http://www.aafp.org/online/en/home/publications/news/news-now/professional-issues.html en-us Copyright 2010 American Academy of Family Physicians http://www.aafp.org/online/en/home/publications/news/news-now/professional-issues/20100105aamc-survey.html http://www.aafp.org/online/en/home/publications/news/news-now/professional-issues/20100105aamc-survey.html The Academy and four other medical organizations are collaborating with the Association of American Medical Colleges, or AAMC, on a survey designed to assess the primary care workforce. bbein@aafp.org Tue, 05 Jan 2010 17:20:00 CST Professional Issues http://www.aafp.org/online/en/home/publications/news/news-now/professional-issues/20091124cpsdataworkforce.html http://www.aafp.org/online/en/home/publications/news/news-now/professional-issues/20091124cpsdataworkforce.html A recent Dartmouth College study that used U.S. Census Bureau data to make projections about the physician workforce concluded that the future physician workforce will be smaller and younger than indicated by projections that used the AMA's Physician Masterfile data. If this proves true, shortages of primary care physicians will be worse than projected, as will patients' access to primary care, according to an AAFP physician workforce expert. bbein@aafp.org Tue, 24 Nov 2009 11:00:00 CST Professional Issues http://www.aafp.org/online/en/home/publications/news/news-now/professional-issues/20091118ama-med-ed.html http://www.aafp.org/online/en/home/publications/news/news-now/professional-issues/20091118ama-med-ed.html Delegates at the 2009 interim meeting of the AMA House of Delegates in Houston recently adopted several recommendations that put the AMA squarely in line with key components of the AAFP's new physician workforce reform policy and with other medical education issues championed by the Academy. Some of the most important measures adopted concern expanding funding for graduate medical education, or GME; limiting future restrictions on resident and fellow duty hours; and enhancing the availability of clinical training sites for medical students. bbein@aafp.org Wed, 18 Nov 2009 17:05:00 CST Professional Issues http://www.aafp.org/online/en/home/publications/news/news-now/professional-issues/20091117ibm-prim-care.html http://www.aafp.org/online/en/home/publications/news/news-now/professional-issues/20091117ibm-prim-care.html IBM plans to eliminate copays and deductibles for primary care physician services for most of its employees in January, a move that could prompt other large companies and employers to eliminate financial barriers for primary care services as well, according to analysts interviewed by AAFP News Now. jarvantes@aafp.org Tue, 17 Nov 2009 16:30:00 CST Professional Issues http://www.aafp.org/online/en/home/publications/news/news-now/professional-issues/20091112pcpcc-summit.html http://www.aafp.org/online/en/home/publications/news/news-now/professional-issues/20091112pcpcc-summit.html As more demonstration projects prove the value of the patient-centered medical home, or PCMH, in increasing care efficacy and reducing costs, a number of federal agencies are adopting the medical home model as part of their overall health care transformation efforts. That was one of the messages that came out of the Patient-Centered Primary Care Collaborative, or PCPCC, summit held Oct. 22 in Washington. jarvantes@aafp.org Thu, 12 Nov 2009 15:35:00 CST Professional Issues http://www.aafp.org/online/en/home/publications/news/news-now/professional-issues/20091111ama-reform.html http://www.aafp.org/online/en/home/publications/news/news-now/professional-issues/20091111ama-reform.html The AMA threw its support behind health system reform on Nov. 9 during the 2009 interim meeting of the AMA House of Delegates in Houston. And according to members of the Academy's delegation, the final measure adopted by the delegates carries forward much of the Academy's own message on reform. bbein@aafp.org Wed, 11 Nov 2009 16:10:00 CST Professional Issues http://www.aafp.org/online/en/home/publications/news/news-now/professional-issues/20091028texas-loans.html http://www.aafp.org/online/en/home/publications/news/news-now/professional-issues/20091028texas-loans.html Texas has taken steps to increase the number of primary care physicians in underserved areas of the state by putting in place one of the most generous physician loan repayment programs in the country. The program, which will be funded at $60 million on a biannual basis, will award as much as $160,000 during a four-year period to individual physicians who agree to provide primary care services in federally designated health professional shortage areas, or HPSAs. jarvantes@aafp.org Wed, 28 Oct 2009 00:00:00 CDT Professional Issues http://www.aafp.org/online/en/home/publications/news/news-now/professional-issues/20091007hospitalist.html http://www.aafp.org/online/en/home/publications/news/news-now/professional-issues/20091007hospitalist.html The American Board of Family Medicine, or ABFM, has announced that it is joining forces with the American Board of Internal Medicine, or ABIM, to establish a pilot program for Recognition of Focused Practice, or RFP, in Hospital Medicine. The announcement is welcome news to AAFP President-elect Lori Heim, M.D., of Vass, N.C., a hospitalist who says she sees many benefits in such recognition. But she cautions that any RFP program that might result from the pilot should not be used to limit the scope of family physicians who practice the full scope of family medicine, including both inpatient and outpatient medicine. bbein@aafp.org Wed, 07 Oct 2009 17:00:00 CDT Professional Issues http://www.aafp.org/online/en/home/publications/news/news-now/professional-issues/20090923king-h1n1.html http://www.aafp.org/online/en/home/publications/news/news-now/professional-issues/20090923king-h1n1.html The novel influenza A (H1N1) virus could overwhelm the nation's health care system by exacerbating the existing shortages of physicians and other health care professionals, thus leaving some patients who contract the virus without proper medical attention. That was one of the main messages delivered by witnesses who testified before the House Committee on Small Business on Sept. 9. jarvantes@aafp.org Wed, 23 Sep 2009 16:10:00 CDT Professional Issues http://www.aafp.org/online/en/home/publications/news/news-now/professional-issues/20090923medpac-pcps.html http://www.aafp.org/online/en/home/publications/news/news-now/professional-issues/20090923medpac-pcps.html The nation's primary care physician residency programs are plagued by a lack of interest, support and funding. This situation, in turn, is helping to drive the nation's chronic shortage of primary care physicians, said the chair of the Council on Graduate Medical Education, or COGME, who spoke before the Medicare Payment Advisory Commission, or MedPAC, Sept. 18 in Washington. jarvantes@aafp.org Wed, 23 Sep 2009 16:15:00 CDT Professional Issues