February 2009

(02/25/2009)  --  President Obama pledged during his Feb. 24 address to a joint session of Congress that his administration would push hard for comprehensive health care reform legislation this year. That dictum sends a clear message to the AAFP and its membership that they must be involved in the ongoing reform efforts, according to AAFP President Ted Epperly, M.D., of Boise, Idaho. More

(02/25/2009)  --  The health information technology, or HIT, provisions in the recently enacted economic recovery legislation should accelerate the adoption and use of HIT in physician practices during the next few years, according to Steve Waldren, M.D., director of the AAFP's Center for Health IT. More

(02/25/2009)  --  With the nation's shortage of Haemophilus influenzae type b, or Hib, vaccine now stretching into its 15th month, the CDC is directly contacting thousands of health care providers with a reminder that all children should complete the primary Hib immunization series. More

(02/24/2009)  --  The AAFP's efforts, in tandem with those of the American Academy of Home Care Physicians, or AAHCP, to correct an oversight in CMS' recently launched electronic-prescribing incentive program, recently resulted in a denial from the agency. In a Feb. 9 letter to CMS Acting Administrator Charlene Frizzera, AAFP Board Chair Jim King, M.D., of Selmer, Tenn., pointed out that, as currently implemented by CMS, Section 132 of the Medicare Improvements for Patients and Providers Act of 2008 "precludes physicians who practice predominantly, if not exclusively, as house call physicians from participation in the e-prescribing incentive program." More

(02/24/2009)  --  The FDA has issued a public health advisory following the deaths of three patients using the psoriasis drug efalizumab, which is marketed as Raptiva. The agency said in its Feb. 19th advisory that there have been three confirmed reports -- and one possible case -- of progressive multifocal leukoencephalopathy, or PML, in adults using the drug since it was approved in 2003. More

(02/24/2009)  --  The AAFP and other family medicine groups have signaled their disagreement with recommendations made in a recent Institute of Medicine, or IOM, report that calls for additional restrictions on medical residents' duty hours and workloads as a way to minimize resident fatigue and maximize patient safety. If implemented, the groups say, the recommendations stand to hurt patient care while increasing medical training costs. More

(02/20/2009)  --  Family physicians interested in keeping abreast of health care workforce changes and health personnel shortages have a new, centralized online library they can consult: the Health Workforce Information Center, or HWIC. The site, which is funded by the Bureau of Health Professions in HHS' Health Resources and Services Administration and operated by the Center for Rural Health at the University of North Dakota School of Medicine & Health Sciences in Grand Forks, aims to deliver information that assists health professionals, educators, researchers and policymakers in developing strategies to meet future workforce demands. More

(02/18/2009)  --  Family physicians who participate in TRICARE, the U.S. military health plan, will be pleased with a bit of good news about the plan's recent change in its payment policy for dipstick urinalysis. Retroactive to Oct. 1, 2008, CPT codes 81000 through 81003 for urinalysis will be separately reimbursed by all TRICARE managed care support contractors when billed with an evaluation and management, or E/M, CPT code. More

(02/18/2009)  --  KV Pharmaceutical Co. and its subsidiaries have expanded a recall initiated late last year to include a total of more than 90 drug products. The products were recalled for failing to comply with current Good Manufacturing Practice regulations established by the FDA. More

(02/18/2009)  --  A good many U.S. physicians have run up against -- and perhaps been frustrated by -- a health insurer's tiered network, report card, or quality and efficiency rating during the past several years. To help family physicians understand the intricacies of performance reporting, the Academy has developed a free resource for members dubbed the "AAFP Members' Guide to Physician Assessment Programs." More

(02/18/2009)  --  More than 60,000 patients in the United States were put at risk for infection with hepatitis B or hepatitis C virus during the past decade because health care workers failed to follow basic infection control practices. That is among the findings in a recent CDC study that was published in the Jan. 6 issue of Annals of Internal Medicine. More

(02/18/2009)  --  Three federal judges have ruled in three separate cases that there is no association between vaccines and autism. The rulings, which were issued Feb. 12, represent a victory for immunization proponents, but the legal battle is far from over. According to published reports, lawyers for the plaintiffs have indicated they will appeal. More

(02/18/2009)  --  There is a place for retail health care in the U.S. health care system, but a recent advertisement by Walgreens in the Washington Post seems to imply that the retailer can provide the solution for all that ails the nation's health care system. (Discuss this story on the AAFP News Now bulletin board.) More (Members Only)

(02/17/2009)  --  These days we're spinning in a whirlwind of activity regarding practice transformation and health care reform: Medicare's patient-centered medical home, or PCMH, demonstration should blast off soon, many other PCMH pilots and programs are gearing up or under way, the economic stimulus bill will boost funding for health information technology, and the AAFP is co-sponsoring a National Medical Home Summit in March. More (Members Only)

(02/17/2009)  --  Rep. John Dingell, D-Mich., has reintroduced the FDA Globalization Act of 2009, H.R. 759, taking a "critical step toward equipping the FDA with the authority and funding it needs to regulate what is now a global marketplace for food, drugs, devices and cosmetics," according to Adam Benson, press secretary for Dingell. More

