coalition of state rheumatology organizations

What coalition of state rheumatology organizations does

The Coalition of State Rheumatology Organizations (CSRO) is a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization headquartered in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, founded in June 2003 to serve as the unified national voice of state rheumatology societies across 40+ states. Its mission centers on advocating for excellence in rheumatology and ensuring patient access to high-quality care for rheumatologic and musculoskeletal disease, with functional focus areas including state and federal legislative advocacy, payer relations, step therapy reform, and professional development.

CSRO's core product suite is web-based and includes the Career Center job board (powered by Web Scribble Solutions), a Legislative Map Tool, a State Legislative Tracker, an Action Center for direct legislator communication, an Education Library, a Payer Issue Reporting Form, Step Therapy Cover Sheets, the bi-monthly 'Rheum for Action' advocacy column (published in partnership with Medscape), and the Advocacy Grant Program offering member societies up to $5,000 per project. The platform architecture is essentially a content and membership portal integrated with a third-party job board, with no disclosed proprietary technology or AI components.

The organization is funded through a combination of state society membership dues, tiered corporate memberships, donations, and grant disbursements, with pricing not publicly disclosed. CSRO is governed by a Board of Directors composed of practicing rheumatologists, including specialized leadership roles such as VP of Advocacy & Government Affairs and a Fellow-at-Large position, and operates as an independently funded non-profit with no parent company or external investors.

Name

coalition of state rheumatology organizations

Legal name

Coalition of State Rheumatology Organizations

Website

https://csro.info

Company type

Private

Founded year

2003

Operating status

Operating

Short description

CSRO is a 501(c)(3) non-profit coalition representing state rheumatology societies across 40+ U.S. states, providing advocacy, legislative tracking, payer relations support, educational resources, career services, and grants for rheumatology professionals and member societies.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Headquarters

HQ city

Milwaukee

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Marketing or Sales, Technology or R&D, Others

Revenue model

1. Membership Dues: CSRO collects membership dues from state rheumatology societies and individual rheumatologists. State societies must be members of CSRO and current on payment of dues to access benefits including advocacy grants.
2. Corporate Membership: Corporate members sponsor the organization and gain association with CSRO's advocacy efforts and access to the rheumatology professional community.
3. Donations: The organization accepts donations through its donate portal, supporting the advocacy mission and operational activities.
4. Advocacy Grant Program: CSRO provides grants of up to $5,000 to member societies for advocacy activities, with specific criteria including member status and project proposals reviewed by Grant Committee and Board.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels4 records

Marketing channels6 records

Core offering

CSRO is a 501(c)(3) non-profit membership association that delivers advocacy, education, and policy resources on behalf of state rheumatology societies covering 40+ U.S. states. Its core deliverables include collective legislative and payer-relations advocacy (Legislative Map Tool, Action Center, State Legislative Tracker, Payer Issue Reporting Form), member education (Education Library, Step Therapy Cover Sheets, Insights for Employers), professional development (Career Center job board, Fellows Conference, conferences), and funding support via the Advocacy Grant Program.

Product overview

CSRO offers a suite of advocacy-focused products and member resources for rheumatology professionals. The core offerings include the Career Center (job board), Legislative Map Tool, Action Center, Education Library, and Payer Issue Reporting Form. These products work together to support the organization's mission of advocating for excellence in rheumatology and ensuring access to quality care. Additional resources include the Rheum for Action advocacy column, Advocacy Grant Program, Step Therapy Cover Sheets, and educational content for employers.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Career Center

Quantifiable outcome

• Advocacy grants of up to $5,000 available to member societies for state-level advocacy activities

Segments4 records

Ideal customer profiles3 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Partnerships

Two partnerships are on record, tiered core.

• MedscapecoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerCSRO partners with Medscape to publish the 'Rheum for Action' bi-monthly advocacy column, authored by CSRO's Vice President of Advocacy & Government Affairs. This partnership provides visibility for CSRO's advocacy priorities and keeps the rheumatology community informed on policy issues affecting the field.
• Web Scribble SolutionscoreTechnology or IntegrationWeb Scribble Solutions provides the technology platform powering CSRO's Career Center, including job board functionality, employer directory, career resources, and job seeker tools. This partnership enables the delivery of career services to rheumatology professionals.

Scale indicators2 records

Recent moves7 records

Expansion highlights4 records

Emerging players

• American Autoimmune Related Diseases Association: National nonprofit advocating for patients with autoimmune diseases, a substantial share of which are managed by rheumatologists. AARDA shares CSRO's payer, step therapy, and access-to-care priorities and serves as a natural patient-side coalition partner in joint advocacy campaigns.
• National Patient Advocate Foundation: National nonprofit focused on health policy advocacy for patients with chronic and serious illnesses, including autoimmune conditions. NPAF overlaps with CSRO on payer and access issues but approaches them from the patient rather than physician-society perspective, making it a complementary coalition partner.
• National Organization for Rare Disorders: Advocacy organization serving patients with rare diseases, many of which fall under rheumatology (e.g., lupus, vasculitis, scleroderma). NORD provides federal-level rare disease policy engagement that complements CSRO's state-society focus and creates natural co-advocacy opportunities.

Direct peers

• American Academy of Dermatology Association: Specialty society that engages in payer advocacy, step therapy reform, and state-society coordination. While dermatology is a different clinical focus, AAD's advocacy infrastructure, federal/state policy engagement, and coalition-style member organization closely parallel CSRO's operating model.
• American College of Rheumatology: The largest U.S. professional society for rheumatologists, ACR is CSRO's most direct peer in terms of mission (advancing rheumatology) and audience (practicing rheumatologists and researchers), but operates at national scale and offers clinical guidelines, journals (Arthritis & Rheumatology), and the annual ACR Convergence meeting rather than state-society coalition advocacy.
• American Academy of Allergy, Asthma & Immunology: A specialty medical society with a comparable operating model (state/regional affiliate network, advocacy on payer and step-therapy issues, annual meetings, fellowships). AAAI's structure of regional/state allergy societies mirrors CSRO's coalition of state rheumatology societies and addresses similar payer and access-to-care pain points.
• American College of Physicians: Large internal medicine specialty society with chapters at the state level, payer advocacy work, CME, and policy tracking tools. ACP shares CSRO's blend of clinical, educational, and legislative activities and provides a benchmark for how a specialty society structures state chapter relationships and advocacy tooling.
• American Academy of Family Physicians: Specialty society with chapters in every state, payer and step-therapy advocacy, fellowship pipeline, and CME offerings. AAFP mirrors CSRO's coalition-state-society architecture and competes for the same physician advocacy mindshare on payer and access-to-care issues.
• Arthritis Foundation: Major national patient advocacy organization for arthritis and related rheumatic diseases. Overlaps with CSRO on advocacy (access to care, step therapy) but focuses on patients and fundraising rather than physician state-society coalition work, making it a complementary rather than directly competing peer.

Broad incumbents

• American Medical Association: The dominant U.S. physician organization with state medical society affiliates, federal advocacy, and broad healthcare policy work. AMA operates as a multi-specialty umbrella that encompasses the rheumatology community, giving it overlapping advocacy interests but a fundamentally broader scope than CSRO's specialty coalition model.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks5 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• Xtwitter.com/CSROAdvocacy
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/coalition-of-state-rheumatology-organizations

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles18 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

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M&A

Investments

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Frequently asked questions about coalition of state rheumatology organizations