Note to Physicians: Take Issues Directly to Health Plans

Do you have a problem with a third-party payer that needs your prompt attention? AAFP members can take immediate action on their most pressing issues with a simple download of letter templates from the Academy's Web site. Four new letters are among more than a dozen letter templates offered in the "Private Sector Advocacy" section of the Web site.

Members can download and personalize any of these four letters or any of the other letters available on the AAFP's Private Sector Advocacy "Get Involved" Web page; click on "Template Letters" to get started. The template letters are only accessible to members, so have your member identification number handy.

Members can choose an appropriate letter to communicate directly with health insurers about:

There's also a letter members can use to ask the health plans with which they work to list key contact information on their Web sites. That simple action could help physicians quickly reach the appropriate person at a given health plan with questions and concerns.

Laura Schmidt, an AAFP private sector advocacy specialist, says there are a number of third-party payer issues that impede members' abilities to provide high-quality care to their patients. The template letters are designed to help members deal with those issues.

"We stay abreast of what's going on in the industry and watch for those problems that consistently pop up all across the country," Schmidt said. "You've got a fire right now? Here are some tools to help you put out that fire," she said, referring to the template letters.

Schmidt added that sometimes a flurry of personal appeals that come straight from physicians help push an issue to the top of a health plan's list. "This is our way of helping our physicians help themselves," she said.