Letter From the President
Dear ACR Members:
Each year, the annual report offers members a global view of what the American College of Rheumatology has focused on in the previous 12 months. Due to the hard work of our dedicated volunteers and members, the ACR reached new heights toward advancing the goals in the strategic plan.
2010 saw the launch of the new multi-year strategic plan and a new mission statement: Advancing Rheumatology. This simple statement sums up the vision of the organization to enhance the value and impact of rheumatology in a changing health care environment. The plan has nine goals and will take us through 2012.
The ACR published two new online publications centered on the practice of rheumatology. The Business Side of Rheumatology Practice and the Rheumatology Coding Manual are practical reference guides for rheumatologists and their staff to keep in office. With coding and billing being a vital operation of any practice, the ACR developed the Certified Rheumatology Coder specialty credential in conjunction with the American Academy of Professional Coders to give rheumatologists and their staff yet another tool to ensure the practice is appropriately claiming every dollar spent per patient, thus leading to a more viable business.
Since its launch in June 2009, the Rheumatology Clinical Registry has served as a resource for hundreds of ACR members to enter patient data for quality improvement efforts and reporting to the CMS Physician Quality Reporting Initiative. 2010 brought expansion to the tool with the refinement of the RCR rheumatoid arthritis data entry forms and the development of a new RCR module for juvenile idiopathic arthritis.
"I want to thank all of the volunteers and staff who have made the last year a tremendous learning experience and provided invaluable support to our efforts."
View the ACR Executive Committee List
The adoption of health information technology is a difficult yet necessary process to tackle. Where to begin, what steps to take and how to sift through and digest the deadlines, incentives and penalties is enough to keep us far away from the issue. To support members on this journey, the ACR has dramatically expanded information and resources available on the website. The Rheumatology Health Information Technology Committee was created to oversee the information technology landscape to ensure rheumatologists have the necessary resources to function in a rapidly changing environment.
In the Quality arena, the ACR jointly published new rheumatoid arthritis classification criteria in conjunction with EULAR in September 2010 and new RA remission criteria will be jointly published in March 2011. New ACR recommendations for the management of glucocorticoid-induced osteoporosis were published in November. I encourage you to read through the 2010 Accomplishments in Quality for information on what is to come in 2011 in quality measures.
2010 brought about the shake-up in D.C. with the election of a new Congress. The ACR was very busy on the advocacy front and RheumPAC, the ACR's non-partisan political action committee, contributed $57,000 to 33 candidate campaigns in 2010. I'm happy to report that 91 percent of those candidates won their elections.
These efforts coupled with the launch of the ACR's first public relations campaign—"Influence the Influencers"—aim to reach the people who make decisions that impact our profession. The campign will be the largest multi-year expenditure in the history of the College. ACR leadership felt that it was important to ensure that the decision makers involved in reshaping the health care system understand the important role rheumatologists play in new in research discoveries as well as health care delivery for patients suffering from chronic musculoskeletal diseases.
The 74th ACR/ARHP Annual Scientific Meeting in Atlanta was a success with over 14,000 attendees from over 100 countries. The ACR continues to focus on meeting the needs and interest of members and launched the Musculoskeletal Ultrasound Course for Rheumatologists last spring. The course sold out quickly and was repeated as a pre-conference course at the annual meeting to meet demand.
The ACR Research and Education Foundation celebrated its 25th anniversary this year and also launched a new strategic plan focused on advancing research and training to improve the health of people with rheumatic diseases. In July 2010, the REF funded $10.5 million—$4.5 million in core awards and grants programs and $6 million in Within Our Reach: Finding a Cure for Rheumatoid Arthritis grants—and was once again award the designation of a Four Star Charity from Charity Navigator. Funding support for rheumatology fellowships as well as early career level support has continued to grow with the generous support of our industry partners. Over the last 25 years, the REF has grown tremendously and is a leader when it comes to funding rheumatology research and training in the U.S.
I want to thank all of the volunteers and staff who have made the last year a tremendous learning experience and provided invaluable support to our efforts. Your time and talent directly impacted the accomplishments of this year and have enabled the ACR to reach new heights of success.
Sincerely,
Stanley B. Cohen, MD
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