Rheumatology is a relatively small subspecialty, but our patients need us to be strong advocates for them, ensuring access to the care they need. That’s why the ACR is calling on all of our members to join the American Medical Association (AMA) or renew your membership. Without a unified voice, we have no voice. We’ve…
ACR Puts Forward Principles on Patient Access to Care
The ACR has partnered with the American Medical Association (AMA) and over a dozen stakeholder groups to create a set of 21 principles to reform prior authorization protocols. This coalition represents hospitals, medical groups, patients, pharmacists and physicians with a unified goal of creating a more patient-centered, streamlined and transparent process for prior authorization. According…
The ACR’s Representation in American Medical Association Critical as Review Looms
There is a saying that if the American Medical Association (AMA) did not exist, we would have to invent it. That is just what Dr. Nathan S. Davis did back in 1845 when he called for a national medical convention and laid the foundation for the establishment of the AMA in 1847. This new group would…
ACR Joins Opposition to Proposed Healthcare Replacement Bill as Written
The ACR is joining a chorus of voices asking Congress to reconsider several key provisions in the proposed American Health Care Act (AHCA) that it feels could have a detrimental effect on patients. Characterized as a replacement to the Affordable Care Act (ACA), the AHCA eliminates a number of provisions found in the ACA, although…
Why Keep a Seat at the AMA Table?
As 2017 unfolds—a year when MACRA begins, lawmakers take steps to dismantle the health reform efforts of the past eight years, and political uncertainty is the rule—it is imperative that the ACR leverage its advocacy agenda by maintaining its seat at the American Medical Association’s (AMA’s) House of Delegates (HOD), says Gary Bryant, MD, FACP…
AMA Updates Code of Medical Ethics
Eight years ago, the American Medical Association’s (AMA) Council on Ethical and Judicial Affairs embarked on a comprehensive review of the AMA Code of Medical Ethics. What emerged after years of hard effort, intensive feedback and thoughtful revisions was a modernized version of the guide, which the AMA House of Delegates voted to adopt in…
Health Policy Resolutions from the AMA House of Delegates 2016 Interim Meeting
This year’s interim meeting of the American Medical Association (AMA) House of Delegates (HOD) took place Nov. 12–15, just days after the national election that, in 2017, will usher in a GOP-led Congress and presidential administration. “It was a highly interesting meeting,” says Gary Bryant, MD, FACP, associate professor of medicine and rheumatology at the University…
Physicians Asked to Join AMA Efforts to Reduce Opioid Abuse
In 2014, the American College of Rheumatology (ACR) was one of 25 healthcare associations invited to participate in an initiative by the American Medical Association (AMA) to reduce the public health epidemic posed by the abuse of prescription opioids.1 The AMA initiative is based on the belief that physicians are professionally obligated to participate in…
ACR Seeks Advisors for AMA/Specialty Society RUC and CPT Committee
The ACR is searching for practicing physicians interested in coding and reimbursement issues to represent the ACR on the AMA/Specialty Society Relative Value Scale Update Committee (RUC) and Current Procedural Terminology (CPT) Committee. The RUC and CPT Committee comprise physicians representing the national medical specialty societies who advise the CPT Editorial Panel on matters concerning…
Prior Authorization Reform Achieves Some Success
In early August, the American Medical Association (AMA) held its annual state advocacy strategy meeting in Chicago. This meeting pulls together all state medical societies and national specialty organizations. Over three days, participants engage in roundtable discussions on issues, solutions and best practices for health policy. Networking opportunities abound. The meetings showcase legislation that has…