June 2007

(06/29/2007)  --  AAFP member Michele Allen, M.D., of Minneapolis has received an American Cancer Society Primary Care Cancer Control Career Development Award. Allen is assistant professor with the Program in Health Disparities Research at the University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, Medical School's Center for Clinical Research and is the sole recipient of this year's award. More

(06/27/2007)  --  The nation's reliance on subspecialty care has put Americans at an increased risk of death and disease, leading to poorer health care outcomes and driving up health care expenditures, said a prominent primary care researcher during a presentation here on June 11. More

(06/27/2007)  --  Internet giant Google Inc. -- a key player in the distribution of health care information to the public by virtue of its free and easily accessible search engine -- has announced the formation of the Google Health Advisory Council. More

(06/27/2007)  --  Americans support universal health coverage, even if it means higher taxes, according to a recently published study by Catholic Healthcare West, California's largest not-for-profit hospital system. More

(06/27/2007)  --  Family physicians interested in improving their knowledge of common musculoskeletal complaints may want to participate in the AAFP course Essentials of Musculoskeletal Care, Aug. 17-19 in Myrtle Beach, S.C. More

(06/26/2007)  --  Work-hour rules that limit residents to an average 80-hour workweek have resulted in fewer in-hospital transfers to intensive care, fewer pharmacist interventions to avoid medication errors, and more frequent discharge to home or rehabilitation services, according to research in the July Annals of Internal Medicine. More

(06/26/2007)  --  Federal policy makers have launched a "full-frontal assault" on graduate medical education that threatens the viability of residency training programs at a time when the nation needs to produce more primary care physicians. (Discuss this story on the AAFP News Now bulletin board.) More

(06/25/2007)  --  The Association of American Medical Colleges Organization of Resident Representatives is accepting nominations for its 2007 Resident Physician Community Service Recognition Award. The award recognizes residents who have demonstrated a commitment to community service "above and beyond the rigors of residency training," according to an Association of American Medical Colleges, or AAMC, announcement. More

(06/25/2007)  --  American men aren't passing muster when it comes to taking care of themselves. They skip health screenings and sometimes avoid a visit to the doctor altogether. And they might not be as healthy as they say they are, according to the findings of a new survey conducted for the AAFP by Harris Interactive. Survey results were released June 19 during Men's Health Month. (Discuss this story on the AAFP News Now bulletin board.) More

(06/21/2007)  --  Family planning takes on a whole new dimension for physicians who work with couples with high-deductible, consumer-driven health plans, or CDHPs, according to a June 12 study by the Georgetown University Health Policy Institute and Kaiser Family Foundation. More

(06/20/2007)  --  Pressure to control health care costs and the miniaturization of technology can transform patients' homes into the equivalent of hospital medical-surgical units, skilled nursing centers, and long-term care or rehabilitation facilities. It's in those homes, say advocates of house calls, that much of tomorrow's primary health care will occur. More

(06/20/2007)  --  Research shows that minority patients suffer more than other Americans from chronic diseases. But giving these patients the care they need can be challenging because of prevailing cultural realities. Cultural sensitivity on the family physician's part is key. More

(06/20/2007)  --  The AAFP's National Research Network, or NRN, is seeking medical practices to take part in a pilot study of a survey designed to assess clinician and staff member opinions about health care quality and patient safety in medical offices. More

(06/20/2007)  --  Raise a glass this month to a date that marks the anniversary of an event important to you, your practice and your patients. Sixty years ago on June 10, a group of about 200 general practitioners, or GPs, gathered in Atlantic City, N.J., to establish what eventually would become the American Academy of Family Physicians. More (Members Only)

(06/20/2007)  --  One of the nation's largest collaboratives to support primary care has launched a campaign to make primary care and the patient-centered medical home a key component of federally funded health care programs and legislation. The Patient-Centered Primary Care Collaborative, a coalition that comprises the AAFP, other health groups, major employers and a consumer group, has sent legislative proposals to Capitol Hill. More

(06/20/2007)  --  Family physicians interested in developing patient registries for use in their practices -- or who want to enhance existing registries -- now have access to a free resource from HHS' Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality, or AHRQ. More

(06/18/2007)  --  Given that the baby boomers are beginning to enter retirement, family physicians may want to update their knowledge about ailments that afflict the elderly and hone their skills in caring for these older patients. More

(06/14/2007)  --  Forget transforming America's health care system. The nation needs a revolution, and family medicine must lead the charge. That was the challenge set forth June 11 by John Saultz, M.D., professor and chairman of family medicine at Oregon Health & Science University, Portland, during the 2007 Nicholas Pisacano Memorial Lecture at the AAFP Workshop for Directors of Family Medicine Residencies here. More

