Online Videos Advocate Importance of Family Physicians

The Texas AFP, in concert with five other AAFP constituent chapters, has produced a series of online videos that describe the benefits of family medicine and warn about the dangers of Medicare payment cuts to physicians and patients.

The Texas AFP worked with chapters in Georgia, Pennsylvania, Illinois, California and New Jersey to produce state-specific videos on Medicare payment, physician workforce levels and the patient-centered medical home. Each five-minute video features interviews with physicians in that particular state, as well as interviews with the state's local and federal representatives in Washington.

The videos were funded through a grant from the Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America, said Jonathan Nelson, communications director for the Texas AFP. Each video cost about $3,000 to produce, Nelson said.

The videos, which some chapters have posted on YouTube.com, have two primary goals: to energize AAFP members on the grassroots level and to educate state and federal lawmakers about the benefits of family medicine. Each video has links to AAFP materials and resources, such as Speak Out notices, AAFP News Now articles and monographs.

"As the call for health care reform heats up, the need for political action and a strong family medicine voice becomes critical," said Bruce LeClair, M.D., M.P.H., president of the Georgia AFP and an associate professor at the Medical College of Georgia in Augusta. "The Georgia AFP video includes key Georgia family medicine leaders explaining the importance of family physicians' involvement in the state AFP and the politics of medicine that will affect medical care, physicians and patients now and in the future."

The videos are an outgrowth of the Texas AFP's weekly webcast covering the Texas state legislature, which convenes every two years. The webcasts provided a "blow-by-blow report of important issues to family medicine in the Texas legislature," Nelson said.

"Folks like video -- it is visual and it is quick," said Nelson. "They don't have to actually sit down and read it. They can click on and catch up on what their Academy is doing."