Introduction

For health care marketers, there is an increasing need for research data that will assist them in choosing target audiences and determining how best to reach them. One key audience today is the family physician.

Accordingly, Family Practice Management is providing critical information about the physician members of the American Academy of Family Physicians (AAFP).

The AAFP is one of the largest medical specialty organizations (more than 93,800 members) and is recognized as the nation's top advocate for family medicine.

Family physicians treat patients from the nursery to the nursing home:

Office visits to family physicians represent about 23 percent of all patient visits, although FPs represent only 9 percent of all physicians.¹

FPs write 28 percent of all prescriptions issued during office visits, more than any other single specialty.¹

Family physicians are recognized as specialists who are essential to managed care. Their broad scope of practice helps reduce excessive costs and increases access to care. They are the most frequently designated primary care providers, or "gatekeepers," for managed care organizations (MCOs).

Office-based FPs support an average of 7.8 managed care contracts.²

This research represents the fourteenth consecutive survey conducted by Family Practice Management on AAFP member practice patterns and journal reading habits. We hope you will find the information useful in planning your future marketing strategies.

¹Facts About Family Medicine, American Academy of Family Physicians, 2007.

²Practice Management Profile, American Academy of Family Physicians, 2007.