IAFP president Ash Hanna, MD's report from the 2009 AAFP Congress of Delegates, Boston, MA - 11/2/09
Dear Colleagues,
I recently returned from the AAFP 62nd Congress of Delegates, and I am excited to report to the Indiana chapter members on what is happening at the national level.
At the AAFP Congress of Delegates new national leaders were installed. Lori Heim, MD has moved to the office of president replacing Ted Epperly, MD who has served the Academy well these last twelve months. Dr. Epperly was the voice of the AAFP during White House visits and Congressional committees. Dr. Epperly will now serve a year as Chairman of the AAFP Board. Roland Goertz, MD of Texas was elected by the AAFP Congress as president-elect, he will be installed as president at the AAFP Congress in 2010.
I want to especially thank our Indiana Delegates to the AAFP Congress, Clif Knight, MD and Richard Feldman, MD along with our Alternate Delegates David Pepple, MD and Worthe Holt, MD.
The Indiana Academy sent three resolutions to the AAFP. The IAFP resolution on the use of wireless communications devices was sent to the AAFP board for further study, as was our resolution on creating an AAFP subcommittee to represent family physicians working in emergency medicine. The third resolution the IAFP sent to the AAFP was on home visit payment and it was adopted by the Congress. The AAFP’s representative on the Relative Value Scale Update Committee (RUC) will request a re-evaluation of the evaluation and management services for home visits.
As president, I attended the AAFP President/President-Elect Luncheon. The Luncheon’s topic was the Patient Centered Medical Home activity in the states. I encourage all Indiana members to learn more about the Patient Centered Medical Home (PCMH). Visit www.aafp.org/pcmh and download the AAFP checklist - you will likely find you are doing more medical home activities than you may have thought. After that step, you can use the AAFP resources to learn how to document the extra care you give your patients. PCMH is moving across the country, there are new pilots every month, and all the major health care reform bills include medical home pilots with novel payment models.
I look forward to seeing many of you at our November 14th SAM Session. Until then, stay healthy during this extended flu season.
Sincerely,
Ash Hanna, MD
President
Indiana Academy of Family Physicians
2009 IAFP All-Member Congress of Delegates report
The 2009 IAFP Congress of Delegates heard over 25 resolutions and recommendations from the IAFP members on July 24th and 25th during the annual meeting. During the next year the IAFP Commission and Committees will take action on the mandates.
The IAFP Commission on Legislation (COL) which uses the IAFP mandates to determine what legislation to seek and support, has added several new policies.
The COL has been tasked to work with the Attorney General and support legislation for medical work phone and fax numbers and hospital room numbers to be on the “no call list.” In 2009 the IAFP worked on a primary care physician loan forgiveness program, the IAFP Congress has reemphasized the need to create more primary care physician incentive programs and fund the primary care loan forgiveness program.
The Congress voted for the IAFP to support or seek legislation banning the use of wireless communication devices while driving except in emergencies. The COL is also tasked to work with hospitals and possibly the legislature to ensure that primary care physicians are alerted to their patient’s admission to and discharge from hospital facilities.
The IAFP Commission on Health Care Services (CHCS) priority is assisting members with private and public payors and other primary care office issues. This year the CHCS will be working with the Commission on Legislation on encouraging both private and public insurers to rebuild their prior authorization procedures and simple and unify forms. The CHCS and COL will also work on the issue of Medicaid auto-assignment for newborns, with the goal of stopping auto assignment for newborns, have Medicaid assignment be based on family choice or physician or record, and having Medicaid assignment be retroactive to birth.
The Commission on Membership and Communications’ mandates from the 2009 Congress mostly concern students, residents, and new physicians. The Commission on Membership and Communications will work on 100% resident membership in the academy, creating a welcome gesture for all students who match in an Indiana Family Medicine residency, offering a focused communication for new family physicians, determining whether to reduce membership dues for new family physicians, and planning events where medical students, residents, and new family physicians can network.
The Commission on Membership and Communications will also plan and implement new options for the 2010 IAFP region meetings and the elections held at those meetings.
The IAFP Officers which comprise the IAFP Executive Committee have been given three mandated assignments from the Congress. The first is that family physicians across the state are to be personally contacted by a member of the IAFP Executive Committee. The Executive Committee has been mandated to continue to keep family medicine resident outreach a priority, including educating family medicine residents about the IAFP. The Executive Committee is also charged with developing talking points on the value of family medicine for use in the media and other outlets.
The Congress assigned the Board of Directors several resolutions with the task of deciding appropriate future actions and feasibility, when the Congress required more information and study to make a decision. These include whether the Indiana Academy needs specific policies be drafted on decreasing the cost of end of life care, a physician’s rights of conscience, and the performance of body modifications by non-medical professionals.
The Board of Directors has also been assigned to host a strategic planning session, create a new physician at large seat on the Board of Directors, study the possibility of creating a convenience care model within physician offices, and change the IAFP dues to $350 a year for active members, $200 onetime fee for life members, and $100 a year inactive member dues.
Resolutions concerning national policy are forwarded onto the AAFP Congress, the AAFP Congress then determines the appropriate action. Two resolutions will be sent to the AAFP Congress from the IAFP. The first requests the AAFP representative on the RUC to ask for a revaluation and increased valuation of the RVUs for the E&M services for home visits. The second requests the AAFP to establish a subcommittee on emergency medicine to support emergency medicine workforce issues.
All the resolutions and officer recommendations that are summarized here were submitted to the IAFP and voted on in the All Member Congress of Delegates (COD) during the 2009 Annual Meeting. If you are interested in IAFP policy formation please join us for next year’s All Member Congress of Delegates in French Lick, IN.
To participate in the fulfilling of these mandates and active IAFP policy join a commission or committee. To join, contact the IAFP at iafp@in-afp.org or by phone at 317-237-4237.