title: [The role of rheumatologists in multidisciplinary expert opinions].
abstract: Diseases of the musculoskeletal system are among the foremost reasons for premature health-related loss of employment. In giving expert opinions, physicians need a change of perspective from a therapeutic patient-doctor relationship where the well-being of the patient is important, to the expert consultant setting where the goal is to find an objective truth. Both ways of thinking demand a scientific evidence-based approach. Chronic pain syndromes often revolve around the borderline between soma and psyche. In the perception of modern pain research, a strict distinction between somatically and psychically caused pains is obsolete. In expert assessments of chronic pain a close cooperation between rheumatologist and psychiatrist is mandatory. This article focuses on the role of the rheumatologist in multidisciplinary expert assessment and also highlights some peculiarities of Swiss jurisdiction.
authors.affiliation: Rheumatologie FMH, EMBA, MEDAS Zentralschweiz, Zürichstrasse 14, 6004 Luzern, Schweiz. joerg.jeger@medaslu.ch
authors.forename: J
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Jeger
mesh_terms: D001172:Arthritis, Rheumatoid / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000523:psychology; D002908:Chronic Disease; D003299:Cooperative Behavior; D003937:Diagnosis, Differential; D004185:Disability Evaluation; D004608:Eligibility Determination / Q000331:legislation & jurisprudence; D019317:Evidence-Based Medicine / Q000331:legislation & jurisprudence; D005104:Expert Testimony / Q000331:legislation & jurisprudence*; D005356:Fibromyalgia / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000523:psychology; D006801:Humans; D007400:Interprofessional Relations; D019222:Mind-Body Relations, Metaphysical; D010146:Pain / Q000209:etiology / Q000523:psychology; D010819:Physician's Role; D011602:Psychophysiologic Disorders / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000523:psychology; D012216:Rheumatic Diseases / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000523:psychology; D012219:Rheumatology / Q000331:legislation & jurisprudence*; D013001:Somatoform Disorders / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000523:psychology