AAFP News Now -- American Academy of Family Physicians

AAFP Director Julie Wood, M.D., performs an ultrasound exam on a pregnant patient

A Perfect Time to Talk About Breastfeeding

(5/25/2012, 1:45 p.m.) -- Rather than celebrate mothers and motherhood on Mother's Day, Time magazine recently dared its female readers to be "mom enough." The May 21 cover story about attachment parenting featured a provocative photo of a young model -- complete with skinny jeans and tank top -- nursing her 3-year-old son, who was looking at the camera while standing on a chair to reach his mother's exposed breast. The results were predictable. According to The New York Times, the issue was Time's best seller this year, and the magazine doubled the number of subscriptions it sells in a typical week. With more than 50,000 mentions on Twitter and more than 40,000 Facebook likes, it also set off innumerable arguments about parenting in online forums. More

Claims Edit Misfire Causes 450,000 Claims Rejections Nationwide

Clearinghouse Advises Physicians to Resubmit

(5/23/2012, 1:45 p.m.) -- Health insurer Humana recently notified a number of physician organizations and other affected entities about a glitch in its request for implementation of a valid 5010 transaction claims edit that ultimately resulted in the rejection of some 450,000 claims. Affected health care claims were submitted between April 26 and May 10 to Humana's designated claims clearinghouse, Availity LLC. According to Humana, any physician who submits claims directly to Availity or who submits claims through a clearinghouse that forwards claims to Availity likely will experience rejected claims. More

AAFP, USPSTF Issue Final Recommendation Against Routine PSA-based Screening for Prostate Cancer

Evidence Simply Does Not Support Test's Benefit, Says Task Force Co-chair

(5/22/2012, 4:00 p.m.) -- The AAFP is recommending against performing prostate-specific antigen (PSA)-based screening for prostate cancer in asymptomatic men, a position that is in line with a final recommendation from the U.S. Preventive Services Task Force that was published May 22 in the Annals of Internal Medicine. The recommendation applies to asymptomatic men in the general U.S. population, regardless of age, but does not include the use of the PSA test for surveillance after diagnosis or treatment of prostate cancer. More