November 2006

(11/29/2006)  --  A plan that would, among other things, expand the Medicaid program and create federal tax incentives to buy private health insurance has added yet another dimension to the discussion on how to cover the nation's uninsured. The proposal, set forth Nov. 13 by America’s Health Insurance Plans, or AHIP, would cover all low-income children within three years and all poor adults within 10 years. It also would implement tax incentives to encourage people to buy private health insurance. More

(11/29/2006)  --  During his address at the recent National Summit for Employers on Health Care Transparency, HHS Secretary Michael Leavitt called on employers across the nation to commit to health care quality and cost reporting for employees. More

(11/29/2006)  --  Here's news you may wish to pass along to some of your patients: Younger women who chow down on a hamburger for lunch and have red meat for supper on a regular basis may be at increased risk for some breast cancers, according to an article in the Nov. 13 issue of Archives of Internal Medicine. More

(11/29/2006)  --  A national commission that was created to study Medicaid reform has recommended medical homes for all beneficiaries and a managed care plan for elderly and disabled patients who qualify for Medicaid and Medicare. More

(11/29/2006)  --  It's an exciting, challenging time of opportunity for family medicine, says new AAFP President Rick Kellerman, M.D., chair of the Department of Family and Community Medicine at the University of Kansas School of Medicine-Wichita. In this interview, Kellerman explains the reasons behind the excitement, as well as the challenges still ahead. More (Members Only)

(11/28/2006)  --  The AAFP's Family Practice Management journal has packaged many of its coding tools together and is making them available to help family physicians improve their coding and increase their reimbursement. The FPM Coding Toolkit bundles the following 10 coding tools, offering them at a single price. More

(11/28/2006)  --  Illinois family physicians will no longer wait as long as 200 days for Medicaid payment, thanks to the Illinois AFP's Medicaid initiative. The initiative was one of three recently singled out for honors by the AAFP. More

(11/27/2006)  --  With a little communication and creative approaches to student outreach, family medicine residency program directors and predoctoral program directors can stop "living in separate universes." More

(11/27/2006)  --  In an effort to shrink the gap between the proportion of Americans who are minorities and the proportion of minority physicians in the United States, the Association of American Medical Colleges, or AAMC, has launched a two-year campaign to recruit black, Hispanic/Latino and Native American students into medicine. More

(11/22/2006)  --  Family physicians have the ability to tip the scales in their favor when it comes to managing America's obesity epidemic. Research clearly shows that the number of children, adolescents and adults considered overweight continues to rise in the United States. Although this trend is troubling, it provides the opportunity for family physicians to become experts in an area many subspecialists won't touch. More

(11/22/2006)  --  Family physicians should proceed with caution before paying any "invoices" they receive from New Hill Services, Eli Research Inc. or The Coding Institute. What appears to be an invoice for payment could, in fact, be a ploy by New Hill to increase circulation for a publication called Family Practice Coding Alert. More

(11/22/2006)  --  "My practice was becoming more about producing volume, and less and less about caring for patients." That's the assessment L. Gordon Moore, M.D., recently made about the state of his solo family medicine practice in 2004. He was speaking to an audience of nearly 150 family physicians, other clinicians, educators and office administrators at the Conference on Practice Improvement: Health Information and Patient Education, held Nov. 9-12 in Denver. More

(11/22/2006)  --  If you've ever been frustrated by patients who don't -- or perhaps can't -- take their prescription or other medications as instructed, then the AAFP Foundation may have the perfect toolkit for your office. More

(11/21/2006)  --  For years, the FDA has been working to phase out albuterol metered-dose inhalers that use chlorofluorocarbons, or CFCs, as propellants, directing manufacturers instead to produce inhalers that use hydrofluoroalkane, or HFA, to deliver the drug. As the deadline for finalizing that change draws closer, family physicians can steer patients to a new American Lung Association program, CFC-Free Inhalers: Time to Make the Switch, that offers information about albuterol inhalers that use HFA and suggestions about prescription assistance programs. More

(11/21/2006)  --  The AAFP's tobacco cessation initiative, Ask and Act, is gaining steam from two grants and a new push to spur AAFP constituent chapter involvement. More

(11/20/2006)  --  Stop the cut! That's the message AAFP government relations staff members have hammered home to federal lawmakers and their staff during the 109th Congress' lame-duck session. More

