Three Ways the American College of Rheumatology is Fighting Arthritis Now
The ACR Celebrates National Arthritis Awareness Month
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Keywords for this press release: arthritis, National Arthritis Awareness Month, American College of Rheumatology, advocacy, strategic collaborations, Eliminating Health Disparities in Lupus, EHDLI, Ad Council, Could I Have Lupus?, Fight Arthritis Pain, Research and Education Foundation |
ATLANTA – May is National Arthritis Awareness Month, but for the members of the American College of Rheumatology—and the patients they treat—fighting arthritis is a year-round initiative.
While arthritis is believed by many people to represent a single disease, it is actually a term used to describe over 100 different rheumatic diseases – including osteoarthritis, rheumatoid arthritis, juvenile arthritis, systemic lupus erythematosus, gout, and vasculitis, for example.
Focused on its mission of advancing rheumatology, the ACR works to address the issues affecting its 8,000 members, so they can advance the treatment of, and research for, the over 46 million Americans — including an estimated 300,000 children — who suffer from some form of arthritis or rheumatic and musculoskeletal disease.
The ACR currently has several initiatives in place to advance rheumatology, including advocacy, collaborating on innovative projects and raising funds to ensure the future of the subspecialty.
Fighting Arthritis on Capitol Hill
One ongoing initiative is working with lawmakers to ensure they consider the needs of people with rheumatic diseases when making decisions about health care.
"The ACR places great emphasis on advocacy," explains Sharad Lakhanpal, MD, chair of the ACR's Committee on Government Affairs and a practicing rheumatologist in Dallas. "The decisions made on Capitol Hill affect our members and our patients, which means the ACR must have consistent presence in Washington, D.C."
One issue that remains on the ACR’s list of hot-topics is ensuring that people on Medicare do not lose access to their rheumatologists due to the flawed sustainable growth rate – a formula that determines the payments for taking care of Medicare patients. "With the pending 21 percent cut to Medicare payments, many physicians may be forced to stop seeing these patients," explains Dr. Lakhanpal. To make certain people on Medicare continue to receive the specialty care they need, the ACR is currently urging Congress to repeal the SGR. "This is an ongoing battle for physicians across the United States. It isn’t just about physician payment; it is about supporting the needs of our patients. The current SGR formula is convoluted and must be repealed in an effort to support Medicare patients," says Dr. Lakhanpal of the long-standing battle to repeal the SGR.
By making several trips to Capitol Hill each year and by encouraging rheumatologists to have continued dialogue with their lawmakers (as well as educating their patients on issues surrounding the SGR), the ACR is taking the necessary steps to ensure that its members can continue to treat these patients.
Fighting Arthritis Through Strategic Collaborations
The ACR is engaged in a newly created initiative, Eliminating Health Disparities in Lupus (called EHDLI), which the ACR is completing through a cooperative agreement with the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services’ Office of Minority Health, Office on Women’s Health, and the Office of the Surgeon General. This initiative involves an international group of experts, educators and medical and health professionals who have demonstrated a commitment to lupus and to the elimination of health disparities in affected groups. The group is working to enhance lupus curricula at medical, nursing and health professions schools – to better prepare the workforce to identify lupus in populations disproportionately affected by the disease.
In addition to traditional methods of educational outreach, the EHDLI is utilizing the most current communication vehicles (e.g., a patient/provider website, webinars and podcasts, social media outlets, etc.) to disseminate valuable information about lupus.
"The ACR is pleased to work on this initiative, which will not only lead to a better-prepared workforce," explains ACR President and Dallas-based practicing rheumatologist, Stanley B. Cohen, MD, "but will enable us to effectively partner with patients to positively impact outcomes."
The EHDLI is planning to launch a website this month that will feature information targeted toward trainees, practitioners, patients and their caregivers as well as educators and administrators at medical, nursing and health professions schools.
In addition, the ACR is a partner with two national Ad Council campaigns. The first is a lupus awareness campaign called, "Could I Have Lupus?" that is designed to heighten awareness about lupus and its symptoms, and encourages women who suspect they have lupus to ask their doctors for a medical evaluation. The second is an osteoarthritis awareness campaign called, "Fight Arthritis Pain," which is geared towards adults 55 and over who are currently living with or are at risk for OA. The campaign aims to empower them to take simple steps that can change the course of the disease and improve the quality of their lives.
Fighting Arthritis Through Funding
It is projected by 2030 an estimated 67 million American adults will have some form of arthritis. However, the ACR’s 2006 Workforce Study of Rheumatologists revealed the supply of rheumatologists in adult practice will increase only 1.2 percent between 2005 and 2025, while the demand for rheumatologists to treat patients during this time period will rise 46 percent – leaving a vastly disproportionately low rheumatologist to patient ratio.
The ACR Research and Education Foundation is committed to ensuring the future of rheumatology and is working to grow the rheumatology workforce so there will be rheumatologists to treat the patients who will need them in the coming years.
"Attracting more quality doctors to the field of rheumatology, and keeping them, is significantly influenced by the availability of rheumatology training and research funding," explains, ACR Research and Education Foundation President, E. William St.Clair, MD, a professor in the division of rheumatology and immunology at Duke University Medical Center. Over the past decade, the REF has taken a leadership role in rheumatology career development and research, and has grown into the premier private national source of funding for the subspecialty. Over the next two years, the REF will further strengthen this role with a commitment to fund $22 million in rheumatology training and research. The REF’s awards and grants portfolio brings more rheumatologists into the workforce, which translates into improved patient care for those affected by rheumatic diseases.
Using a multi-faceted approach, the ACR is finding novel ways to fight arthritis. For more information about arthritis or rheumatic and musculoskeletal disease, and to learn more about the three ways the ACR is fighting arthritis now (and how you can get involved), click here.
The American College of Rheumatology is an international professional medical society that represents more than 8,000 rheumatologists and rheumatology health professionals around the world. Its mission is to advance rheumatology. For more information about the ACR, visit www.rheumatology.org.
The ACR Research and Education Foundation was established in 1985 as a 501(c)(3) with a mission to improve patients' lives through support of research and training that advances the prevention, treatment and cure of rheumatic diseases. Since its founding, the REF has promoted and advanced the field of rheumatology by funding research, training and education opportunities for clinicians, students, health professionals, researchers and academic institutions. On average, 90 cents of every dollar donated to the REF is used to fund its extensive award and grant program. Click here for more information about the REF.
