Rheumatology Board Meeting Summary | Fall 2026
The Rheumatology Board met on Sept. 22, 2026, and held discussions on health equity, quality improvement, patient engagement and other emerging issues in rheumatology. The Specialty Board also voted on candidates who applied to join for a term beginning July 1, 2027.
This meeting included representatives from the American College of Rheumatology (ACR).*
See below for details of each agenda item. ABIM publishes reports on all Specialty Board meetings on the ABIM Blog.
Learn more about ABIM Specialty Boards.
ABIM Leadership Update*
Furman S. McDonald, MD, MPH, MACP, President and CEO of ABIM and the ABIM Foundation, met with the Specialty Board to report updates across ABIM’s strategic initiatives, including program enhancements, expanding stakeholder engagement, new research and investments in technological innovation.
Elise Carlson, MD, Chair of the Rheumatology Board, asked how ABIM uses artificial intelligence (AI) in its operations. Dr. McDonald shared that, among other projects, ABIM recently developed a tool to map assessment content to updated blueprints in a fraction of the time needed for human review. This is part of a range of new tools aimed at improving operational efficiency. Dr. McDonald affirmed that as with any new technology, vigilant human review and oversight remain essential to the process, and that ABIM only uses in-house models for optimal security and confidentiality. ABIM assessment content is always written and reviewed by physicians; AI tools are being used to enhance accuracy and efficiency in time-consuming or labor-intensive processes, not to replace human expertise and experience.
The group was also interested in learning more about ABIM’s work supporting individualized learning plans for diplomates by professional societies. In January, ABIM and the American College of Physicians (ACP) announced a collaboration that allows ACP members to download their ABIM assessment results to ACP’s Medical Knowledge Self-Assessment Program (MKSAP) and automatically generate a customized learning plan unique to their areas of strength and weakness. Other societies have expressed interest in this initiative and Dr. McDonald expressed hope that in the future, AI tools could help map society learning content to the ABIM blueprint to strengthen the cycle of learning and assessment. He also highlighted the Specialty Knowledge Gaps Reports published annually for the Longitudinal Knowledge Assessment (LKA®), which contain aggregate information on diplomate performance in each content area to help societies develop learning materials. ABIM plans to develop more detailed knowledge gap reports for initial certification exams in the future, in collaboration with specialty societies.
Dr. McDonald closed by highlighting the recent Academic Medicine systematic review of 44 studies associating stronger performance on certification exams with better patient outcomes.
Health Equity*
Lorna Lynn, MD, Senior Vice President for Health Equity and Medical Assessment Engagement, updated the Specialty Board on ABIM’s health equity work. ABIM remains firmly committed to advancing health equity and continues to work in the areas outlined in the Equity Statement: developing health equity content for assessments, working to ensure that assessments are fair and conducting research to advance equity in the profession. Dr. Lynn noted that this work involves staff throughout the organization, along with many physician volunteers, including Item-Writers and Approval Committee members. ABIM continues training staff and volunteers and building the systems needed to expand this work through all disciplines. Dr. Lynn noted recent research published in JAMA that highlights the contributions of physicians born outside the U.S. to the internal medicine workforce, authored by ABIM researchers and members of the ABIM Equity Committee.
ABIM’s equity work has also benefited candidates for initial certification through the Needs-Based Certification Exam Fee Assistance Program. Now in the second year of a planned five-year pilot, the Fee Assistance Program provides a 50% fee credit—$715—on the Internal Medicine Certification Exam for eligible first-time candidates who apply and attest to financial need, regardless of medical training background. Last year, more than 850 physicians applied and received the credit on their 2026 exam fee.
ABMS Standard 19: Engagement in Improving Health and Health Care*
Continuing its discussion from the spring, the Specialty Board returned to the American Board of Medical Specialties (ABMS) Standards for Continuing Certification, No. 19, which requires ABMS Member Boards to better track physician engagement in quality improvement work (i.e., without creating a new requirement for physicians themselves). Each of the Specialty Boards and the cosponsored Advisory Committees is involved in contributing to the ABIM definition of quality improvement.
Laura L. Sessums, JD, MD, Chief Medical Officer, proposed a working definition of quality improvement based on three ideas: that quality improvement is intentional and involves action, that it produces a measurable or observable result, and that it does not require a demonstration of improvement. She asked the Specialty Board for feedback on whether the definition was broad enough to encompass meaningful activities across the specialty.
