Private rheumatology in Catalonia, Spain.

OBJECTIVE

To establish the percentage of Catalonian rheumatologists who attended to private patients, to understand the most common processes in private practice, to determine the dedication to patient care and the necessary activities to guarantee proper care, such as continuing education and office management, and to know what techniques were most widely used.

MATERIAL AND METHODS

A personalized survey of Catalonian rheumatologists whose e-mail addresses were made available to us. Fifty-two responses were analyzed.

RESULTS

The percentage of men (52%) and women (48%) was similar; 33% worked exclusively in private rheumatology (PR), most of them in hospitals or medical teams; 11% worked alone; 27% were in training. The disease most frequently treated was osteoarthritis; 51% were involved in studies or clinical trials in the field of RP.

CONCLUSIONS

The concept of RP as a private business is changing and is progressively being transformed into working units with a structure similar to public hospitals with formal training. This report provides new data on the activities and characteristics of private rheumatologists.