July 2000 • Volume 6 • Number 7
Opportunity in midst of chaos
BY PAULA BINDER
AAFP Executive Vice President Robert Graham, M.D., will leave what he calls "the best job in medicine" in August, when new EVP Douglas Henley, M.D., joins the Academy staff. What's ahead for the specialty? What has the AAFP accomplished on Graham's 15-year watch? Graham discussed these and other issues with FP Report recently.
FP Report: What are the biggest challenges -- and opportunities -- yet to come for the Academy and family practice?
Graham: The biggest challenge is that we serve a membership and a public that are struggling to deal with a health care system that can be fairly described as dysfunctional. And it's not clear that the path of evolution today is necessarily toward a better system. Of the four major participants -- purchasers, third-party intermediaries, providers and patients -- not a one of those interests is satisfied, and not a one has confidence that tomorrow is going to be better than today.
But there's an opportunity in the middle of this.
What our members do for and with their patients is really the heart of what the health care system is supposed to be about: They provide support, care and cure. Get that transaction right. Make sure patients continue to have confidence that they have access to that sort of care. Then build the rest of the system around that, making sure every American has a personal physician -- that's the opportunity the Academy has.
FP Report: Has there been a favorite moment of yours as EVP -- or a most challenging moment?
Robert Graham, M.D.:
"We serve a membership and a public that are struggling to deal with a health care system that can be fairly described as dysfunctional."
Graham: Nothing jumps to mind as a particular moment of agony or triumph. Instead, I think one of the successes of the organization is our steady progress along a number of fronts. For example, in a 10-year period we have essentially become wired, but it's been done in a stepwise, steady fashion. We have a tremendously active Web site, with participation by members and the public.
We've also expanded our Washington presence. This has fostered a sense within the Washington policy community and our peer medical associations that the Academy is a central player on health services issues.
There have been significant moments when I've watched the Board vote and felt they adopted something very important. That's the way I felt when they approved the conference for special constituencies and placed representatives of women, minority and new physicians in the Congress of Delegates. That's the way I felt when they decided to play a strong advocacy role in universal coverage. And that's the way I felt when they decided to take the financial risk and launch Family Practice Management.
FP Report: What comes next for Bob Graham?
Graham: I'll spend the next nine months on a structured sabbatical, with 20 hours a week as a scholar in residence at the AAFP Center for Policy Studies in Family Practice and Primary Care in Washington. I also plan to do a lot of reading on core competencies for leaders of organizations in chaotic times, such as right now.
And I'll run more. I'll see if I can get back into shape and maybe become age-group competitive.
FP Report: What about your legacy as EVP? What would you want members to remember you for?
Graham: I don't think CEOs define their own legacy, but I would hope people would say, "You really used good organizational development practices." The AAFP has come to be a learning organization. And we've developed a huge depth of talent among members and staff to do the daily tasks and to make the big decisions.
When I talked to the AAFP Congress for the last time as EVP last year, I wanted to make sure they understood this is the best job in medicine, and the reason is the people you work with, on the member and staff sides, and the values they pursue.
I want members to know how tremendously important it is that they write that dues check each year, in terms of our validity as an advocacy organization that's able to speak for some 89,000 members.
And I want them to know there are lots of people in this building in Kansas City who really care about what's going on in their professional lives. The focus in this building is on our members and the patients they care for.
FP Report is published by the AAFP News Department.
Copyright © 2000 by American Academy of Family Physicians.
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