Winter 2021 (Volume 31, Number 4)
Report from the ORA
By Philip A. Baer, MDCM, FRCPC, FACR, ORA President
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“Neither snow nor rain nor heat nor gloom of night stays these
couriers from the swift completion of their appointed rounds.”
– Unofficial motto of the US Postal Service
No pandemic can stop the activities of the Ontario
Rheumatology Association either, as we have
proven over the past year. Our leadership group
and our committees have met exclusively via Zoom since
March 2020, but the work continues to get done and our
influence grows perceptibly.
We held a very successful virtual Annual Scientific Meeting
(ASM) in late May 2021. I was on-site for the duration at
the state-of-the-art bbBlanc studios just north of Toronto,
with my co-host Dr. Janet Pope participating virtually from
London. Drs. Felix Leung, Ashley Sterrett and Deb Levy
hosted a session each, giving Janet and myself a welcome
break, and providing my only in-person close encounters
with fellow rheumatologists in the past year. Our star-studded
roster of speakers included Drs. Joseph Smolen, Maya
Buch, Michelle Petri, Jeffrey Curtis, Christopher Ritchlin,
Robert Inman, Shahin Jamal, Robert Bell and Jason Lee.
We also ran two ORA Town Halls in September 2021.
The first updated members on the evolving pandemic situation,
featuring the ORA’s go-to infectious diseases expert,
Dr. Zain Chagla, speaking on vaccine efficacy, third
doses and variants. The second introduced the SADIE online
portal, to which all requests for public funding of exceptional
access drugs in Ontario will be directed as of
January 2022, when the Ministry of Health “axes the fax.”
These events are recorded and archived on the ORA website
www.ontariorheum.ca (members-only portion), where we
also house links to multiple practice-related and COVID-19
resources, and an archive of all ORA e-blasts to members.
Meanwhile, all ORA committees continue to persevere
and deal with their mandates. Drug shortages, biosimilar
transitioning, virtual medicine, mentoring of early career
rheumatologists, and rheumatologist shortages remain key
areas of focus. The Informatics Committee led by Dr. Tom
Appleton continues work on the ORDER project, aiming
to create a dashboard for a rheumatology electronic medical
record (EMR), which will allow participants to visualize
their individual practice benchmarks, and compare themselves
to the aggregate of participating rheumatologists
within the province. The ultimate goal remains to develop
an enhanced EMR user experience, while improving patient
outcomes in a measurable fashion.
Our Northern Ontario Committee, chaired by Dr. Sahil
Koppikar, is actively developing a funded model of rheumatology
care to enhance access, integrating rheumatologists
and arthritis health professionals (AHPs). Indigenous
cultural sensitivity training, pioneered by the CRA, will be
mandatory for participants. We are also working to address
rheumatology shortages in Eastern Ontario.
Dr. Jane Purvis, the ORA’s dynamo, has revitalized our
Government Affairs Committee. We are engaged in further
training in advocacy for the committee members. In partnership
with the Ontario Medical Association (OMA), where
Jane and several ORA members hold key positions, we have
already been successful in establishing fee parity between
in-person and virtual medicine visits, extending virtual medicine
fee codes to September 2022, and obviating the need
for our members to provide patients with letters certifying
that they qualify for third COVID vaccine doses.
The successes of the ORA would not be possible without
our hard-working Executive Director, Sandy Kennedy,
as well as our numerous committee members and our engaged
general membership. Dr. Nikhil Chopra, our longtime
Treasurer, has provided steadfast guidance as we navigate
a challenging financial environment. We also continue
to work smoothly in concert with Drs. Ahmad Zbib and
Evelyn Sutton and the CRA secretariat to share learnings
and enhance the activities of our overlapping organizations.
Going forward, we look forward to a successful 2022
ASM in late May, format to be determined. My term as ORA
President will conclude there, and Dr. Felix Leung will take
over from me and guide the ORA to future successes.
There are always opportunities for ORA members to
participate in ORA activities and committees. Check out
our website at www.ontariorheum.ca for more information.
Philip A. Baer, MDCM, FRCPC, FACR
Editor-in-chief, CRAJ
Scarborough, Ontario
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