May 2008

(05/30/2008)  --  "If we want to know what patients want from us as family physicians, we need to ask them" and then address their concerns, AAFP President Jim King, M.D., of Selmer, Tenn., told AAFP News Now shortly before an interactive press conference in Washington, D.C., on May 29. He was referring to the results of a Harris Poll survey commissioned by the AAFP that indicate a whopping 90 percent of women shoulder health care responsibilities for themselves and their families. More

(05/30/2008)  --  A new electronic data mining system that will allow federal and state agencies and academic researchers to use existing medical records and claims information to more effectively track the postmarketing safety profile of various drugs and medical devices is expected to launch in June. More

(05/29/2008)  --  AARP has emerged as a major player in the fight to safeguard Medicare physician pay by launching a multimillion dollar lobbying campaign that could complicate efforts to pass legislation to prevent physician payment reductions. More

(05/28/2008)  --  The AAFP recently recognized Rep. Pete Stark, D-Calif., for his leadership on health care issues by awarding him the AAFP National Leadership/Government Service Award during the Academy's Family Medicine Congressional Conference May 19 in Washington. More

(05/28/2008)  --  Google Inc., familiar to millions of people around the globe as an Internet search vehicle, recently launched a Web-based health information service called Google Health that allows consumers to create online health accounts they can use to collect and store their personal health information. More

(05/28/2008)  --  The failure of the United States to adopt a systematic approach to health care has made the American health care system more fragmented, more costly and less efficient than health care systems in other industrialized nations. That's according to a leading health care researcher who spoke during a primary care forum sponsored by the AAFP’s Robert Graham Center in Washington on May 23. More

(05/22/2008)  --  The AAFP and six other organizations are calling on HHS to rescind a proposed rule that could undermine access to care for millions of patients by stripping areas across the United States of their status as health professional shortage areas, or HPSAs, and Medically Underserved Areas, or MUAs. More

(05/22/2008)  --  The AAFP Foundation is celebrating its 50th anniversary with a new fund designed to provide ongoing support for the specialty's legacy and philanthropic work. More

(05/21/2008)  --  Physicians who plan to use a clinical data registry to submit data for CMS' 2008 Physician Quality Reporting Initiative, or PQRI, need to act quickly to ensure that their registry meets CMS criteria and is deemed a qualified and established registry. More

(05/21/2008)  --  Guidelines from the U.S. Preventive Services Task Force, or USPSTF, currently do not address the issue of age when it comes to mammography, but two new studies on breast cancer screening provide evidence that women older than age 70 benefit from mammography. A third study, however, notes that annual mammograms in older populations are no more effective than triennial mammograms at preventing death from breast cancer. More

(05/21/2008)  --  Why should family physicians take steps now to ensure their practices function as patient-centered medical homes in the not-too-distant future? The answer to that question is clear when you consider the ongoing swirl of activity related to the medical home concept. Here are some examples. More (Members Only)

(05/21/2008)  --  Physicians With Heart, a collaborative effort of the AAFP, AAFP Foundation and Heart to Heart International, celebrates its 15th year in 2008 with a medical humanitarian project to Kyrgyzstan, a former Soviet republic, Oct. 16-26. More

(05/21/2008)  --  Delegates at the AAFP National Conference of Special Constituencies recently took action on a measure intended to address the high cost of some vaccines recommended for routine administration by the CDC's Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices, or ACIP. Now the manufacturer of one such vaccine, Merck and Co. Inc., has launched its own initiative aimed at helping physicians and other immunization providers defray some of these costs. More

(05/20/2008)  --  Family physicians must work with local employers and business coalitions to promote the patient-centered medical home because most of the nation's small businesses are unaware of the model and require "communication on the community level," said Paul Grundy, M.D., director of health care for IBM, during a question-and-answer session at the AAFP's Annual Leadership Forum, or ALF, here on May 2. More

(05/16/2008)  --  There's no disputing the fact that some drugs currently marketed in the United States have been found to have unintended consequences -- even after the clinical testing mandated by the FDA as part of the new drug application process. A pair of recently published studies on drugs from two separate classes, both of which are used to treat common chronic conditions, illustrate this point. Both studies appeared in the April 28 issue of Archives of Internal Medicine. More

(05/14/2008)  --  At an April 16 stakeholders meeting in Washington, the Patient-Centered Primary Care Collaborative, or PCPCC, of which the AAFP is a founding member, unveiled four project centers it has formed to integrate the patient-centered medical home into public and private payer systems. More

