The following is a press release from ACR released on May 11:

The American College of Rheumatology (ACR) today announced the launch of a new white paper, “Rheumatic Diseases in America: Confronting the Challenge,” which provides an overview of the current health care challenges facing the rheumatic disease community and highlights the importance of receiving timely and appropriate treatment from a rheumatology health professional.

Released during Arthritis Awareness Month, the white paper aims to educate policymakers, health care professionals, members of the media and the general public about rheumatic diseases, which affect approximately 54 million adults and at least 300,000 children in the United States alone.

“Rheumatology is a broad discipline that covers a wide variety of diseases that affect a person’s joints, musculoskeletal systems, immune system and many other organs,” said Dr. Suleman Bhana, Chair of the ACR’s Communications and Marketing Committee. “With this white paper, we aim to create an accessible, introductory resource for those interested in learning more about rheumatic disease, current treatment options, and the health care and lifestyle challenges patients with rheumatic disease face.”

The white paper is written and designed to appeal to multiple audiences and consists of four key sections:

I. Rheumatology 101

This section provides an introduction to what a rheumatic disease is, describes the role of a rheumatologist, and discusses the importance of early and appropriate treatment. Patients and their family members – particularly those who may have been recently diagnosed with a rheumatic disease – may find this section helpful in understanding what to expect after a diagnosis. Health care professionals may also find this section to be an important resource for conversations with patients to reinforce the importance of timely and accurate diagnosis, and why coordinating care between specialists is so important.

There are over 100 different rheumatic diseases and conditions, some of the most common include: rheumatoid arthritis, lupus, gout, scleroderma, juvenile idiopathic arthritis, psoriatic arthritis, ankylosing spondylitis and Sjögren’s syndrome. This white paper discusses what some of these diseases are and how they affect different parts of the body.

II. Rheumatic Diseases: Prevalence & Impact

Rheumatic diseases in America are extremely common. According to the CDC, an estimated 54 million Americans – 1 in 4 – have a doctor-diagnosed rheumatic disease and some studies have suggested that the actual number of Americans living with these diseases is even higher when accounting for symptoms reported by undiagnosed individuals. The economic toll of rheumatic diseases is also significant. The total cost of rheumatic diseases was recently estimated to be as high as $304 billion annually – greater than the total cost of cancer care in the United States.

For policymakers, the media and the general public, this white paper provides useful statistics that call attention to rheumatic diseases as a public health issue, why solutions are urgently needed to improve patients’ quality of life, and why rheumatology health care professionals are uniquely equipped to help patients manage these diseases.

III. Emerging Trends in Rheumatology

Providers may find the white paper’s discussion of emerging trends in rheumatology – including biosimilars and telehealth – to be helpful in their practice. Rheumatology is a constantly changing field of medicine and these issues will become increasingly important for patients, providers, and the public to understand.

Biosimilars (copies of biologic drugs that are intended to work in the same way as their reference products) represent a new and promising area of rheumatic disease treatment. However, educating patients and providers about their use will continue to be crucial to ensuring their uptake. While recent research has shown that rheumatologists generally have a good understanding and acceptance of biosimilar products, a recent survey found that 29 percent of rheumatic disease patients were unsure whether they had been prescribed a biosimilar drug.

Telehealth, the adoption of which has been catalyzed by the COVID-19 pandemic, represents another important emerging trend in the practice of rheumatology. As many as 66 percent of rheumatic disease patients had an appointment via telehealth in 2020 and these services have been shown to especially benefit individuals with disabilities, those who are in a nursing home, and those living in an area where they would have to travel long distances for treatment.

IV. Access, Affordability & Lifestyle Challenges for People Living with Rheumatic Disease

People living with rheumatic diseases face a variety of access, affordability, and lifestyle challenges associated with their disease. This white paper provides an overview to the public policy issues related to these challenges such as a growing rheumatology workforce shortage, insurer practices that restrict access to care, and rising drug prices that threaten to make treatment unaffordable for many who rely on specialty medications to manage their symptoms.

Solutions are needed to address these issues – and others – that affect the rheumatic disease community. This white paper presents readers with the latest opportunities to get involved with the ACR and Simple Tasks to advocate for better public policy.

To download and read the white paper, CLICK HERE.

The following is a press release from the ACR dated today:

The American College of Rheumatology (ACR), in partnership with Pack Health, launched two digital health coaching programs to reduce health disparities among Black women and Latinas living with systemic lupus erythematosus (lupus). The ACR’s Collaborative Initiatives (COIN) department, which houses The Lupus Initiative, will lead the efforts.

The ACR is launching the programs to address a lack of digital health coaching options for the lupus community. The ACR’s COIN department, which concerns itself with advancing health equity and eliminating health disparities, sought funding and community support to create tools that will assist Black women and Latinas living with the disease. Hopefully, having a digital health coaching program specific to this population will help with navigating daily barriers and issues they face in self-management.

