The ACR RheumPAC Committee’s role in advocating for rheumatology clinicians and patients cannot be understated, says new committee chair Kaitlyn Brittan, MD, clinical rheumatologist at the University of Nebraska Medical Center and assistant professor in its Division of Rheumatology.
Dr. Brittan
“RheumPAC is non-partisan and really great at investing in people who really stand up for what’s important for rheumatologists and our patients, so I would encourage those of us in the field to learn about and consider investing in RheumPAC,” she says.
The Rheumatologist asked Dr. Brittan to explain how RheumPAC does its work and the ways ACR/ARP members can help.
The Rheumatologist (TR): What would you like people to know about RheumPAC?
Dr. Brittan: RheumPAC is the critical financial support for our ACR advocacy efforts at the federal level. As a nonprofit, the ACR cannot donate money to politicians or their campaigns, and so a little more than a decade ago, RheumPAC was begun to give us a way to collect donations from members of the College to support legislators who are champions of our causes—such as research funding, reimbursement or timely access to care—and are in the position to make changes on the Hill. It’s the way that we open doors to talk about what the issues are and how they ultimately affect patients.
TR: You became involved in advocacy early in your career and have continued now as a physician. Why?
Dr. Brittan: I can see the critical role advocacy plays in ensuring that patients are served well. A lot of policy decisions that govern our medical practices are made by bureaucrats who don’t know what it’s like to be in a physician’s office, and as a result, we have constraints placed on the way we practice that can hinder our ability to make the right decisions for the patients we see.
I think there’s an ever-growing and largely unmet need for physicians to participate in advocacy. We obviously are very busy in our day-to-day lives, and so it’s really easy to hope that somebody else will fill that role. But I think understanding the importance of advocacy not as an add-on, but as a core principle of our practice, is paramount to that. For me, it doesn’t feel like it is something I do “in addition.” Rather, I feel like it is part of my role as a clinician to take care of patients.
TR: How does advocacy translate to the clinic?
Dr. Brittan: I get a lot of fulfillment from being able to come back to the exam room and tell my patients—people who are struggling to get access to appropriate and needed medicines—that I recognize the barriers they are facing and that I’m not just commiserating with them, but I’m actually going and doing something about it. Through advocacy, I’m sitting with our legislators and explaining how there was a six-month delay in getting a patient an important medicine solely due to non-medical providers making that determination at an insurance company. That has real-world impact.
TR: How can others in the field support RheumPAC and its efforts?
Dr. Brittan: We would love people to be involved and go advocate in person, but donations are also a big help. If all of the members of the ACR/ARP donated just $10, that would make a huge difference, so we would love for people to keep an open mind in supporting us.
There are not a lot of rheumatologists compared to other physicians as a whole, but through advocacy—and through RheumPAC as part of that advocacy—we have the ability to amplify our voices and do really meaningful things for our patients.
For me, I see physician advocacy as a very natural extension of our main priority, which is taking good care of our patients.
Leslie Mertz, PhD, is a freelance science journalist based in northern Michigan.
Contributions to RheumPAC are not tax deductible for federal income tax purposes. All contributions to RheumPAC are voluntary and must be made with personal funds. You may refuse to contribute without reprisal. Any proposed contribution amounts are merely suggestions; you may choose to contribute more or less or not at all. RheumPAC will not favor or disadvantage anyone by reason of the amount contributed or the decision not to contribute. Federal law prohibits contributions from corporations. RheumPAC participants must be United States citizens or permanent resident aliens.