(11/17/2006)  --  AAFP Board Chair Larry Fields, M.D., of Flatwoods, Ky., is encouraging all Academy members who haven't yet done so to consider signing on as providers for TRICARE, the U.S. military health plan. More

(11/16/2006)  --  Physician payment reform will top the list of the AAFP's federal advocacy efforts when the 110th Congress is gaveled to order in January. That focus will work to revive reform activity that came to a virtual halt as lawmakers "saw the ground shifting" before the mid-term elections, said Kevin Burke, director of the AAFP Division of Government Relations. More

(11/16/2006)  --  The Academy’s tobacco-free education program for students, Tar Wars, works. That’s the conclusion of research involving fifth-graders, their teachers and their Tar Wars presenters. “Family Physicians and Youth Tobacco-Free Education: Outcomes of the Colorado Tar Wars Program” in the November-December issue of the Journal of the American Board of Family Medicine reports on data collected in 2001-02. More

(11/15/2006)  --  If you're up for Academy membership re-election this year, consider making your first New Year's resolution before Thanksgiving: Report all CME credit earned during your re-election cycle by Dec. 31. More

(11/15/2006)  --  Don't expect the lame-duck session of Congress that opened Nov. 13 to reform the Medicare physician payment system. Instead, the Nov. 7 election results likely will convince federal lawmakers to pass temporary continuation of the existing payment rate and policy, said Kevin Burke, director of the AAFP Division of Government Relations. More

(11/15/2006)  --  Proposed solutions to the problem of covering the uninsured have abounded since the number of individuals without insurance in the United States began spiraling upward. Proposals ranging from using tax credits to creating association health plans to move toward universal coverage have come before Congress. But one solution -- consumer-directed health plans that encompass health savings accounts -- has been a consistent focus of debate since entering the scene in 2003. More

(11/15/2006)  --  Patient-centered primary health care was the topic of the day at an Oct. 23 roundtable hosted by IBM, the AAFP and the American College of Physicians at IBM's Washington, D.C., office. The computer giant organized the meeting to lay the groundwork for future collaborative efforts to support health care in the United States. More

(11/14/2006)  --  The American Medical Student Association, or AMSA, has endorsed the AAFP Family Physician Workforce Reform report and commended the Academy for its leadership in addressing primary care workforce issues. The association's action reflects a growing recognition that a thriving primary care workforce is fundamental to a strong health care system, according to AMSA President Jay Bhatt. More

(11/14/2006)  --  Although anyone can develop high blood pressure, the risk of hypertension increases with age, and men older than 45 and women older than 55 are at particular risk for the condition, according to NIH's National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute, or NHLBI. Compounding the issue, many older patients don't know what danger signs to look for and may suffer the consequences of high blood pressure, including stroke, heart disease and kidney failure, before they are aware of its potential adverse effects. More

(11/14/2006)  --  Just as the future of America's health care depends on family medicine -- as outlined in the 2004 Future of Family Medicine Report -- so does the future of family medicine depend on ensuring family physicians are able to practice successfully in every nook and cranny of the country. More

(11/14/2006)  --  To help boost the number of Americans seeking seasonal influenza immunization and to raise awareness of the need to continue vaccinating throughout November and beyond, HHS, including the CDC, and the National Influenza Vaccine Summit are sponsoring National Influenza Vaccination Week, to be held Nov. 27-Dec. 3. More

(11/13/2006)  --  AAFP's position on providing health care coverage for all aligns strongly with of a federally mandated, national commission studying America's health care. That commission, the Citizens' Health Care Working Group, released six recommendations in September that call for universal coverage in a system that protects patients' financial well-being -- positions long-held by the Academy. More

(11/13/2006)  --  The Pennsylvania AFP announces the candidacy of Thomas Weida, M.D., of Hershey for AAFP speaker. More

(11/10/2006)  --  FDA officials have issued a public alert about a nationwide recall of 383 lots of 500-milligram acetaminophen caplets following the discovery of small metal fragments in some of the caplets. The voluntary recall, which is being conducted by Perrigo Company of Allegan, Mich., involves approximately 11 million bottles manufactured and distributed under various store brand labels. More

(11/10/2006)  --  Health care is an important issue for voters in the United States, and many of them are expressing dissatisfaction with the system as it is structured currently -- dissatisfaction that may reverberate in the voting booth during the next few years. More

