Gwenesta B. Melton, MD, wears many hats as a rheumatologist, teacher and champion for advocacy and collaboration. She has been involved with the ASC for more than a decade.

Subcategories:EthicsLegal UpdatesLegislation & AdvocacyResearch Rheum
The ACR/CHEST ILD Guidelines in Practice, a video
In collaboration with the American College of Chest Physicians, the ACR released two new comprehensive guidelines aimed at improving the screening, monitoring, and treatment of patients with interstitial lung disease (ILD) secondary to systemic autoimmune rheumatic diseases (SARDs). Recently, Sindhu R. Johnson, MD, PhD, professor of medicine at the University of Toronto, Canada, director of the Toronto Scleroderma Program and principal investigator for the guideline, and Elana J. Bernstein, MD, MSc, Florence Irving associate professor of medicine in the Division of Rheumatology at Columbia University, New York City, and co-first author, presented a webinar to talk about how the guidelines were developed and present some of the recommendations and their rationale: Watch the recording now!

Gwenesta B. Melton, MD, wears many hats as a rheumatologist, teacher and champion for advocacy and collaboration. She has been involved with the ASC for more than a decade.
The newest funding package reduces the latest cut to Medicare reimbursement from 3.4% to 1.68%. Although rheumatologists are faring better under Medicare in 2024, broader reforms remain the ACR’s highest priority regarding Medicare payments to physicians.
In an election year, it is critical that the ACR’s non-partisan political action committee be well positioned to support our congressional champions. Learn more about RheumPAC and its role in the ACR’s advocacy efforts.
The Insurance Subcommittee is working to address coverage and reimbursement challenges facing rheumatology practices, including issues related to biosimilar use, in-office treatments and the new G2211 code.

Christina D. Downey, MD |
The implementation of the new G2211 code on Jan. 1 increases reimbursement for rheumatology visits, but the ACR continues to fight for retroactive repayment of the across-the-board Medicare physician reimbursement cuts implemented at the same time, as well as structural changes to the program to make serving Medicare patients sustainable for rheumatologists in the long term.

A Shift in Prescribing Patterns Safety issues prompt discontinuation of tofacitinib By Stephanie Song, MD, & Joshua F. Baker, MD, MSCE Why was this study done? The ORAL Surveillance study highlighted risks of cardiac events, thromboembolism (VTE) and malignancy associated with use of Janus kinase inhibitors (JAKi). We sought to determine the impact of safety…

Joseph Cantrell, JD |
With state legislatures now in session, the ACR is working with our partners to ensure that the voice of the rheumatology community is heard. Here is a look at some of the bills we are monitoring and the trends we expect to play out over the 2024 legislative calendar.
2024 is an election year, which means it is more critical than ever that RheumPAC is well equipped to support campaigns and take part in important healthcare discussions on Capitol Hill.
The ACR is reaching out to Medicare Advantage and commercial payers to ensure appropriate reimbursement for the new complex care add-on code, G2211, implemented for outpatient office visits starting Jan. 1, 2024.

In an ACR Convergence 2022 session, Robert Spiera, MD, director of the Scleroderma, Vasculitis, and Myositis Center at the Hospital for Special Surgery, New York City, discussed the use of sarilumab as a potential glucocorticoid-sparing therapy in a phase 3 study in patients with treatment-refractory polymyalgia rheumatica (PMR), one of the most common inflammatory diseases…