OBJECTIVES: Diagnosis and management of rheumatoid arthritis (RA) have changed dramatically during the last several years, with the emergence of new guidelines, treatment options, and diagnostic tests. These involve varying degrees of complexity, and place demands on time and resources in routine clinical practice. The aim of this study was to assess current trends in RA diagnosis and assessment practices among US rheumatologists. METHODS: A sample of rheumatologists (N=86) was surveyed online through an actively-managed Internet panel. Physicians were asked which diagnostic and disease severity measures they were aware of, and how often they used those measures — for both diagnosis and disease severity assessment. RESULTS: Physicians were mostly male (n=62, 72.1%) and practiced in suburban areas (n=44, 51.2%). The mean number of years in practice (post-residency) was 16.3, and the mean number of RA patients seen per month was 136.5. Physicians treated more RA patients with disease-modifying antirheumatic drugs (DMARDs) and biologics than with non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDS), COX-2 inhibitors, and corticosteroids. The most common diagnostic measure was anti-cyclic citrullinated peptide (anti-CCP) assays (97.7%). The most common disease assessments were swollen joint count (88.4%), tender joint count (87.2%), erythrocyte sedimentation rate (81.4%), C-reactive protein (77.9%), patient’s assessment of physical function (75.6%), and patient’s assessment of pain (74.4%). 54 physicians (62.7%) reported employing HRQOL questionnaires to assess patients’ well-being, the Health Assessment Questionnaire (HAQ) being the most common (43.4%). CONCLUSIONS: Though relatively new, anti-CCP assays were employed by almost all physicians for RA diagnoses. While other serum markers were often used for diagnosis, they were less likely to be used for disease severity assessment versus physicians’ and patients’ assessments of symptoms and physical function. Although a majority of physicians used HRQOL measures, the opportunity exists for further adoption and standardization of such measures to facilitate better management of RA.