February 2008

(02/27/2008)  --  The AAFP has asked members of Congress to approve a 0.5 percent increase in the Medicare physician payment rate for the next 18 months to give lawmakers enough time to develop an alternative to the sustainable growth rate, or SGR, formula, which has triggered deep reductions in Medicare payment rates during the past several years. More

(02/27/2008)  --  The Bush administration, seeking to slow projected growth in Medicare spending, has proposed an initiative that could make it more difficult for family physicians to receive payment for meeting quality and efficiency standards, according to an analysis conducted by the AAFP. More

(02/27/2008)  --  Patients who have severe asthma that is refractory to treatment pose a problem in clinical practice. The standard agents for treating asthma (e.g., corticosteroids) often do not help these patients, making controlling their asthma difficult. According to FP Barbara Yawn, M.D., M.Sc., of Rochester, Minn., a former chair of the Academy's (then) Commission on Clinical Policies and Research, the situation may be complicated by the fact that family physicians often share the responsibilities for treating these patients with allergists or pulmonologists. In fact, she says she thinks the majority of these patients are not seen by FPs for their asthma. More

(02/27/2008)  --  Two U.S. pharmaceutical firms recently announced voluntary recalls involving certain opioid-containing patches they each market for pain control. The patches, which contain fentanyl, were recalled from wholesalers and pharmacies because of concerns that defects seen in some of the products could permit leakage of the contents and subsequent overdose. More

(02/25/2008)  --  NIH's National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute recently discontinued one arm of a large, ongoing clinical trial of patients with diabetes and cardiovascular disease because of concerns raised by a number of deaths among study participants. More

(02/20/2008)  --  Pennsylvania is preparing to launch a chronic care management program that will rely on family physicians and other primary care providers to coordinate and manage the care of residents of the state who have chronic conditions. The state plans to begin implementing its new chronic care program in May, starting with several primary care practices in Philadelphia before rolling out the program statewide in September. More

(02/19/2008)  --  The nation's health care system continues to undervalue primary care services, leading to a skewed physician payment structure that has created a shortage of primary care physicians, according to witnesses who testified before a Senate committee on Feb. 12. More

(02/14/2008)  --  Thanks to a program spearheaded by the Group on Immunization Education of the Society of Teachers of Family Medicine, or STFM, PDA users now can download compact versions of the latest immunization schedules for children and teens to their Palm OS or Pocket PC handheld devices at no cost. More

(02/14/2008)  --  The rapid growth in Medicare private fee-for-service plans during the past few years has placed financial and administrative burdens on many medical practices, forcing some to withdraw from the plans and leaving thousands of Medicare beneficiaries scrambling to find other sources of Medicare coverage. That's according to testimony before the Senate Finance Committee on Jan. 30. More

(02/13/2008)  --  The nation's physicians are willing to report medical errors, and they want to learn how to prevent them. They just don't have much faith in current error-reporting systems and, as a result, tend to share error information informally with their colleagues but not with their hospital, a new study concludes. More

(02/13/2008)  --  The federal government should create a new program with the authority to set priorities for evaluating clinical services and conduct systematic reviews of scientific evidence to determine what works in health care, according to a new report released by the Institute of Medicine, or IOM. That program also should develop (or endorse) rigorous standards for clinical practice guidelines and promote preferential use of those standards-based guidelines to health care providers, payers and others. More

(02/13/2008)  --  Prescription drug abuse among adolescents ages 12-17 is up dramatically, and a new public awareness and advertising campaign by the White House Office of National Drug Control Policy, or ONDCP, is asking parents to help bring these troubling statistics down. The ONDCP initiative, which launched publicly on Feb. 3 with a commercial during the Super Bowl, includes two new "Parents: The Anti-Drug" television ads and a series of open letters running in daily newspapers and other publications. The AAFP has signed onto the letters and is a partner in the White House office's Parents: The Anti-Drug campaign. More

(02/12/2008)  --  The American Diabetes Association, or ADA, recently released its "Standards of Medical Care in Diabetes -- 2008" position statement; the updated standards and supporting materials are available as a supplement to the January issue of Diabetes Care. More

(02/11/2008)  --  The Indiana AFP announces the candidacy of Thomas Felger, M.D., of Granger, for AAFP director. More

(02/08/2008)  --  CMS is ramping up its efforts to get physicians' attention regarding need-to-know information about National Provider Identifier, or NPI, deadlines. According to CMS, nearly 10 percent of physicians still are filing claims without an NPI number. More

(02/07/2008)  --  In his final budget proposal, President Bush has called for deep reductions in the nation's Medicare and Medicaid programs while also proposing the elimination of other initiatives that are vital to sustaining the nation's primary care infrastructure. More

(02/07/2008)  --  The patient-centered medical home is one step closer to becoming a pillar in the foundation of America's health care system with the recent launch of a physician practice recognition program. The National Committee for Quality Assurance, or NCQA, a private not-for-profit organization dedicated to improving health care quality, introduced its Physician Practice Connections -- Patient-Centered Medical Home, or PPC-PCMH, program in January. More

(02/05/2008)  --  The Partnership for Medicaid, a nationwide coalition dedicated to preserving and improving Medicaid, has called on Congress to temporarily increase the federal Medicaid matching rate for states and localities as part of an economic stimulus package now under consideration by federal lawmakers. The AAFP is a founding member of the coalition. More

(02/05/2008)  --  HHS Secretary Michael Leavitt convened a group of health care stakeholders, including AAFP President Jim King, M.D., of Selmer, Tenn., in Memphis on Jan. 31 to launch a five-year federal initiative designed to increase physician use of electronic health records, or EHRs. More

(02/05/2008)  --  Primary care physicians should not screen for asymptomatic carotid artery stenosis, or CAS, in the general adult population, according to the U.S. Preventive Services Task Force, or USPSTF. The recommendation and supporting documents are available online. More