BY TONI LAPP
What do AAFP members and others think of the new Future of Family Medicine project recommendations? Members are greeting the FFM report "with guarded enthusiasm," said AAFP President Michael Fleming, M.D., of Shreveport, La.
Last month, he discussed the FFM recommendations with California AFP members at their annual meeting. Their questions were all over the board:
"What is the Academy doing to help small practices get electronic health records?"
"How are we going to win respect in academic circles?"
"How do hospitalists fit into the FFM vision?"
On target
After the session, Fleming said, "The questions that were asked tell me we're right on target" with the FFM recommendations.
Regarding electronic health records: "The Academy is working on Partners for Patients (a program to make EHR systems available and affordable to all FPs) because it sees the importance of electronic health records to managing information," he said.
Regarding academia: "We've come to the conclusion that we have to have a research agenda to win respect in academic circles," Fleming said.
Regarding hospitalists: "AAFP supports the use of hospitalists in certain situations, provided there is a seamless transfer of information and care," Fleming said, harking back to the importance of EHR implementation. "Many of our members use hospitalists. Many of our members are hospitalists."
The FFM project's Task Force 6 is charged with formulating a financial model that sustains and promotes a thriving practice. The task force is bringing payers to the table for discussions on reimbursement issues.
"Sometimes you have to be willing to talk with your enemies," said Fleming. "You want to keep the snake in front of you rather than beside you."
Task Force 6 will submit a report in August to leaders of the family medicine organizations that supported the FFM project.
Online discussion
The FFM report, published as a supplement to the March/April Annals of Family Medicine, is online at http://www.annfammed.org.
One of the first physicians to post commentary about the recommendations on the Annals discussion board was Allan Korn, M.D., senior vice president and chief medical officer of BlueCross BlueShield Association. Korn said he anticipated that the report would lead to intensified cooperative efforts between AAFP and BCBS.
Barbara Starfield, M.D., M.P.H., of Johns Hopkins University Bloomberg School of Public Health, using the discussion board, summed up the report as "bold but not brave."
Her advice? "Defensive stances are insufficient in promoting the future of primary care; an offense is necessary."
One chapter's response
Texas AFP President David Schneider, M.D., of San Antonio said in an interview that his chapter began prioritizing the FFM tactics in March to identify work for various chapter commissions.
"Every one of our commissions is involved with moving the recommendations forward," he said.
One Texas AFP commission is charged with implementing health information technology in residency programs. Another commission is looking for innovative ways to educate students to provide greater skills to enhance practice revenue.
Schneider said he feels a sense of urgency: "We need to make things happen or we are going to be in big trouble as family doctors. We need to take this head-on."
Next steps for AAFP
Similarly, the AAFP Board of Directors will prioritize the recommendations to identify goals that can be accomplished immediately and target others for short- and long-term completion.
"The question I get most is 'when?'" said Fleming.
"The bottom line is, doctors want to get control back in their lives," he said. "They want the physician-patient relationship to be preserved."
To reach writer Toni Lapp, e-mail tlapp@aafp.org.
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Copyright © 2004 by
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