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NEWS ARCHIVES

New DHH Budget to Include Enhanced Funding for Health Information Technology

2.27.2008 The Louisiana Department of Health and Hospitals announced today Gov. Bobby Jindal’s budget priority for improving health care through investment in health information technology. The new funding supports several statewide initiatives toward the goal of ensuring every Louisianan has a privacy-protected electronic medical record, and ensuring health care providers have access to relevant information they need to provide the best quality health care. Read More ...

Primary Care Emphasis Relies on Payment Reform Measures

2.27.2008 The nation's reliance on a fee-for-service payment system has resulted in an "atomized and uncoordinated system of care that rewards expensive procedure-based services while undervaluing primary care services," according to a recent report by the U.S. Government Accountability Office, or GAO. Read More....

Database on Health Broadens, Mix of pressures driving changes

2.27.08 In the not-too-distant future, physicians in Louisiana will have to begin reporting their patient treatment data to a central database, the same way that hospitals now do, a state health-care official said Tuesday. The push for transparency is being driven by the health-care system’s payers, insurance companies, and “choosers,” employers and their and their employees, said Dr. Michael Fleming, president of the Louisiana Health Care Quality Forum. Read the entire article by Ted Griggs with The Advocate.

LAFP Partners with Atlantic Health Partners for Vaccines Savings and Advocacy The very mention of immunizations can start debate among anyone who works in family medicine. The American Academy of Family Physicians (AAFP) and LAFP have been working in recent years to identify how to assist our members to deal with the ever-increasing costs of providing vaccines, along with addressing proper storage, ordering and payment problems. Read more...

New LAFP Logo (02/24/2008) At the February 2008 Louisiana Academy of Family Physicians board meeting, a final decision was made to embrace this new symbol and incorporate the logo, “Strong Medicine For Louisiana”, as the official new brand of the LAFP. Read more...

LAFP Partners with National Procedures Institute (02/24/2008) Enhance your practice and help earn revenue for Louisiana Academy of Family Physicians by attending a procedural seminar with the National Procedures Institute. The American Academy of Family Physicians, the Society of Teachers of Family Medicine and the Texas Academy of Family Physicians have teamed up to purchase NPI effective Jan. 1, 2008. This collaboration will give NPI the resources to continue building on its 18 years of success serving primary care practices. More...

Introducing the Louisiana Physicians Council on Cancer The Louisiana Physicians’ Council on Cancer held its inaugural meeting on September 27, 2007, in Baton Rouge. The Council is a joint effort of the American Cancer Society and the Louisiana Comprehensive Cancer Control Program, under the umbrella of the Louisiana Cancer Control Partnership. More...

Sensible Health Quarterly Magazine (2/2008) Sensible Health Quarterly is an exciting new health magazine devoted to informing the public about health-related topics and supplying resources that support healthy living.

Sensible Health Quarterly invites you and your organization to reach our reader audience by submitting your organization's information and articles for publication in the inaugural issue of SHQ. We are requesting submissions of articles dealing with "sensible" health topics. Article topics can include senior, child, dental and pet health as well as exercise,
nutrition, recipes, outdoor living and anything else that relates to a healthy lifestyle. Authors interested in getting your articles published in Sensible Health Quarterly can contact us at submissions@shqmag.com.

Baton Rouge General Medical Center Receives Accreditation for Sports Medicine Fellowship

(1/25/2008) The Baton Rouge General Medical Center is very pleased to announce that their new Sports Medicine fellowship program set to begin July 2008, has received accreditation through the Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education. The Program Director will be Dr. Jeffrey Burnham, Head Team Physician at Louisiana State University Athletic Department, and he will be assisted by Dr. Vincent Shaw and Dr. Derek Anderson. Fellows will participate in a variety of Sports medicine activities including sideline care of athletes at LSU and several major high schools in Baton Rouge. They will also work with prominent orthopedic surgeons and other subspecialties to obtain a well-rounded Sports Medicine experience. At the end of their Sports Medicine fellowship program, they will be eligible to sit for the CAQ exam. Any interested senior resident graduating from a family practice, emergency medicine, physicial medicine and rehabilitation or pediatric program can contact Connie Rome at 225-387-7736 or connie.rome@brgeneral.org.

CDC, AAFP, AAP Issue Updated Children's, Adolescent Immunizations Schedules

(01/11/2008 AAFP) It's that time again -- the CDC's Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices, or ACIP, in conjunction with the AAFP and the American Academy of Pediatrics, has released the newly revised recommended immunizations schedules for children and adolescents, as well as the 2008 version of the catch-up schedule for these age groups. Although no vaccines have been added to the 2008 schedules, they do include a couple of changes from last year's schedules that are worth noting. More...

