Referral and Consultation
Current treatment guidelines recommend referral to a rheumatologist, preferably within 12 of weeks of diagnosis, especially for patients with persistent inflammatory joint disease that are already receiving analgesics, or, if at any step in the management process, the primary provider is uncertain how to proceed.[3,4] Ideally, patients diagnosed with RA should be managed by a rheumatologist, but often geographic location and the current shortage of rheumatologists make this difficult, if not impossible.[17,18] With the current nationwide shortage of rheumatologists, it is not easy to adhere to the current RA guidelines that recommend early and aggressive treatment.[17,18]