Diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) are the focus of a new ACR/ARP subcommittee of the Collaborative Initiatives (COIN) Special Committee. The 13-member group will explore strategies to increase diversity in the rheumatology workforce pipeline and reduce implicit bias in such organizational processes as speaker recruitment and abstract review. “There is a new awareness at the…
Although patient volume temporarily declined due to the COVID-19 pandemic, rheumatologists saw a larger increase in compensation in 2020 than in 2019, according to a recent Medscape survey.
Rheumatology leaders are encouraged by continued implementation of E/M coding changes, telehealth flexibilities and rheumatology-specific MIPS Value Pathway, but have concerns regarding conversion factor reductions and the CMS EHR interoperability and digital quality measures proposal.
A relatively new state association, the Rheumatology Association of Minnesota and the Dakotas (RA-MD), held its first meeting in 2016. Five years later, the association president, Jody Hargrove, MD, a board-certified rheumatologist with Arthritis and Rheumatology Consultants PA, Edina, Minn., says the group’s membership fluctuates between 80 and 100 rheumatology professionals. RA-MD has members from…
We are now a year-and-a-half into the COVID‑19 pandemic, and rheumatologists and rheumatology professionals are still facing some of the same challenges that began in spring 2020, as well as new ones. Most recently, we learned that COVID‑19 vaccine efficacy is reduced in some patients on immunosuppressive therapies and the need for additional immunization is…
The COVID-19 pandemic changed pretty much every facet of human activity, from home life to social interactions to the workplace. Medicine and research kept up a dizzying pace throughout the pandemic, with physicians and researchers working clinic hours even if they were able to use telemedicine to do some of their work from home. For…
The group’s goals include workforce diversification and inclusive speaker recruitment.
In 2014, four rheumatologists formed a new organization to promote gender equity within the field. Today, the Association of Women in Rheumatology offers training and opportunities in leadership, business development, financial planning and more, as recently highlighted at its annual meeting Aug. 12–15.
Everyone wants to be accepted and feel like they belong. These are innately human traits, and they don’t go away when we leave the grade school playground, high school cafeteria or university quad. We want to feel safe and accepted at work, too, and that feeling is important to professional success and effectiveness. From a…
William “Bill” R. Palmer, MD, MACR, passed away on Aug. 5, 2021, from highly aggressive, metastatic thyroid carcinoma. He was surrounded by his loving family. Continuing a lifelong pattern, he was courageous, dignified and loving through his last moments. I first met Bill on July 1, 1974—my first day of my medical internship at Albany…