December 2000 • Volume 6 Number 12
AAFP in 2000
The Pain Relief Promotion Act battle continues from January through November. AAFP and individual FPs fight the PRPA, saying it could put physicians at risk for penalties for prescribing needed pain medicine for dying patients. (At press time, it was uncertain whether the Senate would pass a bill with PRPA attached and whether the bill would become law.)
AAFP supports an AMA lawsuit against the Department of Health and Human Services, assailing unlawful undercompensation of physicians for Medicare services in 1998 and 1999. AAFP later signs an amicus brief supporting AMA's appeal of a judge's ruling in favor of HHS. Lobbying by AAFP and other groups throughout 2000 results in new methods for calculating the sustainable growth rate, raising physicians' payments.
The AAFP Public Advisory Board -- the first such panel for a national medical society -- holds its initial meeting in Washington.
AAFP's first electronic newsletter, AAFP This Week, debuts. All active members with e-mail addresses on file with AAFP become privy to the latest news of interest to FPs.
Once again, the Clinton administration "zeros out" family practice training funds in the 2001 budget proposal. AAFP begins effort to strengthen Title VII support for FPs' training. (At press time, Title VII appropriations had not passed, but increased funding was proposed.)
Grant money becomes available to state Tar Wars programs from the American Legacy Foundation and SmokeLess States National Tobacco Prevention and Control Program, funded by Robert Wood Johnson Foundation.
AAFP launches the Practice Quality Enhancement Program. Nearly 2,000 members request information about the pilot program. By year's end, 583 members are enrolled and are submitting information on quality improvement projects in their offices.
The AAFP Board votes to support the spirit of the 1999 Institute of Medicine report on medical errors and commits AAFP to studying steps to enhance safety in FPs' practices.
The AAFP National Network for Family Practice and Primary Care Research asks its members, primarily family physicians, to join its first study, focused on patient safety in FPs' offices.
Primary care match results are down overall, sparking discussion on why fewer medical students are selecting family practice and on ways to address the downward trend.
The White House convenes a meeting on children's mental health and psychotropic drugs. (Then) AAFP Board Chair Lanny Copeland, M.D., speaks about appropriate use of drugs as part of treatment for children.
American Family Physician celebrates 50 years of publishing.
The Academy organizes a dramatic show of support for patients' rights with a march on Capitol Hill. FPs, medical students and chapter reps take calculators and stethoscopes to lawmakers and ask, "Who do you want caring for your family -- an accountant or a physician?"
Forty-three FPs and 10 others rally on Capitol Hill to promote a patient's bill of rights.
AAFP, other medical societies receive a White House thank you for initiating a campaign to get unsafe consumer products off the market.
The Academy revamps its Web site, making http://www.aafp.org/ at once streamlined, yet chock-full of information. The site is sponsored in part by a grant from Bristol-Myers Squibb. One innovation: Members may create Web sites for their own practices by clicking on "My Academy." By November, more than 1,000 members had active sites.
(Then) AAFP President-elect Richard Roberts, M.D., J.D., panelist at a Washington debate, fires the first question at Gore and Bush health advisers: "What are the candidates going to do to promote primary care, preventive services and restorative care?"
AAFP, other national associations kick off a campaign, "Healthy School Nutrition Environments: Promoting Healthy Eating Behaviors."
The number of AAFP delegates to the AMA House of Delegates soars to 19, giving AAFP more AMA delegates than any other specialty society. The Academy helps pass a resolution for greater access to reproductive health care, including vasectomies and tubal ligations. "We serve patients with diverse views and beliefs, and patients who desire pregnancy prevention should be able to obtain these services," says (then) AAFP Director Deborah Haynes, M.D.
Despite straight talk from (then) AAFP President Bruce Bagley, M.D., about fair Medicare reimbursement, the AMA House of Delegates adopts the "Halt 2000" resolution. Backed by more than 40 hospital-based groups, the resolution calls for a partial halt in the 1998-2002 transition to resource-based practice expenses. At year's end, the U.S. Congress is no longer considering "Halt 2000" -- a win for primary care.
"America's children are caught in the cross fire," says Bagley in a news release on AAFP's new policy against media violence.
The annual member attitude survey indicates 81 percent of members view AAFP positively, compared with other organizations; 61 percent say AAFP has improved; 72 percent feel the Academy is doing a good job representing the specialty to the public, patients and organized medicine.
The Board renames AAFP's Washington policy center The Robert Graham Center: Policy Studies in Family Practice and Primary Care, in honor of departing Executive Vice President Robert Graham, M.D.
The torch is passed from Graham to Douglas Henley, M.D., AAFP's new EVP. Henley, who was in private practice for 20 years, is the first past president and Board chair of the Academy to assume the EVP post.
"No health insurance? It's enough to make you sick," say ads in the National Journal at the Democratic and Republican national conventions. The AAFP cosponsors the ads for health care coverage for all Americans.
The AAFP Congress of Delegates:
-- pledges AAFP to a leadership role in making sure at least one journal exists for original clinical research in family practice;
-- calls for phasing in new criteria for evaluating and categorizing clinical content of CME, encouraging incorporation of evidence-based content;
-- welcomes announcement of a multimillion-dollar publicity effort for the specialty, including grass-roots projects and February ads in USA Today and The Washington Post and National Public Radio sponsorships;
-- chooses Warren Jones, M.D., as president-elect, the first African-American tapped to lead AAFP; and
-- asks for amendments allowing new physicians to have a Board seat and international medical graduates to have delegate status. The AAFP Congress will vote on the amendments Oct. 1-3, 2001, in Atlanta.Members choose from the most extensive selection of CME offerings ever at the Scientific Assembly in Dallas. Surgeon General David Satcher, M.D., Ph.D., an FP, commends AAFP for the 2001 Annual Clinical Focus: Asthma, Allergy and Respiratory Infections.
"The AAFP is missing the perspective of over 30 percent of its active members -- new physicians," says Julie Wood, M.D., at the Congress of Delegates.
Bharat Patel, M.D., left,listens at an April meeting as Ben Oteyza, M.D., calls for international medical graduates to have delegate seats in the AAFP Congress.
President-elect designate Warren Jones, M.D., left, and Surgeon General David Satcher, M.D., Ph.D., confer after Satcher's talk at the Scientific Assembly.
The Keystone III think tank outside Colorado Springs, Colo., debates the specialty's future. Some 82 attendees are on hand; many more take part through AAFP's Web site.
R. Michael Miller, J.D., 57, AAFP's deputy executive vice president since 1992, dies of a heart attack. Miller joined the Academy staff in 1968 and received Honorary Membership in AAFP in 1998.
Academy leaders express concerns about FDA's possible development of more stringent criteria for waived laboratory tests under the Clinical Laboratory Improvement Amendments.
Flu vaccines come late, some not till December. AAFP and CDC advise vaccinating high-risk patients first, when supplies arrive, and assuring patients that late vaccinations are still worthwhile.
President Richard Roberts, M.D., J.D., gives feedback to CEOs of about 20 large health plans concerning their initiatives to develop a common formulary database and simplify physician credentialing and the determination of covered benefits.
It seems likely federal lawmakers will fail to pass a comprehensive bill for patients' rights. Roberts brands the 106th Congress "the Congress of missed opportunities and misplaced priorities."
The AAFP draft paper on health care coverage for all Americans jump-starts a nationwide dialogue (see story).
FP Report is published by the AAFP News Department.
Copyright © 2000 by American Academy of Family Physicians.
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