Arthritis is the number one cause of crippling in the | | | | this cost.... can I afford it? |
| United States | | | | Here you must make an important distinction |
| - It causes significant pain and often inability to | | | | between price and value. Price is what you pay- the |
| perform activities of daily living | | | | cost. Value is what you get in relation to what you |
| - It is a very treatable disorder | | | | pay. |
| - Early diagnosis and treatment can improve | | | | Let me explain... |
| prognosis greatly | | | | Let's say you go to see the cheapest physician... the |
| There is an assumption that if you have arthritis, all | | | | one who participates with your insurance. On the |
| you need to do is see any rheumatologist (arthritis | | | | surface, the price or cost is cheap. |
| specialist). | | | | But, if you get ten minutes of the doctor's time and |
| This is a myth! | | | | have to spend a lot of time running from doctor to |
| ... because not all arthritis specialists have the same | | | | doctor trying to get a diagnosis, getting test after |
| level of knowledge, experience, and training. | | | | test without a definite result...and if you spend days, |
| You want more than a specialist... you want an | | | | weeks, months feeling awful because treatments |
| expert! And this article will tell you what to look for. | | | | aren't working, if you miss work and family trips and |
| Expertise is earned through constant learning and | | | | vacations because of poor or inadequate therapies.... |
| training. What you should insist on in an arthritis | | | | then the cost to you may be enormous. This is very |
| specialist are the following... | | | | poor value. |
| - Graduate of an American medical school | | | | Many expert physicians refuse to participate with |
| - Training in both internal medicine and radiology at a | | | | insurance companies because if they sign an |
| major university teaching hospital | | | | insurance contract, they are in essence an employee |
| - Board certification in both internal medicine and | | | | of the insurance company. That presents a major |
| rheumatology | | | | conflict of interest since what is best for the patient |
| - Fellowship at a research center like the National | | | | is often not the best thing for the insurance |
| Institutes of Health | | | | company. Don't you want the physician to be |
| - More than 20 years of practice experience | | | | working for you? |
| - More than 50 publications in the medical literature... | | | | The fact that a physician doesn't participate with |
| - Access to new arthritis medicines through research | | | | your insurance doesn't mean you can't get |
| studies- this shows a commitment to keeping current! | | | | reimbursed for services because most private |
| - National reputation for expertise | | | | insurance companies will let you see out of network |
| - Faculty appointment at a medical school | | | | physicians. You'll have to pay more but this expense |
| - At least 500 entries in a major search engine like | | | | is worth it. |
| Google (To do this type in the doctor's name in | | | | If you invest wisely and see an expert who really |
| quotes like this... " John Smith" and the word, arthritis. | | | | knows his or her stuff and makes the diagnosis |
| The number of entries should pop up in the upper | | | | quickly, gets you feeling better quickly, gets your |
| right hand corner.) | | | | quality of life back quickly, prevents crippling and |
| It is helpful if the arthritis specialist is not located too | | | | disability, gets you back to work and leisure activities, |
| far away because they need to monitor your care | | | | monitors you carefully for side-effects, directs you |
| and that's much easier to do when the patient is | | | | to the best treatments for your condition, takes |
| relatively close geographically. | | | | your hand and leads you on the right path... then the |
| Consider asking this question... "Doctor, did you pass | | | | value you receive is enormous. After all, what is your |
| the board exam in rheumatology on your first | | | | health worth to you? |
| attempt?" | | | | |