Advocates for Arthritis is another event that lets rheumatologists connect with and educate their representatives on Capitol Hill. Held annually in September, rheumatologists can take part virtually or in person. This advocacy coincides with Rheumatic Disease Awareness Month, Dr. Worthing says. Those interested in the latest updates and alerts for next year’s event can sign up online.
For those with time and interest, the ACR also has many other volunteer opportunities, including its various committees. “If you can’t afford time to be on a committee, there are projects and work groups that need people’s input and, oftentimes, that can be done remotely,” Dr. Edgerton says.
Rheumatologists with questions about the government initiatives and regulations can reach out to the ACR by emailing [email protected].
Epilogue
Since the time of this podcast episode, interest in value-based payment models continues to grow, and organizations and practices continue to explore arrangements with payers and other approaches. As part of its Workforce Initiative, the ACR is working to evaluate and develop rheumatology-focused, value-based reimbursement programs for private payers that may be adopted by and benefit rheumatology practices.
Additionally, the ACR’s RISE Registry continues to assist rheumatologists with an easy and effective way to successfully comply with Quality Payment Program participation and federal reporting requirements. The RISE Registry supports rheumatologists and practices participating in MIPS and, new in 2023, MIPS Value Pathway (MVP) within the CMS’ Quality Payment Program. Both MIPS and MVPs require providers to be evaluated in four categories: quality, promoting interoperability, improvement activities and cost. The new MVP pathway reduces the number of measures required for submission with each category, but the scoring and payment outcomes remain the same as in the MIPS pathway.
RISE is an electronic health record-enabled rheumatology registry. With more than 1,000 rheumatology clinicians and 2.9 million patients, RISE plays an instrumental role in advancing the specialty through improving care and expanding research. To learn how to join RISE, contact ACR staff at [email protected].
Vanessa Caceres is a medical writer in Bradenton, Fla.
More Episodes
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