January 2006

(01/31/2006)  --  After tests revealed that about nine out of 10 influenza A viruses circulating this flu season are resistant to the antivirals amantadine and rimantadine, marketed as Symmetrel and Flumadine, respectively, the CDC has issued an alert advising health professionals to avoid using these drugs for prophylaxis or treatment of flu for the remainder of the 2005-06 season. More

(01/31/2006)  --  As two buses criss-cross the country enrolling patients in a program for low-cost or no-cost medicines, one AAFP leader is actively promoting the initiative. The Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America created the Partnership for Prescription Assistance last April as a single point of access to more than 475 patient assistance programs, and the Academy has been a partner in the PPA since its beginning. More

(01/30/2006)  --  The Minnesota AFP announces the candidacy of Timothy Komoto, M.D., of Mendota Heights for AAFP president-elect. More

(01/30/2006)  --  The Tennessee AFP announces the candidacy of Jim King, M.D., of Selmer for AAFP president-elect. More

(01/27/2006)  --  Most CME Self-study & Resource Packages based on AAFP courses now feature online post-tests. AAFP members using the optional online testing process will benefit from having their credits added to their CME records immediately after completing the online post-tests. In addition, all learners using the online process will receive lists of correct answers immediately after submitting their post-tests. More

(01/27/2006)  --  FamMedPAC, the AAFP's federal political action committee, proposes to work closely with constituent chapters this year to raise member awareness about the importance of participating in state and federal PACs, according to a plan approved Jan. 21 by the FamMedPAC Board of Directors. More

(01/27/2006)  --  The nation's emergency medical care system is mediocre and likely to get worse without prompt action by state and federal legislators, according to a report issued by the American College of Emergency Physicians. America's emergency system earned a C- overall, according to the Jan. 10 report, National Report Card on the State of Emergency Medicine, which includes state-by-state analyses. More

(01/26/2006)  --  I read with almost tearful eyes the legal opinion finally sought by the Academy regarding colonoscopy privileging. More (Members Only)

(01/26/2006)  --  Tune in to This Is America on PBS to see panelist Robert Phillips, M.D., M.S.P.H., director of AAFP's Robert Graham Center in Washington, discuss health care issues during two shows. More

(01/26/2006)  --  The majority of older working adults struggle with the cost of health care, are concerned about their ability to maintain access to health care and want to enroll in Medicare before they are 65, according to a recent survey. More

(01/25/2006)  --  Last month's meeting of the AAFP Task Force on Influenza Vaccine shed some light on problems FPs and other front-line health care professionals experienced obtaining influenza vaccine for the 2005-06 flu season. Task force members heard from representatives from the three manufacturers of trivalent inactivated vaccine and others at the gathering. More

(01/25/2006)  --  The Annual Clinical Focus 2005 Genomics programs, online last year as CME video modules, are now also available in text. The eight programs explore the role inheritance plays in developing certain conditions and how knowledge of patients' genetic pedigrees can aid diagnosis and -- sometimes -- treatment of those conditions. More

(01/25/2006)  --  The AAFP has partnered with two more businesses -- OfficeMax and MBNA America -- to provide yet more benefits to Academy members. More

(01/25/2006)  --  The Academy sent an AAFP legal opinion to two organizations recently to counter a legal opinion the societies had earlier mailed to hospitals. At issue are privileges for family physicians in gastroenterology. More

(01/25/2006)  --  The American Board of Family Medicine is expanding the Maintenance of Certification Program for Family Physicians, or MC-FP, effective January 2007. More

(01/25/2006)  --  Patients with limited English proficiency can feel overwhelmed in a health care setting because of communication difficulties. Enter a new multifaceted initiative, Hablamos Juntos (We Speak Together), created by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation to find affordable solutions to language barriers in health care. One arm of the initiative -- Signs That Work -- involves the creation and testing of symbols for use in settings such as hospitals, clinics and physician offices. More

(01/25/2006)  --  Family physicians should be prepared to order influenza vaccine for the 2006-07 flu season even earlier than they did last year, according to the AAFP Task Force on Influenza Vaccine. That news came out of a meeting last month with representatives from the three manufacturers of trivalent inactivated vaccine for the 2005-06 flu season. More

