TR: Describe the importance of advocacy today.
Dr. Harvey: Unquestionably, we are in a time where our profession is under assault from a lot of different directions. We have often seen times in the past where research funding has been threatened, reimbursement for certain services has been threatened or new challenges have arisen with Medicaid or Medicare or other things, but I think for the first time in a while, we are now seeing all of those things becoming problematic at the same time. As such, we have to double-down on our principles and not only educate ourselves, but also educate lawmakers, other public officials, research institutes and so forth to make sure that the core of our specialty doesn’t die while all this stuff is happening around us.
TR: How do you do that in today’s political climate and everything that goes with it?
Dr. Harvey: It’s a good question; it’s one I get a lot. I think the answer is to go about our advocacy by being ruthlessly apolitical. I choose that phrase specifically, because even within our membership, there are people who have strongly held political beliefs on both ends of the spectrum, and these are political beliefs that go well beyond the issues affecting rheumatology. But as we think about doing this work on behalf of the specialty, we have to be relentlessly focused on the actually nonpartisan issues that are affecting our patients. Rheumatic diseases don’t know what political affiliation you have when they afflict you, and neither do a patient’s political views determine the cost of medications or impact their ability to access them.
We have to focus on finding bipartisan solutions. When you take the time to get to the root of the issue, all Americans want high-quality healthcare and new medical discoveries. And while we may sometimes agree to disagree about the best way to get there, if we stay focused on what truly matters, then we can still make progress. Certainly, advocacy will be a major focus in the coming year.
TR: You are coming in as the president of the ACR in a time of uncertainty. What are you seeing as particular issues?
Dr. Harvey: The biggest challenge right now is fighting the overall sense of futility. If researchers are questioning their ability to continue to do research, and if clinicians are questioning their ability to effectively care for patients, that is an existential threat to any medical specialty. And it is an even keener threat to a small specialty like ours, which was already facing a workforce shortage prior to all of the things that are happening in the world right now. And so, it may sound trite, but we need that message of hope, so people feel self-efficacy. By that, I mean that we—especially through the College—can do something to get back whatever we think has been lost or is being lost.
