Video: Knock on Wood| Webinar: ACR/CHEST ILD Guidelines in Practice
fa-facebookfa-linkedinfa-youtube-playfa-rss

An official publication of the ACR and the ARP serving rheumatologists and rheumatology professionals

  • Conditions
    • Axial Spondyloarthritis
    • Gout and Crystalline Arthritis
    • Myositis
    • Osteoarthritis and Bone Disorders
    • Pain Syndromes
    • Pediatric Conditions
    • Psoriatic Arthritis
    • Rheumatoid Arthritis
    • Sjögren’s Disease
    • Systemic Lupus Erythematosus
    • Systemic Sclerosis
    • Vasculitis
    • Other Rheumatic Conditions
  • FocusRheum
    • ANCA-Associated Vasculitis
    • Axial Spondyloarthritis
    • Gout
    • Lupus Nephritis
    • Psoriatic Arthritis
    • Rheumatoid Arthritis
    • Systemic Lupus Erythematosus
  • Guidance
    • Clinical Criteria/Guidelines
    • Ethics
    • Legal Updates
    • Legislation & Advocacy
    • Meeting Reports
      • ACR Convergence
      • Other ACR meetings
      • EULAR/Other
    • Research Rheum
  • Drug Updates
    • Analgesics
    • Biologics/DMARDs
  • Practice Support
    • Billing/Coding
    • EMRs
    • Facility
    • Insurance
    • QA/QI
    • Technology
    • Workforce
  • Opinion
    • Patient Perspective
    • Profiles
    • Rheuminations
      • Video
    • Speak Out Rheum
  • Career
    • ACR ExamRheum
    • Awards
    • Career Development
  • ACR
    • ACR Home
    • ACR Convergence
    • ACR Guidelines
    • Journals
      • ACR Open Rheumatology
      • Arthritis & Rheumatology
      • Arthritis Care & Research
    • From the College
    • Events/CME
    • President’s Perspective
  • Search

Rheumatologists, Patient Advocacy Efforts Make a Difference

E. William St.Clair, MD  |  Issue: September 2015  |  September 15, 2015

2) Speak out—Make your voice heard

We call our legislators. To contact members of Congress, you can use the AMA’s Grassroots Hotline at 800-833-6354 and bring the issues of the rheumatology community to the attention of your representatives. We send e-mails—especially effective when we all go to the ACR Legislative Action Center (www.rheumatology.org/Advocacy/Legislative-Action-Center) and flood lawmakers’ offices with personalized messages focused on a single, important issue. Most members of Congress are now on Facebook and Twitter, and monitor social media interactions closely. Reach out about an important issue by tagging your member or posting on their sites. Follow the ACR on Facebook and Twitter to see what’s trending.

ad goes here:advert-1
ADVERTISEMENT
SCROLL TO CONTINUE

3) Step up—Support your team financially

We show up with support for RheumPAC. RheumPAC has grown over the past several years to the point that we raised over $135,000 in 2014, enabling $113,000 in contributions to legislative champions for rheumatology. I’ve gotten to see the effectiveness of RheumPAC and how it opens doors for us to have conversations with key lawmakers. We’ve made all of this progress with donations from only 4% of ACR and ARHP members. Can you imagine how much more influence rheumatology could have in Washington, D.C., if all of us gave to RheumPAC? Step up, and make your contribution to see what we can do together as a team.

ad goes here:advert-2
ADVERTISEMENT
SCROLL TO CONTINUE

Organizing the Team

Succeeding in the advocacy arena may seem like a daunting task. We are coalescing these efforts into a new ACR advocacy program called Key Contacts. As a Key Contact, whether you already have relationships with elected officials or would like to develop a relationship with your senator, representative or insurance commissioner, the ACR will provide support to cultivate that relationship. The ACR’s success on Capitol Hill and in state legislatures is dependent on our ability to educate elected officials. Nobody knows the issues of rheumatology and your patients better than you. As a Key Contact, you will be an important liaison and advocate for rheumatology. The ACR will provide you with advocacy updates, helpful tools and the information necessary to develop and maintain relationships. Key Contact members are also recognized in ACR publications and events.

I trust all members of our team will step up for rheumatology and get involved in this effort. We can continue to make progress for our patients, and we can turn challenges and risks into opportunities and strengths, but we can only do it by working together. Join the team, and do your part. Go to the advocacy pages of the ACR’s website, and find the link to the contact form at the bottom of the page. Enter your information, check the boxes beside your advocacy or issue interests, and click Submit. That’s it!

Page: 1 2 3 4 | Single Page
Share: 

Filed under:President's PerspectiveProfessional Topics Tagged with:AC&RAdvocacyAmerican College of Rheumatology (ACR)PatientsProfessional Mattersrheumatologistsrheumatology

Related Articles

    How to Survive MACRA

    April 19, 2017

    The year 2015 brought the end of the much-maligned Sustainable Growth Rate (SGR), sometimes known as the “doc fix.” The SGR established limits on Medicare reimbursement for physicians, and each year, physicians and those lobbying on their behalf were forced to stave off drastic cuts to their payments. “The SGR was Congress’s attempt to control…

    Prepare Now to Survive MACRA

    July 5, 2016

    The year 2015 brought an end to the much-maligned Sustainable Growth Rate (SGR), sometimes known as the “doc fix.” The SGR established limits on Medicare reimbursement for physicians, and each year, physicians and those lobbying on their behalf were forced to stave off drastic cuts to their payments. “The SGR was Congress’s attempt to control…

    Shifting Health Policy Landscape Brings Opportunities, Responsibility to Advocate for Rheumatology

    October 10, 2016

    Heraclitus of Ephesus (c. 500 BC) is credited with the saying, “The only constant is change.” Now, centuries later, change is meteoric, and especially in healthcare and health policy, the pace of change is relentless. Rheumatology and other specialties continue to face challenges that threaten the ability to deliver compassionate, competent care to patients. The…

    Brave New MACRA World

    October 18, 2016

    Sweeping changes in how physicians are paid for patient care are on the way. The Medicare Access and Children’s Health Insurance Program (CHIP) Reauthorization Act of 2015, or MACRA, tossed out the Sustainable Growth Rate formula and ties reimbursement to quality measures. A Helpful Presentation Because 2017 is the first performance year under the new…

  • About Us
  • Meet the Editors
  • Issue Archives
  • Contribute
  • Advertise
  • Contact Us
fa-facebookfa-linkedinfa-youtube-playfa-rss
  • Copyright © 2025 by John Wiley & Sons, Inc. All rights reserved, including rights for text and data mining and training of artificial technologies or similar technologies. ISSN 1931-3268 (print). ISSN 1931-3209 (online).
  • DEI Statement
  • Privacy Policy
  • Terms of Use
  • Cookie Preferences