(01/24/2006)  --  Many women -- and men -- will wear red Feb. 3, the day the American Heart Association calls National Wear Red Day for Women. The day is part of the annual Go Red for Women campaign, supported by the Academy as a way to encourage women to protect their heart health. More

(01/24/2006)  --  "The training of future family physicians will require a culture of innovation and experimentation to identify and evaluate new educational approaches." More

(01/24/2006)  --  The Medicare Payment Advisory Commission will call on Congress to implement a 2.8 percent increase in physician payment for 2007. The recommendation is part of MedPAC's 2006 report to Congress, to be submitted March 1. In effect, the MedPAC report will urge Congress to override provisions of the Balanced Budget Act of 1997, which requires use of the sustainable growth rate to calculate the Medicare payment formula. More

(01/23/2006)  --  Patients heading into surgery are often anxious and full of questions. Fortunately, HHS' Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality offers a new brochure aimed at answering those questions and directing patients to more resources. More

(01/23/2006)  --  The Texas AFP announces the candidacy of Roland Goertz, M.D., of Waco for AAFP director. More

(01/23/2006)  --  The Michigan AFP announces the candidacy of William Gifford, M.D., of Williamston for AAFP director. More

(01/23/2006)  --  The Arizona AFP announces the candidacy of James Dearing, D.O., of Phoenix for AAFP director. More

(01/23/2006)  --  Bring Tar Wars, the Academy's tobacco-free education program, to 30,000 students -- many of them minorities -- in 1,000 classrooms in one metro area this year? It may sound like a pipe dream, but it's already on its way to reality. More

(01/20/2006)  --  The North American Primary Care Research Group is accepting nominations from members and other researchers for the 2006 Maurice Wood Award for Lifetime Contribution to Primary Care Research. The deadline for receipt of nominations is April 18. More

(01/19/2006)  --  I agree with the AAFP News Now story, "Academy Calls on Health Plans to Quit Bundling Certain CPT Codes," that the bundling of physical exam codes with office visit codes is completely unfair. (Discuss this story on the AAFP News Now bulletin board.) More

(01/18/2006)  --  The former Conference on Patient Education -- now called the Conference on Practice Improvement: Health Information and Patient Education -- is looking for presenters. More

(01/18/2006)  --  If the word fiduciary causes your eyes to begin drooping and provokes instant drowsiness, you're probably not alone. Fortunately, the AAFP has provided the perfect antidote with the location of its upcoming Crash Course on Cash, Codes & Computers -- Acapulco, Mexico. More

(01/18/2006)  --  The U.S. House of Representatives has scheduled a Feb. 1 vote on legislation that would address the 4.4 percent cut in Medicare physician payment that went into effect Jan. 1. CMS officials have said Medicare would retroactively adjust physician payment to 2005 levels if the bill passes unchanged and is signed by President Bush. More

(01/17/2006)  --  Check out the following Web sites for courses and articles on incorporating procedures into your practice. More

(01/17/2006)  --  Using an instrument that hit the market a few years ago -- the ultraslim transnasal endoscope -- to perform upper gastrointestinal endoscopies "will obviate a lot of the expense associated with office endoscopy in the past," says FP Edward Zurad, M.D., of Tunkhannock, Pa. More

(01/17/2006)  --  Your bottom line is slipping, you want to offer patients more services, and you and your staff members need new challenges. Adding procedures to your practice might alleviate all of these concerns. More

(01/16/2006)  --  If you're interested in medical writing and editing, as well as faculty development, consider applying for AAFP's fellowship in medical editing. The one-year fellowship, based at Georgetown University Medical Center, Washington, D.C., begins in July. More

(01/16/2006)  --  The Pennsylvania AFP announces the candidacy of Thomas Weida, M.D., of Lititz for AAFP speaker. More

(01/16/2006)  --  The West Virginia AFP announces the candidacy of David Avery, M.D., of Vienna for AAFP director. More

(01/16/2006)  --  The Texas AFP announces the candidacy of Leah Raye Mabry, M.D., of San Antonio for AAFP vice speaker. More

(01/13/2006)  --  Some call the launch of Medicare Part D prescription benefits a disaster. Others say the "glitches" in the system will be ironed out. Most, however, can recount a tale of confusion over eligibility, copayments, deductibles or participating pharmacies. And few will venture a guess about the long-term efficacy of the program. More