FDA Warns of Potential Side Effect of Bisphosphonate Use

(01/09/2008 AAFP) Earlier this week, the FDA issued an alert highlighting the possibility of severe and sometimes incapacitating bone, joint and/or muscle pain in patients taking bisphosphonates. The agency is encouraging health care professionals to assess whether severe musculoskeletal pain in patients taking bisphosphonates, which are frequently prescribed to treat or prevent osteoporosis, could be attributed to their use of these drugs and to consider temporarily or permanently discontinuing their use. More...

AAFP Agenda for 2008: Strong Medicine in America

(12/10/2007 AAFP) It's time our payers, business leaders and legislators understood the true value of the family physician. To stir things up, we've planned an aggressive agenda for the year ahead that pushes our topics to the front of the health care debate. More...

2007 Member Re-Election

(12/10/2007) Members due for re-election in 2007 have until December 31st to earn the required CME. Realizing that the Family Physician’s effectiveness depends on sound, up to date continuing education, the AAFP Bylaws require only Active and Supporting members to submit at least 150 credits of approved continuing education every three calendar years to retain membership. These credits must include at least 75 Prescribed Credits and at least 25 from group activities.

HealthCare Leaders Unite for Patient Safety & Medical Advancement

(11/6/2007 New Orleans, Rebecca Rainer) A coalition of state health officials and medical professionals have launched a Web site designed to educate Louisiana citizens and their care givers on how security and privacy of personal health information can be managed to foster the adoption of electronic health records for all patients and providers. More...

Merck Temporarily Unable to Ship Hib Vaccine

(11/16/2007 AAFP) Merck & Co., Inc. recently notified the CDC that its Haemophilus influenzae type b conjugate vaccine, sold as PedvaxHIB, currently is unavailable for shipment. Merck said it anticipates the vaccine, which is indicated for routine immunization against invasive disease caused by H. influenzae type b in infants and children ages 2-71 months, will become available again sometime in the first quarter of 2008; the exact timing will depend on resolution of a manufacturing issue. More...

FDA Upgrades Rosiglitazone's Boxed Warning

(11/16/2007 AAFP) FDA officials on Nov. 14 called for changes to the warning label for the oral antidiabetic drug rosiglitazone maleate, which is the sole active ingredient in the brand-name prescription medication Avandia and an ingredient in two other antidiabetic drugs, Avandamet and Avandaryl. All three medications, which are used to treat type 2 diabetes, are manufactured by GlaxoSmithKline, or GSK. More...

Report CME Before Year's End

(11/14/2007 AAFP) If your Academy membership is coming up for re-election, it's easy to get a jump on the process: Report all CME credit earned during your re-election cycle by Dec. 31. More...

Complete A Survey: Improve Universal Credentialing Process

(10/30/2007 AAFP) The AAFP is calling on all Family Physicians -- or their medical practice staff members -- who have used a free online credentialing application developed by the Council for Affordable Quality Healthcare, or CAQH, to complete a questionnaire to assess that experience. More...

Congress Postpones Tamper-Resistant Prescription Pad Law

(10/01/07 AAFP) Congress has moved quickly to delay implementation of a recently passed law requiring physicians and pharmacists to start using either electronic prescriptions or tamper-resistant prescription pads for their Medicaid patients. More...

FDA Warns Physicians Against Prescribing Fentora for Off-Label Uses

(10/01/07 AAFP) The FDA has issued an alert for health care professionals warning them about the use of fentanyl buccal (i.e., Fentora) tablets after recent reports of deaths and other adverse events. The FDA says the deaths were the result of improper patient selection, dosing or product substitution. More...

FDA Warns of Potential Serious Side Effects with Breaththrough Cancer Pain Drug

(9/25/07 FDA) The Food and Drug Administration is alerting health care professionals and consumers to concerns over the use of Fentora (fentanyl buccal) tablets after recent reports of deaths and other adverse events. More...

Support of Medical Home to Be Focus of Upcoming Bill

AAFP Helps Shape Senate Legislation (9/25/07 AAFP) The patient-centered medical home soon could receive another boost on Capitol Hill. Senate Assistant Majority Leader Richard Durbin, R-Ill., and Sen. Richard Burr, R-N.C., plan to introduce a bipartisan bill within the next few weeks that would give states money to establish patient-centered medical home demonstration projects for Medicaid and State Children's Health Insurance Programs, or SCHIPs. More...

CDC Investigating Reports of GBS Tied to HPV Immunization

(9/26/07 AAFP) Recent reports of episodes of Guillain-Barre syndrome, or GBS, following administration of quadrivalent human papillomavirus, or HPV4, vaccine have led the CDC to investigate whether a connection exists between the two events. More...

