Annual Review -- December 2001 -- FP Report

December 2000 • Volume 7 Number 12

AAFP in 2001

"Keep the faith -- good things are coming for family physicians," says (then) President Richard Roberts, M.D., J.D., as he pledges to call a member a day -- his way of staying in touch and keeping abreast of the issues FPs are facing. By the end of his presidency, Roberts calls 382 members.

The new childhood immunization schedule includes an added vaccine, the heptavalent pneumococcal conjugate vaccine, administered at ages 2, 4 and 6 months and from 12 to 15 months. The schedule is a joint effort of the AAFP, American Academy of Pediatrics and CDC.

At a Washington news conference, Academy leaders take to the nation AAFP's draft plan for health care coverage for all. The media ask the public to comment on the plan. Some 1,200 responses later, mostly from FPs, the AAFP Board revises the proposal (see October).

The Board of Directors gives the nod for creating a Commission on Resident and Student Issues, in part to help combat decreasing student interest in the specialty.

FP Marguerite Duane, M.D., left, talks about family practice with a Vietnamese medical student at Ho Chi Minh Medical University

AAFP's public awareness campaign kicks off with ads in the nation's most-read newspapers, including USA Today and The Washington Post, and through on-air sponsorship of National Public Radio's highest-rated news programs. "Today's family physicians -- specializing in all of you," proclaim the ads.

For the first time, Physicians With Heart travels to Vietnam, delivering goodwill, family practice education and medical supplies valued at $4.25 million.

One hundred thirteen people gather in Colorado Springs, Colo., for the first convocation of the AAFP's National Network for Family Practice and Primary Care Research. The network's goal is to get 10 percent of AAFP active members (about 5,000 practicing FPs) involved in research.

Match numbers for the specialty's residencies drop for the fourth consecutive year as the Academy works to both understand the trend and stem the tide of students' disenchantment with the specialty.

Title VII funding "is crucial to training the physicians that America needs most," (then) AAFP Director James Martin, M.D., tells a congressional panel. The Bush administration's call for zero funds for training FPs prompts lobbying by more than 450 family physicians from spring to fall. The campaign to save the federal support works. At press time, Congress is expected to approve a level of funding at least as high as last year's funding.

AAFP joins other organizations in developing new antibiotic use guidelines on evaluating and treating adults with acute respiratory tract infections. The guidelines aim to curb fallout from overuse and inappropriate use of antibiotics.

These family physicians and about 45 others gather at AAFP's first convocation on practice-based research (see March).

Results of an e-Health survey show that 69 percent of AAFP members already use the Internet in their practices, reports (then) Board Chair Bruce Bagley, M.D. The AAFP wants all FPs using the Internet in their offices by 2003 and using electronic medical record systems by 2005.

"Some physicians are afraid of using high-powered drugs, but those drugs may be what our patients need," says AAFP Director Karla Birkholz, M.D., at a news conference in Washington. She helps launch the National Initiative on Prescription Drug Misuse and Abuse, sponsored by the National Institute on Drug Abuse, the Academy and six other groups.

About 50 family physicians "hit the hill," lobbying U.S. senators and representatives on issues such as Medicare prescription drug coverage and funding for family practice training, the National Health Service Corps and the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality.

News reports this spring indicate about 120 people died from misusing the painkiller OxyContin, and Drug Enforcement Administration officials suggest the drug should be prescribed only by pain specialists. "Don't restrict OxyContin prescribing rights," AAFP officers, staff and members advise the FDA and DEA. The Academy takes quick action to educate members about OxyContin abuse. In November, past President Bruce Bagley, M.D., tells state attorneys general about family physicians' expertise in pain control.

Executive Vice President Douglas Henley, M.D., vows that the Academy will continue working through government channels to ensure that Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act regulations are fair and doable for FPs. "The Academy will also make resources available to FPs to ease the process of complying with HIPAA," says Henley.

"As doctors, we are fighting hard for our patients," FP Darlene Lawrence, M.D., says at a Capitol Hill rally for the Bipartisan Patient Protection Act. She tells Congress, "We need you to fight hard for patients, too -- this legislation will do just that." Nearly 400 FPs send e-mails and letters to the Senate, which passes the bill. But the House adopts a narrower bill the administration supports, and no compromise is expected in 2001 or even 2002.

Families rally on Capitol Hill for a patients rights bill. The Academy championed the bill at the June event.

After tracking the issue for years and providing feedback to the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, the AAFP is pleased to report HHS Secretary Tommy Thompson's statement that HHS is taking a new approach to the development of its controversial evaluation and management documentation guidelines.

The Accreditation Council for Continuing Medical Education awards AAFP's CME accreditation program full accreditation with commendation for a six-year period, the longest period available.

Marshall Kubota, M.D., a member of the AAFP Commission on Public Health, represents the AAFP at a Senate forum on the impact of sexually explicit entertainment on children.

FP Marshall Kubota, M.D., discusses the impact of sexually explicit entertainment on children during testimony at a July 26 Senate forum.

Results of the 2001 Member Attitude Survey show that a whopping 85 percent of AAFP members are satisfied with the Academy when it's compared with other medical organizations.

Two FPs -- Paul Ambrose, M.D., left, and Frederick Rimmele, M.D., right -- die in the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks. The AAFP responds quickly to the national emergency by setting up a special hotline and e-mail address to help members volunteer for relief efforts. The AAFP also posts a list of online resources for post-traumatic stress disorder.

The Congress of Delegates, meeting in Atlanta, takes these actions:

-- adopts "Assuring Health Care Coverage for All," a plan for all in this country, even undocumented aliens, to gain basic health care services and caps on costs for catastrophic illnesses;

-- grants seats in the Congress to international medical graduates;

-- approves a position on the AAFP Board for a representative of new physicians, those in practice for up to seven years;

-- asks the AAFP to protest unjustifiable price increases for flu vaccine and recommend ways to prevent shortages of flu, tetanus and other vaccines; and

-- chooses (then) Director James Martin, M.D., as president-elect.

Despite travel uncertainties after the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks, 3,794 physicians attend the Scientific Assembly in Atlanta.

The Future of Family Medicine project is the subject of a standing-room-only meeting during the Scientific Assembly. Pondering new directions for the specialty, members crowd the microphones to discuss both practice frustrations and the rewards of the doctor-patient relationship.

The Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality awards $750,000 in two research grants to the Academy.

To ensure adherence to ethical guidelines, the Academy and a bevy of pharmaceutical companies sign onto a joint statement in which all parties pledge to honor guidelines on gifts to physicians from industry.

After hearing from some 7,400 fired-up family physicians, Congress stops short of allowing veterans to identify chiropractors as their primary care physicians in Veterans Affairs facilities (see story, page 1).

Mac Cahal, J.D., 94, the Academy's visionary first chief executive, dies after a brief illness. He served as executive director from 1948 to 1971. He received Honorary Membership in 1970.

AAFP members receive a letter about emergency preparedness from President Warren Jones, M.D. "As sentinel family physicians," he says, "we will be able to recognize terrorist threats and events without overreacting, help patients recognize these threats without overreacting, treat our patients when appropriate, and know what, when and where to report." Jones encourages members to access resources at www.aafp.org/btresponse/.

FP Report is published by the AAFP News Department.
Copyright © 2001 by American Academy of Family Physicians.
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