The ACR/CHEST ILD Guidelines in Practice: Watch the Webinar Recording Now!

An official publication of the ACR and the ARP serving rheumatologists and rheumatology professionals

Rheumatoid Arthritis

Major Grant Funding for Collaborative RA Projects

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In the last three years, the ACR REF has raised more than $26 million toward the $30-million goal for the Within Our Reach: Finding a Cure for Rheumatoid Arthritis (RA) campaign. Even in the worst economy this country has seen since the Great Depression, in fiscal year 2009, contributions to the Within Our Reach campaign exceeded $6.1 million. For the first quarter of fiscal year 2010, more than $1.1 million has already been received.

PQRI Now Includes RA Measures Group

Salahuddin Kazi, MD, Melesia Tillman, CPC, CCP, and Amy S. Miller  |  

In 2008, the only Physician Quality Reporting Initiative (PQRI) measure that applied to rheumatoid arthritis (RA) was disease-modifying antirheumatic drug therapy. For 2009, five new RA measures were included, for a total of six measures in the new RA Measures Group. The five new measures were developed in 2008 by the National Committee for Quality Assurance in collaboration with the ACR and the American Medical Association’s Physician Consortium for Performance Improvement and were subsequently adopted by Medicare.