The Rheumatologist
COVID-19 NewsACR Convergence
  • Connect with us:
  • Facebook
  • Twitter
  • LinkedIn
  • YouTube
  • Feed
  • Home
  • Conditions
    • Rheumatoid Arthritis
    • SLE (Lupus)
    • Crystal Arthritis
      • Gout Resource Center
    • Spondyloarthritis
    • Osteoarthritis
    • Soft Tissue Pain
    • Scleroderma
    • Vasculitis
    • Systemic Inflammatory Syndromes
    • Guidelines
  • Resource Centers
    • Axial Spondyloarthritis Resource Center
    • Gout Resource Center
    • Psoriatic Arthritis Resource Center
    • Rheumatoid Arthritis Resource Center
    • Systemic Lupus Erythematosus Resource Center
  • Drug Updates
    • Biologics & Biosimilars
    • DMARDs & Immunosuppressives
    • Topical Drugs
    • Analgesics
    • Safety
    • Pharma Co. News
  • Professional Topics
    • Ethics
    • Legal
    • Legislation & Advocacy
    • Career Development
      • Certification
      • Education & Training
    • Awards
    • Profiles
    • President’s Perspective
    • Rheuminations
    • Interprofessional Perspective
  • Practice Management
    • Billing/Coding
    • Quality Assurance/Improvement
    • Workforce
    • Facility
    • Patient Perspective
    • Electronic Health Records
    • Apps
    • Information Technology
    • From the College
    • Multimedia
      • Audio
      • Video
  • Resources
    • Issue Archives
    • ACR Convergence
      • Gout Resource Center
      • Axial Spondyloarthritis Resource Center
      • Psoriatic Arthritis
      • Abstracts
      • Meeting Reports
      • ACR Convergence Home
    • American College of Rheumatology
    • ACR ExamRheum
    • Research Reviews
    • ACR Journals
      • Arthritis & Rheumatology
      • Arthritis Care & Research
      • ACR Open Rheumatology
    • Rheumatology Image Library
    • Treatment Guidelines
    • Rheumatology Research Foundation
    • Events
  • About Us
    • Mission/Vision
    • Meet the Authors
    • Meet the Editors
    • Contribute to The Rheumatologist
    • Subscription
    • Contact
  • Advertise
  • Search
You are here: Home / Articles / ACR Program Encourages Innovation & Opportunity

ACR Program Encourages Innovation & Opportunity

May 14, 2018 • By Richard Quinn

  • Tweet
  • Email
Print-Friendly Version / Save PDF

Early this year, the ACR was awarded an innovation grant from the American Society of Association Executives (ASAE) for a proposal designed to engage its members about health disparities among patients with rheumatic diseases.1 The program’s first phase will focus on creating plans to diminish racial and ethnic disparities for those patients.

You Might Also Like
  • ACR Urges CMMI to Test Transparently: Coalition offers principles to guide CMS’s care innovation efforts
  • ACR’s 2018 Advocates for Arthritis & Advocacy 101 Program
  • President’s Perspective: New ACR Lupus Initiative Program Helps Identify and Eliminate Bias in Rheumatology Practices
Also By This Author
  • Mark Shlomchik Awarded Inaugural Lupus Insight Prize

The goal of ASAE’s Innovation Grants Program, which began funding ideas in 2013, is to “provide awards to support creative exploration and project development that will raise the association community’s awareness of and engagement with innovative ideas and projects,” according to the ASAE website. The program is supported by SunTrust Foundation, GEICO and law firm Whiteford, Taylor & Preston. The ACR was one of five 2018 winners. The others are the Association of College and University Housing Officers—International, the BBB Wise Giving Alliance, the International Association of Fairs and Expositions and the National Association of School Nurses.

ad goes here:advert-1
ADVERTISEMENT
SCROLL TO CONTINUE

The ACR’s $10,000 grant will fund a new program: Uniting Collaborators for Innovation (UCOIN). The initiative’s goal is to reduce disparities by serving as “a career development incubator for members,” according to grant application documents. Rheumatologist S. Sam Lim, MD, MPH, ACR’s UCOIN Working Group chair, says that one of the first steps in addressing disparities is to encourage rheumatologists to pursue potentially innovative ideas.

“Throughout their training, healthcare professionals gain the knowledge and skills to become capable clinicians, researchers and academicians,” says Dr. Lim, professor of medicine in the Division of Rheumatology at Emory University School of Medicine, Atlanta. “But learning how to build a career—to adeptly navigate day-to-day realities, be confident, become expert in the subject matter of a field—takes more. Therefore, an additional and external place where rheumatology professionals with common interests [can] get support … [enables] an important opportunity for growth.”

ad goes here:advert-2
ADVERTISEMENT
SCROLL TO CONTINUE

And the timing for this opportunity may never have been more important, he says.

Increased Diversity
“The reason for this focus is that people of color in the U.S. are disproportionately affected by several rheumatic diseases,” Dr. Lim says. “Additionally, Americans are more racially and ethnically diverse than in the past, and projections show that there will not be a single racial or ethnic majority by 2055. Thus, for ACR members, the professional and societal consequences of health disparities will continue to grow.”

Dr. Lim adds that ACR membership itself will only become more diverse over time, as well—a point also noted in the 2015 ACR Workforce Study of Rheumatology Specialists in the U.S.2 To be clear, addressing the association’s diversity is not part of the scope of the grant, but engaging all ACR members on racial and ethnic disparities in patients—with a focus on minority members—may, in turn, draw more people of color to the specialty.

ad goes here:advert-3
ADVERTISEMENT
SCROLL TO CONTINUE

Pages: 1 2 3 | Single Page

Filed Under: Professional Topics Tagged With: Award, Diversity, grant, health disparities, UCOIN

You Might Also Like:
  • ACR Urges CMMI to Test Transparently: Coalition offers principles to guide CMS’s care innovation efforts
  • ACR’s 2018 Advocates for Arthritis & Advocacy 101 Program
  • President’s Perspective: New ACR Lupus Initiative Program Helps Identify and Eliminate Bias in Rheumatology Practices
  • Racial Disparities in Rheumatology: What Are We Doing About It?

Meeting Abstracts

Browse and search abstracts from the ACR Convergence and ACR/ARP Annual Meetings going back to 2012.

Visit the Abstracts site »

American College of Rheumatology

Visit the official website for the American College of Rheumatology.

Visit the ACR »

Simple Tasks

Learn more about the ACR’s public awareness campaign and how you can get involved. Help increase visibility of rheumatic diseases and decrease the number of people left untreated.

Visit the Simple Tasks site »

The Rheumatologist newsmagazine reports on issues and trends in the management and treatment of rheumatic diseases. The Rheumatologist reaches 11,500 rheumatologists, internists, orthopedic surgeons, nurse practitioners, physician assistants, nurses, and other healthcare professionals who practice, research, or teach in the field of rheumatology.

About Us / Contact Us / Advertise / Privacy Policy / Terms of Use / Cookie Preferences

  • Connect with us:
  • Facebook
  • Twitter
  • LinkedIn
  • YouTube
  • Feed

Copyright © 2006–2023 American College of Rheumatology. All rights reserved.

ISSN 1931-3268 (print)
ISSN 1931-3209 (online)