Previous Pubs

(03/18/2005)  --  AAFP and 18 other physician, hospital and health plan organizations strongly endorsed a proposal to create the Bipartisan Commission on Medicaid to study solutions to the program’s fiscal crisis. More

(03/18/2005)  --  If you’d like to learn more about maternity care or help develop recommendations to improve it, check out these opportunities. More

(03/18/2005)  --  Question: What was the most important lesson learned from the AAFP’s electronic health record pilot project? Answer: An Internet-based application service provider (such as that used in the pilot) works well for small- to medium-sized practices. This type of system has a lower overall cost because it requires less hardware and maintenance than the traditional client-server system. It’s also easy to install. More

(03/18/2005)  --  Because you’re on the front lines of caring for America’s children, it will help you to know about a recently released CDC study on childhood immunizations. It shows a trend of missed vaccinations in young children. More

(03/18/2005)  --  Hand in hand with the “graying of America” have come growing concerns about falls and fall-related injuries among older persons, and the AAFP has joined with multiple health and advocacy groups attempting to address those concerns. More

(03/18/2005)  --  Have you ever read a story in your local paper that singles out obstetricians or pediatricians as physicians who provide maternity or pediatric care? Have you ever wanted to shout, “Hey, how about me? How about FPs?” More

(03/18/2005)  --  USA Today turned to two family physicians for a March 8 story on vaccinations targeting adolescents. New vaccines may be coming into the market, and according to FPs Rebecca Jaffe, M.D., of Wilmington, Del., and Jonathan Temte, M.D., of Madison, Wis., a parade of new vaccines for adolescents means more opportunities for kids to check in with their physicians. More

(03/18/2005)  --  The AAFP sent a small contingent to the Washington office of U.S. News & World Report Feb. 23 for a face-to-face meeting with Josh Fischman, deputy editor. More

(03/18/2005)  --  The second program of AAFP’s Annual Clinical Focus 2005 Genomics went live March 7, offering FPs and other clinicians targeted information on the genetics of breast cancer. More

(03/18/2005)  --  Study the mortality rates for blacks and whites in America since 1960, and what do you get? A gap that refuses to close. More

(03/18/2005)  --  Health care policy that encourages expansion of the subspecialty physician workforce undermines the goals of improving America’s health care system. That was among the points made by Robert Phillips, M.D., M.S.P.H., director of the Robert Graham Center in Washington, and his co-authors in the March 15 Health Affairs Web Exclusive. More

(03/18/2005)  --  The cumulative 2005 National Resident Matching Program results, published March 14, paint a mixed picture for family medicine. The specialty saw the highest fill rate in six years but only after a 3.5 percent drop in the number of residency positions offered. More

(03/18/2005)  --  The AAFP has again shown itself to be a leader in the realm of CME accreditation, receiving unexpected kudos in the process. The source of the kudos: members of the Accreditation Council for Continuing Medical Education. The reason for the praise: the Academy’s policy on identifying and managing conflicts of interest among CME planners, faculty, authors and reviewers. More

(03/04/2005)  --  Would you like to have more information in hand about the “economic health” of the health information technology company selling an EHR system you want? How about product pricing details? More

(03/04/2005)  --  Need a mentor for adopting an electronic health record system? A new feature on AAFP’s Center for Health Information Technology Web site can help. More

(03/04/2005)  --  Findings from an AAFP research study of medical errors revealed that, while significant physician harm to patients was rare, consequences for patients and physicians’ offices were common. More

(03/04/2005)  --  The Medicare Payment Advisory Commission has called on Congress to increase Medicare physician reimbursement by 2.7 percent in 2006. More

(03/04/2005)  --  Forget the numbers. Focus on the patients. That’s the message of the 197-page report, The Physician Workforce of the United States: A Family Medicine Perspective, recently published online by the AAFP’s Robert Graham Center in Washington. More

(03/04/2005)  --  Medicare could ensure patients’ access to care and restrain costs. How? In three ways. More

(03/01/2005)  --  AAFP Past President Richard Roberts, M.D., J.D., of Madison, Wis., offered the following suggestions for physicians grappling with patient notification about drug recalls. More

(03/01/2005)  --  I was pleased to read in the February FP Report ("Rhode Island FP Tackles Access Problem for His Uninsured Patients") that Dr. Michael Fine has not only discovered what I've been screaming about for years -- he has done something about it. More

(03/01/2005)  --  As reports of health care disparities continue to make headlines across America, the AAFP is helping to address the issue. Consider making this new resource available to your black patients: a video and accompanying guidebook titled "Caring for Your Family's Health: A Guide for African Americans." More

(03/01/2005)  --  Last fall, some AAFP members wasted no time telling colleagues how easy it was to identify patients on rofecoxib, sold as VIOXX, when the drug was pulled off the market. More