The first program is a one-year, $100,000 medical education grant. It runs until Oct.15, 2021, and will provide digital health coaching for 15 individuals with lupus for three months.

The goals are to:

• Increase patient self-efficacy to engage in recommended lifestyle behaviors and adhere to treatment recommendations;
• improve adherence to recommended lifestyle and behaviors; and
• produce insights into program acceptability, patient barriers and lupus disease burden, among other things.

The second program, known as Lupus Engagement through Activity and Digital Resources (LEADR), is a two-year, $299,000 grant-funded through the Office of Minority Health. It will run until Oct. 30, 2022 and plans to reach 200 Black and Latina women in Georgia. LEADR aims to:

• Encourage more medical providers to discuss and refer their patients to a digital health coaching program,
• increase physical activity among Black women and Latinas with lupus, reduce negative health outcomes associated with lupus, and ultimately reduce lupus health disparities.

“Building on evidence-based approaches, LEADR’s community-driven health equity model is a unique way to address the complex, multi-faceted need for more providers to recommend physical activity and adherence among African American women and Latinas with lupus,” said Rosalind Ramsey-Goldman, MD, chair of the ACR’s Collaborative Initiatives Committee. “The ACR is singularly qualified, and positioned, to develop and implement a lasting program that improves physical activity among this particular population.”

The ACR has partnered with Pack Health, a health coaching company specializing in providing digital support to people with chronic conditions, to execute the programs. Pack Health will create curriculums and deliver one-on-one health coaching to the target populations. The ACR will lead the programs and leverage its membership, collaborations and TLI resources to achieve the outcomes.

“The focus of these programs is to develop and provide meaningful, data-driven, one-on-one support to improve the self-management skills for people with lupus,” said Kelly Brassil, PhD, RN, Pack Health’s Director of Medial Affairs. “Pack Health’s key objectives are to conduct literature reviews and collect qualitative data to understand patient needs and experiences, use what we learn to inform program development, and, in turn, better serve the needs of the lupus community. Additionally, we plan to enhance and specialize our physical activity content for individuals living with lupus, with a special emphasis on Black and Latina women.”

Lupus is a chronic disease that causes systemic inflammation affecting the skin, joints and multiple organs like the kidneys, heart and brain. It is estimated that 1.5 million Americans have a form of the condition.  According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Black women are three times more likely to get lupus than white women, and lupus is also more common in Hispanic, Asian, and Native American and Alaskan Native women. Additionally, Black and Hispanic women usually get lupus at a younger age and have more severe symptoms, including kidney problems, than women of other groups.

The following is a press release issued today by ACR:

Today, more than 60 healthcare stakeholders, representing Medicare providers,  signed a letter urging congressional leaders to support bipartisan legislation that would implement the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Service’s (CMS) Calendar Year 2021 Medicare Physician Fee Schedule (MPFS) final rule as written, and provide for a one-year waiver of budget neutrality adjustments to avoid payment reductions to providers during the COVID-19 public health emergency.

If enacted, H.R. 8505 , which was introduced by Representatives Michael Burgess (R-TX) and Bobby Rush (D-IL), would ensure that long overdue rate increases for evaluation and management (E/M) services provided by rheumatologists, neurologists, and other cognitive specialists under Medicare – as finalized by CMS in its final rule – would not lead to rate cuts to other medical specialties or to physical and occupational therapists, many of which are an integral part of the rheumatology patient care team. This is a legislative solution that meets the needs of all stakeholders by allowing CMS to implement the final rule, on schedule, while funding offsets to the reimbursement reductions using funds allotted for provider support during the public health emergency.

“H.R. 8505 is a win-win solution for all medical specialties, and we encourage congressional leaders to swiftly pass this legislation,” said David Karp, MD, PhD president of the American College of Rheumatology (ACR), the group leading the letter. “Current E/M reimbursement rates suppress patient access to diagnosis, treatment, and health maintenance at a time when demand for care is increasing. If this dire situation is not addressed as planned in the MPFS, then patient access to care will continue to decline.”

In 2018, CMS proposed a code collapse that would have resulted in significant cuts to rheumatology care provided to Medicare beneficiaries. But after hearing the concerns raised by the patient and specialty provider community, CMS finalized a new proposal that reflects the recommendations of the American Medical Association, the ACR and over 170 other specialty societies and state medical associations. When enacted, the new rule will provide long overdue updates to Medicare reimbursement for time-intensive healthcare services including examinations, disease diagnosis, risk assessments and care coordination.

“The E/M improvements that will go into effect in January 2021 are critical to the continued delivery of high-quality rheumatology care for millions of Medicare beneficiaries,” said Karp. “Budget neutrality via H.R. 8505 is a fair and reasonable approach to ensure these needed updates are not made at the expense of other specialties.”