CMS Describes Rules for Tamper Resistant Prescriptions

(8/24/07 AAFP) Family physician will have to use tamper-resistant methods to transmit prescriptions for Medicaid patients as of Oct. 1, but they will have some flexibility in how they do so, according to an Aug. 17 letter (3-page PDF; About PDFs) from CMS to state Medicaid directors. More...

Closing the Gap: Health Care Wanted

(8/16/07 The Advocate) Even before Hurricane Katrina, Louisiana didn't have enough doctors, nurses and other medical professionals to care for the people who live here. The 2005 storm threw the already dire situation into a tailspin, chasing health-care workers away and knocking out the state’s major medical training center in New Orleans. Two years later, 97 percent of the state faces “a primary care work force shortage,” according to federal standards. That means there aren’t enough family-practice, pediatric and internal-medicine doctors for the size of the population. More...

Family Medicine Residencies Lead the Charge to Innovate Education

(08/20/2007) -- "I honestly think that this is the best time in our specialty to come into a residency program. Every program director I talk to has the spirit of innovation. This is a once-in-a-generation opportunity." With that, Joseph Gravel, M.D., director of the Tufts University Family Medicine Residency program at Cambridge Health Alliance, Malden, Mass., introduced himself to residents, students and peers during the National Conference of Family Medicine Residents and Medical Students Town Hall on Education Aug. 2 in Kansas City, Mo. More

Online Database Compares Medicaid Benefits by State, Service

(08/20/2007) -- Want a quick reference for Medicaid-covered services in your state? Check out the interactive Medicaid Benefits: Online Database, released Aug. 16 by the Kaiser Commission on Medicaid and the Uninsured. The database presents state-by-state information for the years 2003, 2004 and 2006 under a section titled "Benefits by State." Under a "Benefits by Service" section, the database includes information on covered services, ranging from physician care -- listed under "Practitioner Services" -- to targeted case management -- listed under "Other Services." More

Closing the Gap: Health Care Help Wanted

(8/19/07 The Advocate) Even before Hurricane Katrina, Louisiana didn’t have enough doctors, nurses and other medical professionals to care for the people who live here. The 2005 storm threw the already dire situation into a tailspin, chasing health-care workers away and knocking out the state’s major medical training center in New Orleans. Two years later, 97 percent of the state faces “a primary care work force shortage,” according to federal standards. That means there aren’t enough family-practice, pediatric and internal-medicine doctors for the size of the population. More

Center for Improving Medication Management

AAFP, Others Collaborate to Boost E-Prescribing Efforts

(08/16/2007) -- In an effort to push the adoption and use of health information technology -- particularly e-prescribing -- the AAFP has joined with SureScripts and other health care stakeholders to launch the Center for Improving Medication Management. Steve Waldren, M.D., director of AAFP's Center for Health Information Technology, will serve on the board of directors for the new medication management center. (Discuss this story on the AAFP News Now bulletin board.) More

Residents, Students Elect New Leaders

(08/16/2007) -- Delegates to the National Congress of Family Medicine Residents and National Congress of Student Members in Kansas City, Mo., chose new leaders Aug. 4 to represent them in the coming year. More

UnitedHealth Group Pilot Project To Test Patient-Centered Medical Home

(08/15/2007) -- For the first time, a major insurance plan is putting money on the table to test whether health care delivered in a patient-centered medical home really does improve the delivery of care, improve overall patient health and reduce total health care spending. UnitedHealth Group is working with the AAFP, the American Academy of Pediatrics and the American College of Physicians to undertake the pilot project, which will launch in Florida with a small number of primary care practices yet to be chosen. More

NIHSeniorHealth Adds Info on Skin Cancer, Patient-Physician Communication

(08/15/2007) -- Two new topic areas recently added to the NIHSeniorHealth Web site offer older patients information about skin cancer and how to make the most of their visits to their physicians' offices. The Web site is a joint effort of the National Institute on Aging and the National Library of Medicine, both of which are NIH components. More

Workshop Offers Chance to Learn, Contribute

Family Physicians Can Help Improve Global Health

(08/15/2007) -- Family physicians can leave a global legacy by working with international colleagues to improve the health of the world. The 2007 International Family Medicine Development Workshop, Sept. 13-15 in Tucson, Ariz., will give participants an opportunity to learn about recent developments in global family medicine, help develop approaches to sustainability issues, network with leading international family medicine development experts and share experiences with peers. More