Members generally supported the definition. Some wanted it to convey that quality improvement is continuous, while others cautioned that a continuous requirement could set the bar too high. Other suggestions included adding a reference to training and keeping flexibility in how the definition is applied. Dr. Sessums emphasized that this is an opportunity for recognition and reporting, not a new requirement, and committed to developing criteria for meaningful participation and returning to the Specialty Board in the spring.
The Specialty Board’s feedback will inform the final definition of quality improvement that will be slated for review and approval by the ABIM Council in December. Determination of diplomate activities within the definition that qualify for recognition will follow in 2027.
Patient Engagement*
Yuvaram Reddy, MBBS, MPH, who joined ABIM in July as the inaugural Deputy Chief Medical Officer, is leading ABIM’s initiative to deepen engagement with patients and the broader public. In general, patients and the broader public have a limited understanding of the value of ABMS certification—particularly how board certified physicians take several steps to remain current in medical knowledge and how studies show the association between board certification and improved patient care. (See the independent review published in August 2026 in Academic Medicine.) Dr. Reddy presented the initial strategy for patient engagement to the Rheumatology Board and sought their feedback, including their recommendations for patient-facing organizations with whom ABIM might engage.
Specialty Board members suggested reaching out to organizations aligned with advocacy and awareness for specific rheumatologic diseases. Rather than engaging people and organizations one at a time, they recommended strategizing on ways to convene groups together and stressed the importance of clear and measurable goals. Messaging, members noted, should explain the difference between specialist and non-specialist care, including care from advanced practice providers, who remain essential to the workforce. The Specialty Board also recommended expanding the section of ABIM’s website designed for patients.
Dr. Reddy’s team will use this input, alongside additional research, to develop an engagement plan over the coming months.
ACR Updates*
Steven Echard, Executive Vice President for ACR, and Dawn McEvoy, Vice President of Education, reported that registration for the second Practice Innovation Summit at ACR Convergence has doubled, and that ACR’s new joint accreditation status allows the college to offer continuing education credit for pharmacists, nurses, physician associates and social workers. In addition, ACR’s upgraded learning library lets users filter content by audience, topic, format and credit type. In its advocacy work, ACR reported record attendance at the spring advocacy meeting.
ACR shared that about half of users of ACR’s Rheumatology Informatics System for Effectiveness (RISE) registry have moved to a new platform with a dashboard covering 26 quality measures, eight of them specific to rheumatology. The registry includes about 200 practices, more than 1,000 active providers and nearly 4 million patients. ACR shared a case study showing how registry data can add context to medication safety questions.
ABIM staff asked whether RISE participation could count as quality improvement under the proposed definition discussed earlier. Mr. Echard said the dashboard allows benchmarking against peers and the registry could address targeted questions identified from assessment data. They are also considering AI integration to query large databases.
Patient Advocacy in Rheumatology*
Dr. Carlson led an open discussion focused on how clinicians can help rheumatology patients navigate a changing healthcare landscape. She highlighted how patients covered by Medicare and Medicaid are experiencing food insecurity, anxiety about the cost of medication and uncertainty about Medicaid work and community engagement requirements. She also noted that small rheumatology practices face significant pressures from changing biosimilar and reimbursement policies.
Specialty Board members shared related experiences. They said routine documentation may not capture the functional limits relevant to community engagement requirements, and that standard disease activity measures do not fully reflect fatigue, joint damage, treatment burden or unpredictable flares. With waits of six to nine months for a rheumatology visit in some areas, frequent re-documentation is not feasible.
Members also noted a shift from buy-and-bill toward specialty pharmacy and some infusion centers ending non-oncology infusions. They said small practices have limited protection from payment denials, including those from AI-driven claims review. One member suggested a partner organization could collect best practices into a resource for small practices and patients.
The Specialty Board also discussed possible future measures to address these issues. One member suggested ABIM could consider capturing home infusion in assessment content to better reflect what is feasible in practice due to the limits of access to biologics.
Society guests departed at this point in the meeting.
Specialty Board Membership
ABIM issued notice in June about an opening on the Rheumatology Board for a patient (public) member with an initial three-year term beginning July 1, 2027. Specialty Board members reviewed applications and met with candidates prior to the fall meeting. Following a discussion of the candidates’ qualifications, the Specialty Board reached consensus on a slate of nominees to submit to the ABIM Council, which makes the final appointment.
ABIM will contact all applicants in the months following the Council’s decision and announce the final appointees next July.
Specialty Board openings are typically published in July of the year prior to the start of the term. Current openings on ABIM Governance and the Item-Writing Task Forces can always be found on ABIM’s website.
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*Society representatives and other guests are invited to join for a limited portion of the agenda, marked with an asterisk. Other items are discussed by the Specialty Board in private.
