Thank you for the tremendous honor of serving as ACR president. Given that this is my first column, I’d like to briefly introduce myself, outline a few of the challenges that we will face in 2012, and ask for your help in advancing rheumatology this next year. Only with the help and combined wisdom of our volunteers, members, and staff will we continue to thrive.
With considerable excitement, anticipation, humility, and, with more than a little anxiety, I begin my term as ACR president. It’s a privilege to serve as president of what I am sure I very objectively consider the premier medical subspecialty society, one of the very few in which clinicians in private practice, academicians, and researchers have stuck together under one organizational roof. This unity has been and will continue to be essential in keeping us strong (more on that throughout the year).
During this time, I feel truly blessed to have been exposed to remarkable leaders on both the volunteer and staff sides. Through all this I have accumulated vast experience with the organization and, hopefully, at least a modicum of wisdom that will allow me to continue to assure that we have the right people involved. I feel well qualified to lead in the areas of research, education, and training, but am obviously less experienced in the areas that affect our private practice membership and therefore will seek the wise counsel of my private practice colleagues on the Executive Committee, Board of Directors, CORC (chaired by Charles King, MD), and Affiliate Society Council (chaired by Angus Worthing, MD).
May We Live (and Lead) in Interesting Times
They say timing is everything, so I’m truly blessed to be ACR president during what promises to be a very interesting year. During this coming election year, the economy will continue to dominate the national political landscape in the United States, but healthcare will remain a critical central issue for the country and the economy. With the threat of the Sustainable Growth Rate and its cuts continuing to hang heavily over our heads, insurance companies increasingly telling us what to do directly or through their Tier 4 policies, and the growing demands on increasingly underpaid practitioners to document that they are providing quality service, I believe rheumatologists and other physicians who rely on E/M billing are at a critical crossroads. The economic crisis in particular presents huge challenges, but also offers unique and important opportunities.
It is a humbling experience to sit at the head of the table of our wonderful and very diverse organization—no one person can hope to posses the knowledge and wisdom to understand all the nuances and future implications of the complex issues that we face.
In less than one year, in November of 2012, we will assemble for our next annual meeting in Washington, D.C., a few short days after what promises to be a pivotal election for the future of healthcare in the U.S. I do not believe healthcare should be a political issue and, therefore, do not believe that we, as rheumatologists and rheumatology health professionals, or our patients will necessarily be better served by turning the country blue or red. I do believe we must redouble our efforts to make our voices heard and to elect officials who understand or can be made to understand the healthcare issues of Americans and the evaluation-and-management–based physicians who care for them. We need rheumatologists to be engaged in the political process by meeting with elected officials and building relationships. If you haven’t visited, called, or e-mailed your elected officials, learn how during this important election year. The ACR needs to continue to build on the political relationships we have established over several years. I have visited the Hill numerous times and now have a relationship with several members of Congress from Nebraska. I also strongly support the ACR’s political action committee RheumPAC, which has continued to grow each year and has opened many doors for the ACR.
The new $60-million Journey to Cure campaign launched in November by the REF is a bold vision and major plan to address expanding rheumatology training and research programs over the next five years. It has great implications for advancing patient care and accelerating research discoveries.
Simple Tasks, our five-year public relations campaign aimed at “key influencers”, has entered its second year. I encourage each of you to participate in this campaign by sharing the campaign white paper with your patients and colleagues. The campaign is also looking for people to join its speaker’s bureau. If you are interested in being part of the group to raise awareness of rheumatology, I encourage you to contact Erin Latimer, public relations director, at [email protected]. I’ll bring you more on Simple Tasks throughout the year.
Many other important initiatives of our challenges for the ACR deserve attention and will be the subjects of future columns. They include, but are not limited to, the ongoing activities of our 2020 Task Force, the increasing burden of maintenance of certification, ICD-10 implementation, forging proactive relationships with insurers, potential name changes for Arthritis & Rheumatism and for the REF, and, of course, one of my personal favorites, the importance of continuing to build the ACR Registry of Rheumatic Diseases.
Stay in Touch this Year
Outside of these columns, I plan to utilize other ACR paths of communication to reach out to the membership in the upcoming year. Did you know that the ACR is active on Twitter and Facebook, and uses YouTube and Flickr? I encourage you to explore these platforms and join the conversation. Not into social media yet? Tweeting and Facebook are not a requirement to establish a dialogue with me or the ACR. You can always e-mail me at [email protected] or call (404) 633-3777 to reach any ACR staff member.
Not ready to join the discussion but still want to stay informed? The ACR has many publications and online tools to keep you up to date on ACR activities and what is going on outside of the ACR that affects us as rheumatology health professionals. Online publications include the Drug Safety Quarterly, RheumWATCH, and Hotline. “Rheumatology Morning Wire” is delivered via e-mail each weekday. You can also get The Rheumatologist and both the Arthritis & Rheumatism and Arthritis Care & Research journals online at www.rheumatology.org; there is also an “app” for these publications.
With hockey season in full swing, a quote attributed to Wayne Gretzky is in order:
“A good hockey player plays where the puck is.
A great hockey player plays where the puck is going to be.”
Please help me continue this dialogue. With your help we will continue to advance rheumatology by “playing where the puck will be.” Thank you in advance for your help and support. I look forward to a very interesting and productive year.
Dr. O’Dell is director of the Internal Medicine Residency Program and division chief of rheumatology at the University of Nebraska, Omaha and the Omaha VA medical centers. Contact him via e-mail at [email protected].