Exclusive: ACR Convergence 2024| Focus Rheums

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

From the College

REF and AF Partner to Provide an Additional “Bridge Funding”

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Fostering promising investigators is imperative to the future of rheumatology, so when the ACR Research and Education Foundation (REF) board of directors discovered that outstanding applicants were not being funded through the National Institutes of Health (NIH) K-series grant program (the NIH’s career development award program) due to budgetary constraints, the REF quickly called a meeting with the Arthritis Foundation (AF) and the NIH to discuss a solution.

Help Find a Cure for RA

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The ACR REF established the Within Our Reach: Finding a Cure for Rheumatoid Arthritis (RA) campaign in 2006 with one goal in mind: to find a cure for RA.

Coding Tip: When To Use 99211

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Many rheumatology practices don’t know when to bill the nursing code 99211. Because of this confusion, some practices shy away from using it at all, and some overuse it.

Where Do RheumPAC Donations Go?

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RheumPAC has been a standing committee of the ACR since 2007. The PAC was established to increase the ACR’s presence in Washington, D.C., and is charged with managing the contributions to congressional campaigns, as well as soliciting the membership for funds to increase the purse for these contributions.

Coming Soon: Custom News Briefings for Members

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It’s not always easy to keep up with medical news on a daily basis. With so much available information, the busy rheumatologist or health professional could spend hours just trying to stay on top of it all. With that in mind, the ACR wanted a way to provide members with the latest medical news.

RheumPAC: One Year, One Contribution, One Opportunity

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Responders to the recent ACR membership survey emphasized the importance of political advocacy for their practices and institutions. RheumPAC, the ACR’s political action committee, was created in February 2007 to focus on the legislative issues affecting the rheumatology community.

Fredrica Smith, MD, Appointed to Practicing Physicians Advisory Council (PPAC)

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Fredrica Smith, MD, a rheumatologist in Los Alamos, N.M., was recently invited to become a part of the Practicing Physicians Advisory Council (PPAC), a congressionally mandated council that advises the secretary of the Department of Health and Human Services and the administrator of CMS on proposed changes in regulations.