Fostering promising investigators is imperative to the future of rheumatology, so when the ACR Research and Education Foundation (REF) board of directors discovered that outstanding applicants were not being funded through the National Institutes of Health (NIH) K-series grant program (the NIH’s career development award program) due to budgetary constraints, the REF quickly called a meeting with the Arthritis Foundation (AF) and the NIH to discuss a solution.
Articles by From the College
Help Find a Cure for RA
The ACR REF established the Within Our Reach: Finding a Cure for Rheumatoid Arthritis (RA) campaign in 2006 with one goal in mind: to find a cure for RA.
Systematically Improve Practice Operations Performance
Imagine coming into your practice one morning to discover that your entire staff has quit. There are no two-week notices, no leaves of absence, and no one has stuck around to answer your questions—they all just walk out the door.
Coding Tip: When To Use 99211
Many rheumatology practices don’t know when to bill the nursing code 99211. Because of this confusion, some practices shy away from using it at all, and some overuse it.
Where Do RheumPAC Donations Go?
RheumPAC has been a standing committee of the ACR since 2007. The PAC was established to increase the ACR’s presence in Washington, D.C., and is charged with managing the contributions to congressional campaigns, as well as soliciting the membership for funds to increase the purse for these contributions.
Coding Corner Question
July’s Coding Challenge
Coding Corner Answer
July’s Coding Answer
Nonsurgical Management of Lumbar Spinal Stenosis
Maura D. Iversen, PT, DPT, SD, MPH, of MGH Institute of Health Professions in Boston, will discuss the nonsurgical management of lumbar spinal stenosis (LSS), epidemiology, and common symptoms associated with this condition during the ARHP rheumatology audioconference on Wednesday, May 21, from noon to 1:00 p.m. (EST). Iversen will provide a summary of nonpharmacologic and nonsurgical interventions to manage LSS—including a summary and evaluation of manual therapy techniques and exercise.
American College of Rheumatology (ACR) on Capitol Hill
“By tomorrow night, there will be so many more people on Capitol Hill who know—and are sensitive to—rheumatology and the issues that impact you and your patients. There is no substitute for what you are doing,” says Martha M. Kendrick, a partner at Patton Boggs, LLP, the ACR’s lobbying firm. This is what she told the physician, health professional, and patient participants of the ACR’s 2008 “Advocates for Arthritis” advocacy event—termed a fly-in—before they took their personal stories to the lawmakers on Capitol Hill.
2008 ARHP Rheumatology Audioconference Series
An increasing number of busy healthcare professionals are taking advantage of the ARHP Rheumatology Audioconference Series—a no-travel educational offering approved for AMA PRA Category 1 Credits. Since 2004 the Rheumatology Audioconference Series has provided an alternative mode of education for rheumatology health professionals.