An ACR COVID-19 Vaccine task force examined vaccine data and literature to evaluate COVID-19 vaccine safety, efficacy and interaction with medications for patients with rheumatic and musculoskeletal diseases, and to craft a living guidance document for members.
New state legislatures face many continuing issues, including budget shortfalls, vaccine distribution problems and strained healthcare infrastructure. However, opportunities exist for significant policy wins for rheumatology, particularly on the issues of step therapy reform, telemedicine and copay accumulators.
After 25 years, the American Medical Association (AMA) Current Procedural Terminology (CPT) office and outpatient evaluation and management (E/M) codes received a major overhaul. These changes, which went into effect Jan. 1, will help reduce administrative burden on providers and roll back some of the rigid requirements for E/M coding by simplifying the code selection…
At the virtual interim meeting Nov. 13–17, the ACR delegation led a successful bid to update American Medical Association policies on home infusion and copay accumulators and supported efforts against the Most Favored Nation drug pricing model.
With a new Congress and many new legislators in key leadership positions, your support today will help RheumPAC start the year off strong.
As a new year begins, Government Affairs Committee Chair Blair Solow, MD, takes stock of ACR advocacy wins in 2020 and issues to watch in 2021, including workforce issues, continued telemedicine access, prior authorization relief, Medicare reimbursement and drug pricing.
Technological advances, including disease registries such as ACR’s RISE registry, are improving physicians’ ability to connect disparate patients with similar clinical symptoms, driving insights into both rare and common diseases.
As his term as chair of the Affiliate Society Council draws to a close, Chris Adams, MD, FACP, FACR, reflects on the personal and professional rewards of volunteer leadership and the importance and impact of coordinated state-level advocacy efforts for the future of rheumatology.
The mother of a 15-year-old patient with juvenile idiopathic arthritis/enthesitis-related arthritis (JIA/ERA) called the office in tears. She said she was having an insurance problem. Her son had been a star track athlete when he developed severe back pain. Magnetic resonance imaging showed evidence of severe sacroiliitis. He was started on a tumor necrosis factor…
Many clinicians are receiving smaller reimbursements than expected for their 2021 Merit-Based Incentive Payment System adjustments. Available funding is extremely limited due to the high number of clinicians who were unable to report 2019 MIPS data and accepted the automatic neutral payment under the extreme and uncontrollable circumstances policy.