Biography
Dr. Alfonso Bello is a board-certified rheumatologist with an additional board certification in pain medicine. He provides care for arthritis, osteoporosis and inflammatory diseases. Dr. Bello provides advanced treatments, including the latest forms of chemotherapy, immunotherapy and biologic therapies.
He puts particular emphasis on strategies to control patients’ pain, whatever the cause may be. He takes a holistic approach that combines medication with physical therapy, nutritional therapy and other treatments. His goal is to put patients’ illnesses into remission and to restore their quality of life.
Dr. Bello is the director of rheumatologic research at IBJI. He and his fellow IBJI rheumatologists are conducting multiple clinical trials of new medications, providing patients with the opportunity to take part in these studies and be treated with promising new therapies.
He is an expert in osteoarthritis treatment guidelines and lectures internationally to physician and pharmaceutical industry groups. Dr. Bello is also a former commander in the U.S. Public Health Service assigned to the U.S. Coast Guard.
Additional Areas of Expertise
- Osteopenia
- Osteoporosis
- Paget
- Polymyalgia Rheumatica
- Sarcoidosis
- Sciatica
- Scleroderma
- Spinal Stenosis
- Vasculitis (Wegeners, Microscopic Polyangiitis, Giant Cell Artheritis)
- Osteoarthritis
- Muscle Pain
- Muscle Inflammation
- Arthritis (Rheumatoid Arthritis & Osteoarthritis)
- Back Pain (Spinal Stenosis, Sciatica)
- Bone Density (DXA)
- Connective Tissue Disease
- Epidural Steroid Injections
- Fibromyalgia
- Gout
- Joint Injection
- Joint Pain (Hand, Wrist, Ankle, Foot, Knee, Hip, Back, Neck, Shoulder, Elbow)
- Lupus (Systemic Lupus Erythematosis)
- Antiphospholipid Syndrome
- Workers’ Compensation
- Independent Medical Evaluation
Education
Fellowship
Duke University Medical Center, Durham NC
Rheumatology
Residency
Lutheran General Hospital
Internal Medicine
Internship
Advocate Lutheran General Hospital
Medicine
Medical School
University of Illinois, College of Medicine
Research and Publications
Awards
- Fellow, American College of Physicians
- Fellow, American College of Rheumatology
- American College of Rheumatology Scholar Award
- American College of Rheumatology Traveling Student Award
- University of Chicago Distinguished Resident Teaching Award
Appointments
- Clinical Associate Professor of Medicine,University of Illinois College of Medicine, Chicago IL
- Adjunct Associate Professor of Family Medicine, Feinberg School of Medicine, Northwestern University, Chicago, IL; 2007 -2009
- Consulting Associate, Duke University Medical Center, Division of Rheumatology, Allergy and Clinical Immunology, Durham NC
- Director of Clinical Research, IBJI Rheumatology
- Former Chief, Section of Rheumatology, Department of Internal Medicine, Advocate Illinois Masonic Medical Center, Chicago IL
- Chief Medical Officer, Integrated Medical Affairs, Inc., Glenview IL
Curriculum Vitae
See my Curriculum Vitae
Accepted Insurance
- Aetna EPO, HMO, PPO, POS, NAP
- Aetna Medicare Advantage PPO, HMO
- Aetna Whole Health
- Beech Street/Concentra/Viant PPO and Workers’ Compensation
- Blue Advantage PPO
- Blue Cross Blue Shield PPO, BlueChoice PPO, HMO, HMOI, HMO Advantage, Blue Precision HMO, Medicare Advantage, MMAI Plan (some physicians)
- CareIQ, Rehab for Workers Compensation
- CCN POS
- CCN PPO
- Cigna HMO, PPO, POS
- CorVel PPO, Workers’ Compensation
- Coventry Medicare Advantage PPO, HMO
- Coventry PPO, Workers’ Compensation
- Encompass (surgery network for injured workers)
- First Health PPO
- Healthcare’s Finest Network PPO, Workers’ Compensation
- HealthLink Plans HMO, PPO
- HMO Illinois (some physicians)
- Humana MMAI, HMO, POS, PPO
- Imagine Health/Smart Network (MRI/CT Services, Rehab Services, and some Physicians)
- Longevity Health Medicare Advantage HMO
- Medicare
- MedRisk (Rehab services for injured workers)
- MultiPlan/Private Health Care Systems PPO
- One Call Medical Network (Imaging services for injured workers)
- One Call Care Management (Rehab services for injured workers)
- Orchid Medical (Rehab services for injured workers)
- PPO Next (aka HealthStar PPO, Preferred Health Network PPO)
- Preferred Network Access PPO
- Preferred Plan PPO
- Premier Comp Solutions (imaging services only)
- Savility
- Sunrise Advantage Medicare Advantage Plan
- Therapy Direct (Rehab services for injured workers)
- Union Health Service
- UnitedHealthcare HMO, Open Access, POS, PPO
IBJI providers are participating providers in the following workers’ compensation Preferred Provider Programs (PPP):
- CorVel
- Coventry
- Healthcare’s Finest Network
- MedRisk (Rehab/Work Comp)