(01/13/2006)  --  An AAFP meeting with CMS officials bore fruit in late December when the government acquiesced to Academy concerns about the Physician Voluntary Reporting Program. More

(01/12/2006)  --  After listening to Academy concerns about its designation pilot programs, UnitedHealthcare's EVP of Clinical Strategies and Policy, Lewis Sandy, M.D., told AAFP leaders UHC will not support benefit tiering around primary care in its new UnitedHealth Premium(SM) Designation Program. More

(01/12/2006)  --  The long awaited continuity-of-care record standard has been approved, published and is ready for prime time. That's welcome news for physicians anxiously awaiting the integration of CCR software into their electronic health record systems. More

(01/11/2006)  --  AAFP Board Chair Mary Frank, M.D., of Mill Valley, Calif., expressed the Academy's ongoing concern with physician payment as it relates to what she called the "(un)sustainable growth rate," in a Dec. 23 letter to CMS. The correspondence offered the Academy's comments on CMS' final rule on the 2006 Medicare physician fee schedule. More

(01/11/2006)  --  The AAFP Scientific Assembly provides a showcase for family medicine research papers, posters and scientific exhibits. Apply by April 3 to present your work during the Sept. 27-Oct. 1 Assembly in Washington, D.C. More

(01/11/2006)  --  The Academy's tobacco cessation campaign, Ask and Act, features a new online toolkit with downloadable resources. The toolkit includes quitline referral cards that can be printed in a physician's office or that AAFP members can order free from the Academy. More

(01/10/2006)  --  Death rates for the four most common cancers -- prostate, breast, lung and colorectal -- continue to decline in the United States, according to Cancer Trends Progress Report: 2005 Update, a biannual publication issued last month by the National Cancer Institute. Overall cancer mortality also continues to drop, said the report. More

(01/10/2006)  --  AAFP has taken its appeal for fair payment for administration of office-based hemoglobin A1c testing straight to Medicare carrier medical directors across the country. More

(01/06/2006)  --  Family physicians can track health insurance companies' Medicare Part D formularies through a free download from Epocrates Inc. More

(01/06/2006)  --  Unhappy about the 4.4 pay cut you're getting from Medicare this month? You can tell your members of Congress through an Action Alert issued Jan. 5 on the AAFP Speak Out Web page. More

(01/05/2006)  --  Having just welcomed 2006, the AAFP looks back at its accomplishments for 2005. One key change was a realignment of the Academy's governance structure -- a change designed to better integrate the tenets of the Future of Family Medicine project into all aspects of AAFP governance by matching commissions' scope of work with FFM goals. The new structure comprises nine commissions. More

(01/04/2006)  --  Hurricane Wilma may have swept the AAFP's Internal Medicine course from Cancun, Mexico, to the Kaua'i Marriott Resort and Beach Club in Kaua'i, Hawaii, but the dates -- March 13 to 17 -- and the course content remain unchanged. More

(01/04/2006)  --  "Ringing in the New Year" can mean different things to different people, but for many family physicians, Jan. 1 means it's time to update the annual schedule of immunizations recommended for children and teens. More

(01/04/2006)  --  Health care coverage for all and emergency medicine -- these topics loom so large for the specialty that the Academy has formed task forces to address them. More

(01/04/2006)  --  Hurricane Katrina devastated the medical infrastructure along the Gulf Coast. Now, as they rebuild the hurricane-ravaged region, policymakers would do well to finish that destruction, according to Karen DeSalvo, M.D., M.P.H., chief of general internal medicine and geriatrics at Tulane University School of Medicine, New Orleans. More

(01/03/2006)  --  Stroke is the third leading cause of death among elderly Hispanic Americans, behind heart disease and cancer. Educating family members about the symptoms of stroke allows them to respond more quickly if a loved one shows signs of stroke, potentially reducing morbidity and mortality associated with this debilitating condition. More

(01/03/2006)  --  Marketing works. With this premise, the Institute of Medicine begins the preface to its new report on the marketing of food and beverages to U.S. youngsters. More

(01/03/2006)  --  Retail health clinics should offer a well-defined and limited scope of services, referrals to physician practices when patients' symptoms exceed the clinics' scope of work and an operating philosophy that encourages medical homes for patients, says the AAFP Board of Directors. More