(02/08/2010)  --  Crystal balls may be out of vogue, but PricewaterhouseCoopers' Health Research Institute recently released an annual report that assesses what the new year could bring to anyone with a stake in the U.S. health care industry. Issues that may affect FPs the most include health information technology, or health IT; fraud and abuse programs; alternative health care delivery methods; accountable care organizations, or ACOs; and health care spending. More

(02/08/2010)  --  Family physicians and their patients should be aware that an outbreak of foodborne illness caused by Salmonella serotype Montevideo that has been linked to certain salami products is responsible for more than 200 reported cases in 42 states and the District of Columbia. More

(02/08/2010)  --  I just saw the article in AAFP News Now about electronic health records, or EHRs ("Health IT Helps Practices Grow, Improve Patient Care"), and I wondered why you hadn't interviewed any physicians who weren't as enchanted with EHRs as the four you found. More (Members Only)

(02/05/2010)  --  The Academy will continue to fight for family physicians and their patients in 2010 because patients need better access to health care and primary care physicians deserve fair payment for their services. That's according to AAFP President Lori Heim, M.D., who currently serves as a hospitalist at Scotland Memorial Hospital in Laurinburg, N.C. Heim sat down recently with AAFP News Now to discuss what's coming down the health care pike this year. More

(02/05/2010)  --  Family physicians and the patient-centered medical home can play important roles in combating the nation's obesity epidemic, said U.S. Surgeon General and family physician Regina Benjamin, M.D., M.B.A., during a Jan. 28 press event at which she and HHS Secretary Kathleen Sebelius were joined by first lady Michelle Obama to kick off a campaign to reduce overweight and obesity among U.S. adults and children. The news conference coincided with Benjamin's first release to the nation, "The Surgeon General's Vision for a Healthy and Fit Nation 2010," in which she highlights the growing numbers of overweight and obese Americans; outlines the causes and health consequences of obesity; and offers steps that consumers, parents, schools, communities and physicians can take to reverse this trend. More

(02/03/2010)  --  The Obama administration's fiscal year 2011 budget would provide funding increases for a number of primary care-related programs and, thus, would enable the U.S. health care system to take steps toward offering a high-quality, efficient and accessible health care system, according to AAFP President Lori Heim, M.D., of Vass, N.C. More

(02/03/2010)  --  A majority of family medicine residency program directors who participated in a recent survey do not think proposals from the Institute of Medicine, or IOM, to further restrict resident duty hours will result in improved patient safety and resident education. In fact, according to a study co-authored by an AAFP workforce expert and others involved in family medicine education, the program directors think the proposals, if implemented, would have detrimental effects in both of those areas. More