(05/14/2008)  --  Peers for Progress, an initiative sponsored by the AAFP Foundation in partnership with the AAFP, recently announced a collaborative relationship with the American Association of Diabetes Educators, or AADE. More

(05/14/2008)  --  The National Conference of Special Constituencies, or NCSC, adopted several key resolutions at its recent meeting in Kansas City, Mo., including proposals calling for the Academy to advocate changes to the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act, or HIPAA; promote dental care as a part of family medicine practice; support legislation prohibiting insurance company discrimination; and create a database to help military reservists care for patients while they are away on assignment. More

(05/14/2008)  --  A series of measles outbreaks in nine U.S. states recently triggered a reminder from CDC officials that although the disease is no longer considered endemic in the United States, the measles virus still can be imported from other countries. According to a Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report article published May 1, of a total of 64 cases reported to the CDC between Jan. 1 and April 25 -- the highest tally reported for this period since 2001 -- 54 have been associated with importation of the virus from foreign countries. More

(05/12/2008)  --  The AAFP has joined the AMA and 35 other national medical organizations in urging HHS Secretary Michael Leavitt to delay a fast-approaching deadline that would require Medicare providers to file Medicare claims using only their National Provider Identifier, or NPI, number. In a letter dated May 1, the medical organizations cited their growing concerns about the ability of physician practices, clearinghouses and commercial insurance payers to meet the May 23 deadline. (Discuss this story on the AAFP News Now bulletin board.) More

(05/09/2008)  --  Delegates to the 2008 National Conference of Special Constituencies, or NCSC, urged the Academy to step up its advocacy efforts with government agencies, third-party payers and other private-sector stakeholders to ensure family physicians get their fair share of the reimbursement pie. That message came through adoption of resolutions on a range of payment issues. More

(05/08/2008)  --  Medical practices working on becoming medical homes now can measure their progress, thanks to a free and comprehensive assessment tool recently made available by TransforMED, a practice redesign initiative affiliated with the AAFP. (Discuss this story on the AAFP News Now bulletin board.) More

(05/08/2008)  --  This month, the Academy emerged from an intensive, difficult and ultimately successful restructuring process designed to achieve a balanced AAFP operational budget for fiscal year 2008-2009, which begins June 1. More (Members Only)

(05/08/2008)  --  When it comes to the U.S. health care system, "we have multiple organ failure," said former U.S. Surgeon General Joycelyn Elders, M.D., during a recent meeting in Kansas City, Mo. And in terms of how physicians have responded to America's growing health care crisis, Elders added, "we have not been great leaders." More

(05/08/2008)  --  The nation's health care system continues to perpetuate health care disparities by providing different levels of care for minority and nonminority patients, thus creating a two-tiered health care system that makes it difficult for minorities to access a high level of care. That's according to former AAFP President Warren A. Jones, M.D., of Ridgeland, Miss., who delivered the keynote address during the 2008 National Conference of Special Constituencies May 1 in Kansas City, Mo. More

(05/07/2008)  --  Evidence from the U.S. Public Health Service's 2008 update of the Clinical Practice Guideline: Treating Tobacco Use and Dependence indicates that both counseling and medication for tobacco dependence in adults are effective, especially when combined. Moreover, suggests the AAFP-endorsed guideline update, health systems, insurers and purchasers should help clinicians make such treatments available. (Discuss this story on the AAFP News Now bulletin board.) More

(05/06/2008)  --  A number of AAFP members have received honors and awards and other career development opportunities in the past several months. More

(05/06/2008)  --  AAFP constituent chapter representatives who attended the Academy's National Conference of Special Constituencies, or NCSC, May 1-3 in Kansas City, Mo., elected colleagues to fill various leadership positions. More

(05/02/2008)  --  Legislation barring discrimination based on genetic testing may pave the way for greater use of genetic tests to detect various genetically mediated illnesses -- often before they even manifest themselves. With such early detection, development of disease can sometimes be avoided. The Genetic Information Nondiscrimination Act of 2008, H.R. 493, passed the Senate by a 95-0 margin last week, and the House adopted the measure May 1 on a 414-1 vote. The bill prohibits employers from making hiring, assignment or promotion decisions based on genetic data. More

(05/02/2008)  --  Fourteen candidates are seeking election or re-election to Academy offices and the AAFP Board of Directors. The AAFP Congress of Delegates will elect officers and new directors Sept. 17 in San Diego. More