AAFP News Now

AAFP Uses Connect for Reform to Answer Questions on SGR Efforts
The AAFP has posted a question and answer document about the latest congressional action on the sustainable growth rate, or SGR, formula, along with a detailed analysis of the SGR itself, on its Connect for Reform Web site.
3/10/2010

News Briefs: Week of March 8-12
This roundup includes the following news briefs: FDA Approves Name Change for Heartburn Drug; State Supreme Court Strikes Down Medical Malpractice Law; New Mexico Prepares to Enact Insurance Measure; AAFP Looking for Poster Presenters; Solo FP Testifies on Meaningful Use Regulations; Obama Administration Launches Healthy Food Financing Initiative; MedPAC Submits March Report to Congress.
3/10/2010

Changing the Discussion From Physician Burnout to Physician Wellness
A new case study by family medicine educators indicates that to create a more positive educational environment for residents and faculty, academic medicine has to change from a focus on the causes of physician burnout to a focus on physician wellness. In addition, educational programs need to create interventions for residents and faculty that encourage them to think about overall physician wellbeing.
3/9/2010

HHS Presents Plan for Health IT Certification
HHS recently announced a proposed rule that would establish certification programs to test electronic health record, or EHR, systems. The federal proposal calls for the establishment of a temporary certification program that eventually would be replaced by a permanent program.
3/9/2010

Warnings, Recommendations Fail to Improve Monitoring of Use of Atypical Antipsychotic Drugs
An important warning about atypical, or second-generation, antipsychotic drugs and a connection to increased risk for diabetes and hyperglycemia didn't make it to primary care physicians, according to a new study in the Archives of General Psychiatry.
3/9/2010

Docs Should Play Role in Increasing Immunization Uptake in Adults
According to a new report from the Trust for America's Health, up to 50,000 U.S. adults die each year from vaccine preventable diseases, and the direct health care burden of vaccine preventable diseases in American adults is $10 billion a year. Physicians, however, can help increase uptake levels for adult vaccinations by making the most of office visits with these patients to get them immunized.
3/8/2010

Academy Leaders Carry Family Physicians' Message to White House, Capitol Hill
In the wake of legislation that reversed a cut in Medicare physician payments through March 31, AAFP leaders once again fanned out in Washington to deliver their message about the value and importance of primary care and family medicine to the White House and congressional leaders. During a series of meetings with administration officials and lawmakers on March 2-3, AAFP President Lori Heim, M.D., of Vass, N.C.; AAFP President-elect Roland Goertz, M.D., M.B.A., of Waco, Texas; AAFP Board Chair Ted Epperly, M.D., of Boise, Idaho; and AAFP EVP Doug Henley, M.D., stressed the importance of family medicine and the patient-centered medical home, or PCMH.
3/5/2010

ACCME Updates Providers, Stakeholders on System for CME Activity Data
The Accreditation Council for Continuing Medical Education, or ACCME, has completed the second phase of testing its Program Activity and Reporting System, or PARS, a new Web-based portal designed to streamline data collection from ACCME-accredited providers.
3/5/2010

'Meaningful Use' Rule Needs Significant Modifications, Says AAFP
The AAFP has responded to the federal government's Dec. 30 release of electronic health record, or EHR, regulations that define the term "meaningful use" with comments detailing how the Academy would make the regulations more helpful -- and more palatable -- to family physicians. Defining meaningful use is important because qualifying for government stimulus funds for the purchase of health information technology, or health IT, depends on how physician practices are meeting the regulations' criteria.
3/4/2010

Senate Acts to Reverse Deep Reductions in Physician Payments
The Senate has passed a one-month extension of the Medicare physician payment rate, thus reversing a 21.2 percent payment reduction that took effect based on the sustainable growth rate, or SGR, formula on March 1. On March 2, the Senate approved a House-passed bill, H.R. 4691, that provides a 30-day extension for several programs, including the Medicare physician payment rate. President Obama signed the measure into law the same day.
3/3/2010

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