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Can You Get the Care You Need?
A study shows that seeing a rheumatologist can
improve your care, but can you find one?
According to an article in the August 23,
2000, issue of the Journal
of the American Medical Association (JAMA), care by physicians who specialize in
rheumatology results in substantial improvements for people with arthritis. But, the
Arthritis Foundation says getting that care may be difficult as the number of specialists
rapidly declines and the number of people with arthritis increases.
Currently, 46 million, or one in three, adult Americans have arthritis and
chronic joint symptoms. This
number will continue to grow as baby boomers age.
"This is an important study that highlights the
shortcomings in healthcare of people with rheumatoid arthritis, and the importance of
specialists in improving care," says Dr. John Klippel, medical director, Arthritis
Foundation. "The findings of the study highlight a serious concern about the limited
number of rheumatologists that are available to treat people with arthritis and other
related conditions."
As far back as 1990, the Arthritis Foundation and the
American College of Rheumatology (ACR) predicted a need for 6,500 rheumatologists by the
year 2000. Now, 16 years later, there are just over half that many specialists to treat
the 46 million Americans with arthritis and
chronic joint symptoms. Pediatric rheumatology has one of the
smallest number of doctors of any pediatric subspecialty with only 162 board certified
pediatric rheumatologists in the U.S., of which 90 percent are clustered in and around
large cities. There are even entire states, like Idaho and North Dakota, without a single
pediatric rheumatologist.
To address this issue, the Arthritis Foundation is
publishing an article in the September/October issue of Arthritis Today titled "Where
Have All the Doctors Gone?," which draws attention to the frightening reality of
the increasing shortage of rheumatologists. Never before has medicine had so much to offer
people with arthritis. Yet never before have there been so few doctors to prescribe and
administer treatment.
"We promote early and accurate diagnosis and early,
aggressive treatment of arthritis, but it's difficult to get early anything when there's
not a doctor around, or when every doctor in town is too booked up to see you for
months," says Dr. Klippel. Due to the shortage of rheumatologists, rheumatoid
arthritis is often misdiagnosed or patients must wait months to see a specialist --
precious time lost in treating the disease and slowing its progression.
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