New Association Management System Aims to Enhance AAFP Services

Last week, the AAFP launched an innovative association management system, or AMS, that promises greater efficiencies in the organization's day-to-day handling of member-related data and enhanced functionality for chapters, members and other Academy customers. One of the most novel aspects of the new system -- known as netFORUM Enterprise -- is that it allows members direct access to their CME transcripts, financial transactions with the AAFP and numerous other records.

That means members can log into "My Academy" (when logging in for the first time, members should enter their ID number in the "Username" field and their last name in the "Password" field), view their Academy records, and make changes to their member profile and many other types of information virtually at any time.

The product of a five-year-long planning and implementation process, the new AMS has been completely integrated into the AAFP's overall Web presence -- so much so that members may not be aware of all the changes that have been made. And, according to Academy EVP Douglas Henley, M.D., that might not be a bad thing.

"What would be really neat," he told AAFP News Now, "is that members don't notice anything -- other than our ability to deliver better member service."

Offering an example of that heightened level of service, Henley noted that staff in the Academy's Contact Center now will have ready access to information about each member through the new system. That, in turn, will enable Contact Center staff to answer members' questions more easily, he said, "whether it's about their CME record or registering for a meeting or paying their dues."

"That process should be more seamless and comprehensive," Henley said.

For AAFP members who prefer a hands-on approach, however, the list below shows some of the new features offered through the netFORUM system that members can start taking advantage of right away.

AAFP chapters and external customers also will benefit from the system's new capabilities. In addition to providing many current chapter reports in a spreadsheet format that allows chapters to manipulate data to suit their individual needs, a number of new reports have been added or will be added in the coming months.

Outside customers will be able to create and update their accounts online using netForum. Nonmember health professionals will have online access to a feature that permits them to print a "letter of participation" in AAFP-produced CME activities. And for CME providers, the Academy's CME accreditation system will be completely online, with the hope that this added efficiency will further speed the accreditation approval process.

According to Gordon Schmittling, director of the AAFP Division of Information Technology, the launch culminates a multifaceted process that began in May 2004, when the vendor for the Academy's existing data storage and management system announced that it planned to discontinue its technical support for that system.

That prospect sparked a painstaking assessment of the older system's pros and cons, as well as various reporting processes in place throughout the AAFP, with the goal of identifying procedural efficiencies that a new AMS could actualize, while eliminating duplication of staff efforts.

In short, said Schmittling, "The Academy had to review all its business rules and leave behind those that were wanting."

That approach has paid dividends, in Henley's opinion. "What I'm excited about is the efficiencies that this system gives us as staff to get our work done," he said. "And I think we're just seeing the tip of the iceberg.

"Now people have more opportunities to be creative. As staff continue to educate themselves about the system and its capabilities, that could have huge implications for how we get our work done."

Indeed, said both Schmittling and Henley, members can look forward to further enhancements in the coming months that will make the system even more useful in determining members' educational and practice needs, which, in turn, will allow the AAFP to better articulate those needs in its advocacy efforts.