(03/01/2005)  --  When it comes to building a patient care team, these pearls from Woodward Health Center's Michele Hannagan, F.N.P., director of clinical operations, will go far. More

(03/01/2005)  --  You can rescue rural America from its shortage of health care professionals, two speakers -- one a family physician -- told congressional aides and others at a Capitol Hill forum recently. The message is one the Academy hopes many FPs will take to their lawmakers, targeting Title VII, Section 747, of the Public Health Service Act. More

(03/01/2005)  --  Family physicians want what's best for their patients, but their patients don't necessarily know what's best for their physicians. Case in point: The AAFP Environmental Scan -- an annual "snapshot" of the political and economic environment that affects medicine's legislative efforts -- and national surveys show medical liability reform tops physicians' list of federal legislative priorities, while the public sees the cost of and access to care as most important. More

(03/01/2005)  --  When Merck & Co. Inc. withdrew rofecoxib, sold as VIOXX, from the market last fall, the announcement stirred up a host of questions about patient notification. FPs volleyed comments back and forth on an AAFP e-mail discussion list. More

(03/01/2005)  --  Teamwork. It can mean different things to different clinicians. You'd expect, for example, to find plenty of differences between teams in a community health center and in a solo family medicine practice. But what may surprise you is that there are similarities in how teamwork figures into both settings -- at least in the case of one good-sized community health center on the east side of Rochester, N.Y., and a tiny, two-room family medicine practice in Rochester's Brighton area. More

(02/18/2005)  --  If you’re already using an electronic health record system in your practice, take a few moments to help your peers who are considering buying an EHR by filling out the user-satisfaction survey in the February issue of Family Practice Management. More

(02/04/2005)  --  In a Jan. 18 letter to CMS, the Academy enthusiastically supported CMS' proposed coverage policy for smoking and tobacco use cessation counseling. More

(02/04/2005)  --  A recommendation on specialty hospitals approved Jan. 15 by the AAFP Board of Directors clearly reflects the Academy's commitment to evidence-based decisions. Yet the Academy's cautious approach to specialty hospitals puts it at odds with the AMA. More

(02/04/2005)  --  The AAFP National Research Network has begun recruiting family physicians for a study examining the use of a Web-based health risk assessment tool developed by the CDC. The project -- a collaboration between the research network and Case Western Reserve University, Cleveland, with funding from the CDC -- will examine how primary care clinicians and their healthy, middle-aged patients respond to using the health risk assessment tool and receiving CDC health risk assessment reports. More

(02/01/2005)  --  I read with much disappointment the article, "Residents Hold Key to Future," (in the December 2004 FP Report) in which the residents reported "in no uncertain terms that they will settle for nothing less than EHRs (electronic health records) in their future practices." I also found it interesting that the final page of FP Report informed us about median salary offers of $150,267. More

(02/01/2005)  --  "I didn't come to my first group visit until my eyes started going bad," said diabetic patient Dolly Holmes. More

(02/01/2005)  --  Scott Whiddon, M.D., invited exercise physiologist Susan Ault to a diabetes group visit recently for some show-and-tell. Ault is certified to teach people with diabetes how to exercise. Patients with diabetes need to make a serious, full-time commitment to owning their disease, Ault tells the patients. "I'm here to help you understand how exercise, just moving, can help you control your diabetes." More

(02/01/2005)  --  Since 2000, the number of uninsured Americans has swelled by 5.2 million, reaching 45 million or 15.6 percent of the population. About a fourth of them lost coverage despite their good incomes because their employers either dropped health benefits or new employers never offered them. More

(02/01/2005)  --  Family physician Chuck Kent, M.D., practices at Tallahassee Memorial Family Medicine in Quincy, Fla., with his colleague Scott Whiddon, M.D. A year ago, Kent and Whiddon entered a pilot project to experiment with group visits for patients with diabetes. More

(02/01/2005)  --  The concept of group visits for diabetic patients received a big boost in Northern Florida in the past year, due in part to the efforts of FP Edward Shahady, M.D., professor, department of family medicine and rural health, Florida State University College of Medicine, Tallahassee. More

(02/01/2005)  --  The AAFP's 2005 Annual Clinical Focus on genomics takes a cue from the adage, "It's not what you know; it's whom you know." In the case of this year's ACF, however, the saying reads more like "It's not always what you do, it's often whom you're born to." More

(02/01/2005)  --  For many Americans, April 15 isn't exactly a date to look forward to. But for FPs enrolled in the American Board of Family Medicine's Maintenance of Certification Program for Family Physicians, or MC-FP, that date might now take on a positive slant. April 15 is the new deadline for completing the required 2004 self-assessment module, or SAM, of the board's MC-FP process. More

(02/01/2005)  --  Organizations such as the AAFP create clinical practice guidelines to assist clinicians in their decision making. The guidelines follow the best available evidence to support care practices. More