(02/13/2009)  --  Congress has approved a $789.5 billion economic stimulus package that will strengthen the nation's health care infrastructure by making substantial investments in an array of health-related programs and provisions, including health information technology, or HIT, education and training programs for primary care physicians, and comparative effectiveness research. More

(02/11/2009)  --  The Center for the History of Family Medicine, or CHFM, has developed and recently unveiled a new logo and tagline to emphasize its increased commitment to represent, preserve and share all areas of the specialty's history. More

(02/11/2009)  --  A group of primary care physicians in New Jersey soon will begin the process of transforming their practices into patient-centered medical homes, or PCMHs, by participating in a joint pilot project launched by the New Jersey AFP and Horizon Blue Cross Blue Shield of New Jersey, the state's largest insurance carrier. More

(02/11/2009)  --  A recent study in Academic Emergency Medicine surmises that a mismatch between future demand for emergency physicians, or EPs, and the number of EPs available will lead to workforce shortages. But family physicians are well-prepared to practice in the emergency medicine setting, especially in rural areas, and could fill those gaps, according to Perry Pugno, M.D., M.P.H., director of the AAFP Division of Medical Education and a physician workforce expert. More

(02/09/2009)  --  Novartis Vaccines & Diagnostics Inc. has initiated a voluntary withdrawal of five lots of its seasonal influenza vaccine Fluvirin in Luer-Lok prefilled syringes. The vaccine manufacturer is asking health care providers to immediately discontinue use of affected vaccine and return any remaining doses. More

(02/09/2009)  --  The AAFP is calling for changes to a revised version of a physician payments bill that could place onerous administrative and reporting requirements on physicians. AAFP President Ted Epperly, M.D., of Boise, Idaho, told AAFP News Now that he agrees with the overall intent of the Physician Payments Sunshine Act of 2009, S. 301, which addresses the issue of gifts to physicians from pharmaceutical companies and device manufacturers. But, he added, the current bill poses undue burdens on physicians. More

(02/06/2009)  --  Congress has moved rapidly to reauthorize the State Children's Health Insurance Program, or SCHIP, approving a measure that reauthorizes the program for the next four and one-half years while expanding coverage to 4 million more children. President Obama signed H.R. 2 into law on Feb. 4 during a White House ceremony attended by AAFP EVP Doug Henley, M.D. More

(02/06/2009)  --  The traditional model of primary health care is no longer sustainable, requiring a revitalization that entails fundamental changes in how primary care is delivered and financed. That was one of the major messages delivered by AAFP member Kevin Grumbach, M.D., professor and chair of the Department of Family and Community Medicine at the University of California, San Francisco. Grumbach spoke during a primary care forum convened Jan. 29 in Washington by the AAFP's Robert Graham Center. More

(02/06/2009)  --  Judging from a recent day's struggle with technology in my practice, e-prescribing is not working as smoothly and easily as we have been led to expect. More (Members Only)

(02/04/2009)  --  Standardized patient health insurance identification cards got a nod of approval from one of the nation's largest health insurance companies recently. Humana Inc. is the first company in the industry to publicly pledge its support to the Medical Group Management Association's, or MGMA's, Project SwipeIT. More

(02/04/2009)  --  Medical students in Family Medicine Interest Groups across the country are invited to participate in a Web-based educational forum that will introduce them to the many opportunities to practice family medicine in communities around the world. "Global Health: Preparation for International and Underserved Practice" will begin at 7 p.m. CT on Feb. 17. More

(02/04/2009)  --  A recent editorial by AMA Board of Trustees Chair Joseph Heyman, M.D., has led AAFP President Ted Epperly, M.D., of Boise, Idaho, to emphasize the importance of the AMA working with primary care physicians to ensure they are fairly and adequately paid for the services they provide to patients with Medicare coverage. More

(02/04/2009)  --  An outbreak of salmonellosis linked to peanut products contaminated with Salmonella serotype Typhimurium has produced 550 reports of illness in 43 states and one report in Canada, according to the CDC. As of Feb. 2, more than 100 hospitalizations had been reported to the agency, and eight deaths have been linked to the outbreak to date. Although the rate of case reports has slowed in the past two to three weeks (the most recently reported date of illness onset was Jan. 17), CDC officials say the outbreak is ongoing. More

(02/03/2009)  --  In separate letters to key House and Senate committees, AAFP Board Chair Jim King, M.D., of Selmer, Tenn., has expressed support for provisions in the House and Senate versions of the economic stimulus package that would provide additional funding and support for primary care training; health information technology, or HIT; Medicaid funding for states; and comparative effectiveness research. More

(02/02/2009)  --  The AAFP is co-sponsoring the National Medical Home Summit, along with TransforMED and 16 other organizations, and the AAFP has arranged for Academy members to receive a discount on registration to attend the meeting, which will be held March 2-3 in Philadelphia. Members also can receive a discount if they register for a live online version of the event that will be archived and accessible via the Internet for six months. More