ACR practice management staff are offering a free, tailored, one-hour Lunch & Learn series to help members, practices and their staff become familiar with new office and outpatient evaluation and management codes and documentation guidelines that went into effect Jan. 1.
On Feb. 1, UnitedHealthcare enacted a new policy designating Avsola and Inflectra as the preferred infliximab products for UHC commercial plans. ACR leaders have urged UHC to allow existing patients to continue on their current medication.
At the helm of the Collaborative Initiatives Special Committee (COIN), Rosalind Ramsey-Goldman, MD, DrPH, will oversee projects to tackle disparities within rheumatologic care, improve the inclusiveness of ACR initiatives, advance professional development in rheumatology topics and more.
At the virtual interim meeting Nov. 13–17, the ACR delegation led a successful bid to update American Medical Association policies on home infusion and copay accumulators and supported efforts against the Most Favored Nation drug pricing model.
Dr. Kuhn hopes to expand funding for rheumatology research and enhance the ACR’s basic and clinical research pre-conference offerings during her term as chair.
As a new year begins, Government Affairs Committee Chair Blair Solow, MD, takes stock of ACR advocacy wins in 2020 and issues to watch in 2021, including workforce issues, continued telemedicine access, prior authorization relief, Medicare reimbursement and drug pricing.
As the new chair of the Registries & Health Information Technology Committee, William F. Harvey, MD, MSc, hopes to expand representation of patient diversity in the RISE registry and increase the use of registry data for research.
Marcus Snow, MD, FACR, had his first exposure to rheumatology in a rotation during his residency at the University of Nebraska Medical Center, Omaha. James O’Dell, MD, Theodore Mikuls, MD, Jay Moore, MD, Lynn Klassen, MD, and other physicians showed how rheumatology could be the perfect mix of a narrow clinical focus with interesting patient…
On Dec. 10, the Supreme Court of the United States of America (SCOTUS) issued a landmark decision in Rutledge, Attorney General of Arkansas, v. Pharmaceutical Care Management Association. In an 8–0 decision, the justices agreed that states have the right to impose regulations on pharmacy benefit managers (PBMs), companies that manage prescription drug benefits on…