(11/19/2009)  --  CMS has extended Medicare's 2010 provider participation enrollment end date to Jan. 31, 2010. This gives physicians currently participating in Medicare or considering participation in 2010 one month beyond the normal Dec. 31 cutoff to make a participation decision. More

(11/19/2009)  --  The United States likely will fall well short of the Healthy People 2010 objective of reducing the prevalence of cigarette smoking among adults to less than 12 percent. According to a Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report, or MMWR, article released Nov. 13, the proportion of U.S. adults who were cigarette smokers declined from 24.1 percent in 1998 to 19.8 percent in 2007. However, the figure increased to 20.6 percent in 2008. More

(11/18/2009)  --  The U.S. Preventive Services Task Force, or USPSTF, has updated its recommendations for breast cancer screening with some significant changes, including a recommendation against routine screening mammography for women ages 40-49 who aren't at increased risk for breast cancer. More

(11/18/2009)  --  The overwhelming majority of Americans who have tried to get vaccinated against the novel influenza A (H1N1) virus have been unable to do so, according to a recent poll from the Harvard University School of Public Health, Boston. Meanwhile, the CDC said on Nov. 9 that nearly 80 percent of seasonal flu vaccine already has been distributed to vaccine providers, and a surge in uptake may leave supplies short of demand. (Discuss this story on the AAFP News Now bulletin board.) More

(11/18/2009)  --  Delegates at the 2009 interim meeting of the AMA House of Delegates in Houston recently adopted several recommendations that put the AMA squarely in line with key components of the AAFP's new physician workforce reform policy and with other medical education issues championed by the Academy. Some of the most important measures adopted concern expanding funding for graduate medical education, or GME; limiting future restrictions on resident and fellow duty hours; and enhancing the availability of clinical training sites for medical students. More

(11/18/2009)  --  This roundup includes the following news briefs: SGR Bill Would Cost $35 Billion Less Than Previous Fix; Medical Home Pilot Launches With 13 Practices in Kansas City Area; and CMS Releases Results for 2008 PQRI Participation. More

(11/17/2009)  --  The AAFP, along with the American Academy of Ophthalmology and a number of other medical groups, has responded quickly and forcefully to calls by the American College of Cardiology, or ACC, to overturn a new CMS rule that would provide a 5 percent to 8 percent increase in Medicare physician payment rates for primary care physicians during the next four years. More