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Review
. 2021 Jan;17(1):11-15.
doi: 10.1038/s41584-020-00527-5. Epub 2020 Nov 2.

How COVID-19 is changing rheumatology clinical practice

Eloisa Bonfá  1 , Laure Gossec  2   3 , David A Isenberg  4 , Zhanguo Li  5 , Soumya Raychaudhuri  6   7   8
Affiliations
Review

How COVID-19 is changing rheumatology clinical practice

Eloisa Bonfá et al. Nat Rev Rheumatol. 2021 Jan.

Abstract

The emergence of COVID-19 in early 2020 led to unprecedented changes to rheumatology clinical practice worldwide, including the closure of research laboratories, the restructuring of hospitals and the rapid transition to virtual care. As governments sought to slow and contain the spread of the disease, rheumatologists were presented with the difficult task of managing risks, to their patients as well as to themselves, while learning and implementing new systems for remote health care. Consequently, the COVID-19 pandemic led to a transformation in health infrastructures and telemedicine that could become powerful tools for rheumatologists, despite having some limitations. In this Viewpoint, five experts from different regions discuss their experiences of the pandemic, including the most challenging aspects of this unexpected transition, the advantages and limitations of virtual visits, and potential opportunities going forward.

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Conflict of interest statement

L.G. receives research grants from Amgen, Galapagos, Janssen, Lilly, Pfizer, Sandoz and Sanofi, and receives consulting fees from AbbVie, Amgen, BMS, Celgene, Gilead, Janssen, Lilly, Novartis, Pfizer, Samsung Bioepis, Sanofi-Aventis and UCB, all unrelated to the present paper. S.R. is an employee of Brigham and Women’s Hospital, and has recently served as a consultant for AbbVie, Biogen, Gilead, Merck and Pfizer. He is a founder of Mestag. He currently receives research funding from Biogen. E.B., D.A.I. and Z.L. declare no competing interests.

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