Survey Says: AAFP on Track to Meet Members’ Needs

Oct. 19, 2023

By Shawn Martin
AAFP Executive Vice President and CEO

As a family physician, you check in with your patients regularly to give them the care they need to live healthy lives. Similarly, the AAFP regularly checks in with you, and all members, to make sure you’re getting the attention, resources and education you need to build a thriving, fulfilling practice and to enjoy optimal professional well-being.

Thank you for taking the time to respond to a recent check-in — the 2023 Member Satisfaction Survey. Your answers provide the data and insights we need to prioritize delivery of the tools and resources you need most. Your responses show that the AAFP’s strategic work aligns with your highest priorities: education, advocacy and connection.

Fully 95% of member respondents said AAFP membership helps them accomplish what they hoped it would and 81% said membership is important. Here’s a quick overview of what you said you’re looking for from the AAFP and how we’re meeting those needs:

Education

More than 90% of respondents turn to the AAFP as a trusted source of information. You said you can count on the Academy to deliver useful content at aafp.org, tools to help maintain board certification and resources to ensure you have the clinical expertise your patients need.

Members rely on the AAFP for CME tailored to the specific needs of family physicians, so we’re continuously developing new content in a range of formats that let you learn in the method that works best for you.

The education AAFP experts produce for you goes beyond CME, too. Members have access to resources that include constantly updated clinical recommendations, tools to improve practice management and information that helps new physicians launch successful careers.

Advocacy

This year’s survey showed a seven-point increase in member satisfaction with the AAFP’s efforts toward administrative simplification that lets you focus on patient care, not paperwork. Helping you spend more time with patients and making sure you’re paid fairly for that work are key focuses of the AAFP’s advocacy work.

More respondents this year also said that the AAFP is a bold champion for members and that they see the Academy’s influence on important legislative and regulatory issues. That influence is clear in recent advocacy wins that will simplify quality measures and boost the primary care workforce, to name just two.

Connection

The survey also revealed a nine-point increase in optimism for the future of family medicine. Respondents said they want the AAFP to help them connect with fellow family physicians, and that optimism is clear when members come together in the Academy’s virtual communities and big events like the Family Medicine Experience, which will bring together thousands of family physicians next week.

Before we meet up in Chicago for FMX, make sure you’re registered for our next big opportunity to check in and connect virtually on Oct. 22 in the All-member Town Hall. You’ll hear updates from President Tochi Iroku-Malize, M.D., M.P.H., M.B.A., FAAFP, and then she’ll take your questions in a moderated Q&A.

Strengthening our connections in virtual events like the Town Hall, as well as at live meetings and through the annual Member Satisfaction Survey, helps the AAFP stay on track to deliver what you need, when you need it, through the right support channels. Job #1 for us at the AAFP to help you be the family physician your patients need and to help you find joy through the best specialty of them all.

In closing, I want to personally thank you for your commitment to your patients and community.

Your bold champion and advocate in health,

Shawn Martin