(11/08/2006)  --  Medicare's announcement of the 2007 Medicare Physician Payment Schedule final rule in a Nov. 1 press release provides a bright spot for family physicians in that the new relative value units, or RVUs, will encourage increased physician/patient communication. More

(11/08/2006)  --  Medicare will pay for preventive ultrasound screening for abdominal aortic aneurysm, or AAA, in specific patient groups and also will expand beneficiary access to bone mass measurement and colorectal cancer screening under a final rule announced by CMS on Nov. 1. More

(11/08/2006)  --  Medical, business and consumer groups are calling for a change in the U.S. health care system, and many of them agree that a primary care foundation is vital to ensuring that the system works. More

(11/08/2006)  --  Clinicians should resume immunizing their 11- and 12-year-old patients against meningococcal infection using the tetravalent meningococcal conjugate vaccine, or MCV4. That's according to the CDC and its Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices, or ACIP, in a Notice to Readers published Nov. 3 in the CDC's Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report. More

(11/07/2006)  --  Now is the time to begin reminding your patients to review their Medicare-eligible medications to ensure their drugs are on the 2007 formularies of those patients' Part D prescription plans. That's because Part D plan enrollment begins Nov. 15, giving patients the chance to remain in their current Part D plans or, if necessary, change to coverage that better meets their needs. More

(11/07/2006)  --  Here's good news: You don't have to dig through stacks of journal issues to find a particular article you remember having seen in Annals of Family Medicine. All issues of Annals are available online at no charge. More

(11/07/2006)  --  In an effort to keep the lines of communication open on issues that affect family physicians and their patients, Academy leaders and staff members traveled to Louisville, Ky., Oct. 19 to meet with members of Humana's leadership team. More

(11/03/2006)  --  Having National Health Service Corps clinicians in rural underserved areas helps persuade non-NHSC physicians to also work there, according to the results of a study, funded by the AAFP's Robert Graham Center, that were published in the fall issue of the Journal of Rural Health. More

(11/03/2006)  --  Researchers from the Academy's National Research Network and Robert Graham Center in Washington, D.C., were among more than 500 presenters and co-authors whose studies gained an audience at the annual meeting of the North American Primary Care Research Group Oct. 15-18 in Tucson, Ariz. The AAFP-related papers and posters covered topics ranging from the care of people with depression to pay-for-performance standards in the United States and United Kingdom. More

(11/01/2006)  --  Primary care medical homes would be the norm for New Orleans residents under a health system reform plan submitted to CMS Oct. 23 by the Louisiana Health Care Redesign Collaborative. More

(11/01/2006)  --  Family physicians interested in offering the most up-to-date preventive care for their patients now can have a new tool -- the Electronic Preventive Services Selector, or ePSS -- literally at their fingertips. More

(11/01/2006)  --  Support from the Academy and the AAFP Foundation has been crucial in a quest to confirm a connection between asthma and Chlamydia pneumoniae, says David Hahn, M.D., clinical professor of family medicine at the University of Wisconsin, Madison. More

(11/01/2006)  --  A Pennsylvania-based insurer has announced that it will accept AAFP's quality improvement initiative known as METRIC Measuring, Evaluating and Translating Research Into Care -- as a best practice initiative in its physician pay-for-performance program. More

(11/01/2006)  --  Researchers associated with AAFP's National Research Network and Robert Graham Center in Washington, D.C., contributed an article on patient safety research to a recently published journal issue and a chapter discussing schemas for classifying medical errors to an award-winning book. More

(11/01/2006)  --  Always one of the AAFP's best opportunities for members, chapter executives and lobbyists to network and discuss state health policy issues, this year's State Legislative Conference will take place Nov. 10-11 in Austin, Texas. More

(11/01/2006)  --  FDA and CDC officials recently updated a health advisory issued last fall that concerned reports of Guillain-Barré syndrome, or GBS, associated with administration of tetravalent meningococcal conjugate vaccine, or MCV4. Federal health officials say they are continuing to investigate the situation but, at this time, have announced no changes to current recommendations regarding MCV4 immunization. More

(11/01/2006)  --  The federal government took another step in its ongoing efforts to promote widespread adoption of health information technology by naming the Certification Commission for Healthcare Information Technology, or CCHIT, a Recognized Certification Body, or RCB. More