July 2009

(07/30/2009)  --  The Federal Trade Commission, or FTC, announced in a July 29 news release that it has once again delayed enforcement of a regulation known as the Identity Theft "Red Flags" Rule, pushing the deadline back to Nov. 1. More

(07/30/2009)  --  In any political debate, often the individual voice is the most powerful. Now the individual voices of family physicians are being heard in a new video about health care reform that is part of a Web-based initiative developed by the AAFP and the Herndon Alliance. More

(07/29/2009)  --  America's health insurance companies should include tobacco cessation counseling and associated pharmacotherapy in their standard benefit plan packages, and they should pay physicians fairly to provide those services. That's the central message of a July 21 letter sent to dozens of health plans and signed by the presidents of the AAFP; the AMA; the American Academy of Pediatrics, or AAP; the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists; and the American College of Physicians. More

(07/29/2009)  --  The AAFP is warning CMS that a proposed rule regarding new residency training programs will have a "chilling effect" on the training of primary care physicians at a time when primary care is expected to be a centerpiece of health care reform. More

(07/29/2009)  --  Many studies in recent years have clearly demonstrated the potential adverse effects associated with polypharmacy, and research in this area is ongoing, especially among older patients with multiple comorbidities. Now, family physicians concerned about drug interactions in their patients who take numerous prescription and OTC medications can get help with a new drug reference tool that's used on their smartphones. More

(07/28/2009)  --  The idea that electronic cigarettes offer tobacco users a safer alternative than, say, a pack of Marlboros recently seems to have gone up in smoke. The FDA issued a warning about the so-called e-cigarettes on July 23, advising consumers about health risks associated with the products, which are battery-operated devices designed to look like and be used in the same manner as regular cigarettes. The devices turn nicotine and other chemicals into a vapor that is inhaled by the user. Manufacturers have touted the smokeless products as safer than conventional cigarettes. More

(07/24/2009)  --  All individuals ages 6 months to 18 years should be vaccinated annually against seasonal influenza, the CDC said in a Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report released today. Not only do these children and teens stand to benefit, say CDC officials -- the entire population could remain healthier as a result. More

(07/24/2009)  --  For the second year in a row, the AMA has taken a hard look at the health care industry's claims processing systems to diagnose the strengths and weaknesses of those systems. That assessment found that although health insurers have made headway in the past year, there's still plenty of room for improvement. More

(07/22/2009)  --  The CDC and state health departments are reaching out to physicians in numerous specialties, including family medicine, in preparation for the fall influenza season with the expectation that vaccine for the novel influenza A (H1N1) virus will be available by mid-October. More

(07/22/2009)  --  The Center for the History of Family Medicine, or CHFM, is compiling some of the most significant articles, studies and reports written about the history, development and practice of family medicine into one online resource. More

(07/15/2009)  --  Tar Wars isn't just about teaching kids not to smoke. It's about teaching them to stay away from all forms of tobacco. And, at this time of year, it's about taking that critical message to federal lawmakers. More

(07/15/2009)  --  Health care reform will not succeed without an adequate supply of primary care physicians, making it incumbent upon Congress to enact policies that increase the nation's primary care physician workforce. That's what AAFP President-elect Lori Heim, M.D., of Vass, N.C., said during testimony before the House Small Business Committee on July 8. More

(07/13/2009)  --  Family physician Regina Benjamin, M.D., M.B.A., has spent the past 20 years caring for some 2,500 of Alabama's working poor in the Bayou La Batre Rural Health Clinic she founded along the state's Gulf Coast. But President Obama's announcement earlier today that Benjamin is his choice for the nation's top physician post could mean she'll spend the next few years focusing on a much larger patient population. More

(07/08/2009)  --  The AAFP strongly supports a proposed CMS rule that would increase Medicare payments for family physicians by 8 percent in 2010 via key changes to the Medicare physician fee schedule. "This is outstanding," said AAFP President Ted Epperly, M.D., of Boise, Idaho, in an interview with AAFP News Now. "The proposed rule finally shows that the federal government is serious about making primary care and family physician practices stronger. It is about investing in the services of primary care and family physicians for what we do for the health care system and for the care of our patients." More

(07/08/2009)  --  Patients enrolled in Medicare Part D already may be turning up at their physicians' offices asking for a review of their prescriptions -- particularly if those patients have accessed the new AARP Doughnut Hole Calculator. More

(07/08/2009)  --  The CDC's Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices, or ACIP, produced several provisional recommendations during its June 24-26 meeting in Atlanta, including one expressing an overall preference for combination versus component vaccines. Other recommendations ACIP members voted on range from changes in the postexposure rabies vaccination protocol to expanding meningococcal immunization recommendations for at-risk individuals. More

(07/07/2009)  --  Many family physicians know all too well that Medicare beneficiaries' access to preventive vaccines covered under Medicare's Part D retail pharmacy benefit has been a complicated process since the Part D benefit was initiated late in 2005. In an effort to remove the obstacles, the Academy, the AMA and more than 20 other medical specialty organizations are calling on HHS to include all recommended preventive vaccines under Medicare Part B. More

(07/07/2009)  --  The Institute of Medicine, or IOM, has identified 100 health-related topics that it says should get priority attention from a new federal investment in comparative effectiveness research. The June 2 IOM report is intended to provide independent guidance to Congress and the secretary of HHS on how to spend $400 million allotted for comparative effectiveness research in the recently enacted American Recovery and Reinvestment Act. More

(07/02/2009)  --  An FDA advisory panel has recommended that the agency remove prescription drugs that combine acetaminophen and powerful painkillers -- such as Percocet, which is formulated with oxycodone, and Vicodin, which is formulated with hydrocodone -- from the market because of the risk of liver injury associated with misuse of the products. The panel also voted to lower dosage recommendations for over-the-counter, or OTC, acetaminophen products. More

(07/02/2009)  --  The AAFP, along with the other academic family medicine organizations, have asked the Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education, or ACGME, to resist putting additional restrictions on residents' duty hours because such restrictions may harm family medicine training programs and the quality of patient care. More

(07/02/2009)  --  More than 250 health care professionals called on Congress to pass a comprehensive health care reform bill that includes a public plan option during a town hall meeting in Washington on June 26. The meeting was convened by Health Care for America Now, or HCAN. More

(07/02/2009)  --  Legislation that underscores the critical role of primary care by providing support for the patient-centered medical home, aligning incentives to embrace value over volume, and ensuring the adequacy of the primary care workforce is vital to health care reform. That was the message delivered by AAFP President Ted Epperly, M.D., of Boise, Idaho, during his testimony before the House Ways and Means Committee on June 24 and a House Energy and Commerce health care subcommittee on June 25. More

(07/01/2009)  --  Members of the CDC's Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices, or ACIP, approved new antiviral treatment recommendations during the committee's June 24-26 meeting in Atlanta. The recommendations originally were released as interim guidance last year in the wake of oseltamivir resistance among circulating seasonal influenza A (H1N1) viruses. More

(07/01/2009)  --  After more than a year and a half of deferrals, the booster dose of Haemophilus influenzae type b, or Hib, vaccine should again be considered a routine part of the childhood immunization schedule. The CDC -- in consultation with its Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices, or ACIP, the AAFP and the American Academy of Pediatrics -- is recommending that physicians immediately reinstate the Hib booster dose for children ages 12-15 months who have completed the three-dose primary series. More

(07/01/2009)  --  Physicians and other health professionals who treat adults with depression also should consider the effects of the illness on their patients' children, according to a new report from the National Research Council and the Institute of Medicine. More