People in the News -- December

The Healthcare Information and Management Systems Society, or HIMSS, recently announced that Heart of Texas Community Health Center in Waco, Texas, earned one of two 2009 HIMSS Davies Awards of Excellence. The award recognizes excellence in the implementation and use of health information, specifically electronic health records, or EHRs, in health care organizations, private practices, public health systems and community health organizations.

Health center CEO and AAFP President-elect Roland Goertz, M.D., said in a HIMSS news release that his center implemented an EHR system in 1997. Since that time, the organization has tripled the number of patients served, expanded from a single location to 10 sites and improved multiple quality indicators for patient care.

Three AAFP members have been selected to serve on National Quality Forum, or NQF, steering committees, and another member will serve on an NQF advisory panel. All of the physicians were nominated for the positions by the Academy.

Michael Crouch, M.D., of Sugar Land, Texas, was selected to serve on the NQF's Patient Outcomes-Cardiovascular Technical Advisory Panel. Jeffrey Susman, M.D., of Cincinnati, a member of the AAFP's Commission on Quality and Practice, has been selected to serve on the NQF's Patient Outcomes-Mental Health Steering Committee, and Goutham Rao, M.D., of Pittsburgh, will serve on the Patient-Outcomes Child Health Steering Committee. In addition, Michael Victoroff, M.D., of Centennial, Ohio, has been selected to serve on the NQF's Health Care Acquired Conditions and Serious Reportable Events in Health Care Steering Committee.

Timothy Alford, M.D., an AAFP member from Kosciusko, Miss., has been selected as an Olympic torchbearer for the 2010 Winter Olympic Games in Vancouver, British Columbia. Alford will help carry the Olympic torch through Calgary, Alberta, in January. According to a press release from the AAFP, Alford was selected "in recognition of his constant dedication to promote healthy, active lifestyles while simultaneously working to encourage civic engagement in his community."

AAFP member Julie Wood, M.D., of Lee's Summit, Mo., has been elected to the board of directors of the United States Breastfeeding Committee and began serving a two-year term in August. She also serves as the nonprofit organization's membership committee chair.

The United States Breastfeeding Committee is a coalition of more than 40 organizations -- including the AAFP -- working to improve the nation’s health by protecting, promoting and supporting breastfeeding.

Wood recently completed her term as chair of the AAFP Commission on Health of the Public and Science. She is a board member of the Missouri AFP.