(06/14/2007)  --  Three months after they were published, the "Joint Principles of the Patient-Centered Medical Home," which were developed by the AAFP, American Academy of Pediatrics, the American College of Physicians and the American Osteopathic Association, took center stage in legislation signed by Colorado Gov. Bill Ritter. More

(06/13/2007)  --  Family physicians who have questions about CMS' Physician Quality Reporting Initiative, or PQRI, can participate in two upcoming toll-free teleconferences scheduled by CMS. More

(06/13/2007)  --  Trained in an environment where the norm included dashing from exam room to exam room, "putting out fires" among chronically ill patients by cramming as much patient history taking, physical examining and lab study ordering as possible into each 15-minute visit, Steven Landers, M.D., decided there was a better way to provide patient care -- he could take the care to patients in their homes. More

(06/13/2007)  --  Diversity may be good in many circumstances. But in issues related to health care administration -- such as credentialing requirements, health plan contracts, coverage, copayments and deductibles, and prior authorizations within and among insurance plans -- can be crippling. More

(06/13/2007)  --  The AAFP has urged Congress to increase the federal tobacco tax to help pay for the reauthorization of the State Children's Health Insurance Program, or SCHIP, and to enable the program to expand to cover more children. More

(06/13/2007)  --  Family physician David Swieskowski, M.D., has found a way to improve the care of his patients with chronic diseases and increase practice revenue at the same time. More

(06/13/2007)  --  From July 1 to Dec. 31, family physicians can earn a 1.5 percent bonus from Medicare by participating in CMS' Physician Quality Reporting Initiative, or PQRI. The program is voluntary and requires no advance registration. Bruce Bagley, M.D., AAFP's medical director of quality improvement, is encouraging family physicians to take part in the program. More

(06/12/2007)  --  Come on, admit it: Taking the American Board of Family Medicine's cognitive exam -- Part III of the Maintenance of Certification Program for Family Physicians, or MC-FP -- is probably not No. 1 on your list of "Favorite Ways to Spend an Entire Day." The Academy knows this and has, over the years, devised a number of resources to help you prepare for the exam. AAFP staff members launched the latest such tool -- dubbed AAFP's Online Board Review -- just last month. More

(06/12/2007)  --  Family physicians often treat patients with multiple chronic diseases. For example, it isn't uncommon for a single patient to have obesity, diabetes, coronary artery disease and hypertension. Office visits for these more complicated patients necessitate higher levels of service -- and higher levels of coding. More

(06/11/2007)  --  Public and private payers should recognize the value of primary care services by compensating family physicians for providing patient-centered medical homes and implementing electronic health information systems that promote quality, efficiency and safety, said a noted health care analyst during a forum in Washington May 31. More

(06/11/2007)  --  Primary care faces critical times in Washington, D.C. Medicare payment restructuring, Title VII, medical liability reform, SCHIP funding … the list goes on and on. Issues that are vital to the interests and survival of family physicians and their patients are in the hands of Congress. More (Members Only)

(06/07/2007)  --  Physicians With Heart will travel to the former Soviet republic of Tajikistan from Oct. 23-Nov. 1 to deliver a sizable load of humanitarian aid as well as family medicine education. "This is a special mission because we were in Tajikistan just two years ago," said Daniel Ostergaard, M.D., AAFP vice president for international and interprofessional activities. More

(06/06/2007)  --  President Bush recently signed a supplemental appropriations bill that will provide $650 million in emergency funding for 14 states struggling with shortfalls in their state children's health insurance programs, or SCHIPs. Bush signed the $120 billion supplemental appropriations bill, H.R. 2206, on May 25. More

(06/06/2007)  --  Family medicine educators do a better job of incorporating cultural competency into residency training curricula than their peers in other medical specialties and subspecialties, but they still need to improve if future family physicians are to meet patients' needs, says a May 2007 Commonwealth Fund report. More

(06/06/2007)  --  The AAFP has developed a new course to help members gain a basic understanding of how performance measures are created and used to improve patient care, increase accountability and boost physician compensation. More

(06/05/2007)  --  Results of a survey published recently in Family Practice Management don't paint a pretty picture of the health insurance industry's business relationship with family physicians. Survey participants talk of low payment rates, frustration with performance ratings systems and a lack of contract bargaining power. More (Members Only)

(06/04/2007)  --  The waiting game is over for family physicians and other health care providers who have been anticipating word from CMS on how it would disseminate National Provider Identifier, or NPI, information. Highlights of the CMS plan were announced in a notice on its Web site, with official notification published in the May 30 Federal Register. More

(06/01/2007)  --  The Internal Revenue Service recently issued a ruling that gives hospitals the go-ahead to donate health information technology and services to medical staff physicians without fear of jeopardizing their not-for-profit status. More