(02/01/2005)  --  An effort to reduce the stress of the post-match scramble may become reality for the class of 2006 if the National Resident Matching Program Board of Directors approves a proposed second round for the process. The decision could come during the board's meeting in May. More

(02/01/2005)  --  Charm. Coax. Prod. Teach. And, says FP Scott Whiddon, M.D., give patients with diabetes “unconditional positive regard” in a group visit setting. Add patient-to-patient mentoring, mix in lots of laughter, then sit back and watch the magic. More

(01/21/2005)  --  Pull out your calendar and count the days until April 21. That is the deadline for covered entities (most likely your practice) to be compliant with the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act security rule. More

(01/21/2005)  --  In a historic first, family physician researchers are joining with their general internal medicine colleagues in a multicenter, practice-based study designed to evaluate strategies for improving depression care. More

(01/01/2005)  --  The AAFP Board of Directors -- believing strongly that members need tools and resources to help move their practices into the future -- recently approved about $8 million to create a new model practice resource center that will open in early 2005. More

(01/01/2005)  --  Responding to directives from the 2004 Congress of Delegates, the Academy on Nov. 30 sent a letter to the (then) American Board of Family Practice (now the American Board of Family Medicine) conveying AAFP delegates' actions regarding the board's Maintenance of Certification Program for Family Physicians, or MC-FP. The AAFP letter includes recommendations for easing transition to the new process. More

(01/01/2005)  --  Some Academy members got a preview of it at the 2004 AAFP Scientific Assembly in Orlando, Fla.; some no doubt read about it in the November/December Annals of Family Medicine. "It" is METRIC -- Measuring, Evaluating and Translating Research Into Care -- a new AAFP practice performance program that goes live Jan. 17. More

(01/01/2005)  --  When Jason Schulz's two sons fell ill on the same day recently, he wasn't surprised that Doug Iliff, M.D., was able to see them that very day. It's the sort of service Schulz has come to expect from Iliff's solo practice in Topeka, Kan More

(12/17/2004)  --  Don’t starve the doctors on whom you’re depending to improve Americans’ health care. That’s the message sent Dec. 8 to Medical Payment Advisory Commission Chair Glenn Hackbarth, J.D., by the AAFP and 45 other medical organizations. More

(12/01/2004)  --  According to AAFP data, nearly 30 percent of family medicine residencies are using some form of electronic health record. There's much work ahead to meet the Future of Family Medicine recommendation that every family medicine residency implement an EHR system by the end of 2006. More

(12/01/2004)  --  Trident Family Medicine Residency Program's love affair with computerized records goes back to the program's roots. According to the current residency director, Peter Carek, M.D., the founding department chair's insistence on implementing computerized patient records in 1973 resulted in the installation of an IBM mainframe "that took up two offices at our downtown site." More

(12/01/2004)  --  If you want a glimpse of where family medicine is headed in the not-so-distant future, hang out with the next generation of FPs for a day. At the Trident Family Medicine Residency Program, residents recently told FP Report -- in no uncertain terms -- that they will settle for nothing less than electronic health records in their future practices. More

(12/01/2004)  --  "The reason some physicians don't understand how to evaluate their of care is because they have paper charts and don't know what level of care they currently provide," said Lori Dickerson, Pharm.D., associate professor and assistant residency program director at Trident Family Medicine Residency Program in Charleston, S.C. More

(12/01/2004)  --  She may be the AAFP's first woman president, but Mary Frank, M.D., of Mill Valley, Calif., doesn't dwell on it. Instead, she's all about the issues facing family physicians and their patients, from electronic health records to health care coverage for all. She discusses some of these issues in this interview. More

(10/01/2004)  --  "Yesterday, I must say, was the high point of my vacation," wrote FP Bruce Burton, M.D., of Corydon, Ind., in a summer thank-you note to Susan Andrews, M.D. More

(10/01/2004)  --  Insurance specialist Sheila Richards has worked in the front office for FP Susan Andrews, M.D., for nine years. She's been through the transition from paper records to an electronic health record system with Andrews and crew, and she knows all about the dreaded learning curve. More

(10/01/2004)  --  Why are so many physicians stuck in the EHR starting gate? Perhaps because there are so many products to choose from. More

(10/01/2004)  --  Seeing is believing. If you're still waffling about whether an electronic health record system can work for your practice, go see a successful one in action. Spend a few hours with an FP reaping the rewards of a paperless office. You'll likely come away a believer. More

(09/01/2004)  --  In addition to a full complement of in-office diagnostic and treatment capabilities, physicians at Southside Family Practice in Huntsville, Ala., offer inpatient care. More

(09/01/2004)  --  Geoff Clarkson has heard firsthand what patients think of family medicine and the new model of care proposed by the Future of Family Medicine project. More

(09/01/2004)  --  When patients come first, all else will follow. In abundance. Weston Welker, M.D., knows that. He watches it happen every day in his Southside Family Practice. More