National Conference

Residents, Students Wrestle With Health System Reform, Other Issues

(08/10/2007) -- Tomorrow’s family physicians want to see more progress toward health system reform, stronger language regarding retail health clinics, and an arm’s length between the pharmaceutical industry and medicine. They voiced those opinions in resolutions adopted during the Aug. 2-4 resident and student congresses held during the National Conference of Family Medicine Residents and Medical Students in Kansas City, Mo. More

Future of Health Care

Change, Opportunities Await Students and Residents

(08/10/2007) -- America's patients need health care heroes. They want personal medical homes, but they are surrounded by a mushrooming number of subspecialists. They read that the quality of care is spiraling downward, and they see that the cost of care is billowing. More

From Single Disease to Entire Community

Family Physicians Tie Together All Elements of Health Care

(08/09/2007) -- Good health care doesn't focus on a single organ system. It doesn't focus on a single disease. It doesn't stop with the patient in the exam room. It envelops the organ, the disease, the patient, the family and the community. And family medicine is at the center of all of these, said David Satcher, M.D., Ph.D., former U.S. Surgeon General and current director of the Center of Excellence on Health Disparities at Morehouse School of Medicine, Atlanta. More

Academy CME Program Honored for Excellence

(08/15/2007)

Community Health Centers Save Billions in Health Care Costs, Says Report

(08/09/2007)

HART IMG'S IN THE US

House Approves Short-Term SGR Fix as Part of SCHIP Legislation

(08/08/2007) -- The House recently passed a bill that would provide slight increases in physician payments under Medicare in 2008 and 2009 as a substitute for the steep payment cuts that were called for under the sustainable growth rate, or SGR, formula. The provision, which was passed as part of a larger $50 billion bill to reauthorize the State Children's Health Insurance Program, or SCHIP, would provide a 0.5 percent increase in Medicare physician payments in both 2008 and 2009. More

Senate HELP Committee Passes Landmark Tobacco Bill

(08/08/2007) -- The FDA would gain the authority to regulate tobacco products under a bipartisan bill recently passed by the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions, or HELP, Committee. A similar bill is winding its way through the U.S. House. More

North Carolina Seeks Expansion of Primary Care Program

(08/08/2007) -- North Carolina officials have asked the federal government to approve a plan to move the state's higher-cost Medicare patients into a primary care Medicaid management program that has saved the state millions of dollars during the past few years. Officials submitted what is known as a 646 waiver to CMS earlier this year, asking the agency to approve a five-year demonstration project that would put the state's high-risk Medicare patients and dual eligibles (i.e., patients qualifying for both Medicaid and Medicare) into a primary care program known as Community Care of North Carolina, or CCNC. More

Have You Registered for Assembly? Beat Aug. 29 Cutoff to Save $100

(08/08/2007) -- Get four full days of CME, hear top-name speakers address issues of key importance to family medicine and participate in hands-on clinical procedures workshops -- all in the world-class city of Chicago -- during the 2007 AAFP Scientific Assembly Oct. 3-6. Register by Aug. 29 and save as much as $100. More

Some Clearinghouses Removing NPIs From Medicare Claims

(08/07/2007) -- Family physicians who are Medicare providers and use clearinghouses to process their claims need to know that some clearinghouses are stripping physicians' National Provider Identifier, or NPI, numbers from claims before submitting them to Medicare, says CMS. More

Starfield Video Reinforces 'Value of Family Medicine'

(08/06/2007) -- The AAFP's online resource Value of Family Medicine recently posted a new videoconference presentation by renowned health policy researcher Barbara Starfield, M.D., M.P.H. Starfield, a university distinguished professor in the health policy and management and pediatrics departments at Johns Hopkins Medical Institutions, Baltimore, gave the presentation, "Primary Care: Improving Quality and Reducing Costs," at a June round-table discussion sponsored by the Patient Centered Primary Care Collaborative. More

CDC Notice

Expect Shipment Delays for Some Hepatitis A Vaccine Products

(08/03/2007) -- Merck & Co. has notified the CDC that the company currently reports backorders, with associated shipment delays, for both the pediatric and adult formulations of its hepatitis A vaccine, inactivated. At this time, however, CDC officials are not calling for any related changes in hepatitis A immunization recommendations. More

Federal Genetic Nondiscrimination Act Nears Passage

(08/03/2007) -- Legislation that would prohibit employers and health insurance companies from discriminating against individuals based on those individuals' genetic makeup soon may become law. The House overwhelmingly passed the Genetic Information Nondiscrimination Act of 2007, H.R. 493, in April, and the Senate is on the verge of passing similar legislation. President Bush supported the House legislation and is expected to sign a final bill negotiated between the House and Senate, said William Pewen, health policy adviser for Sen. Olympia Snowe, R-Maine, who sponsored the Senate bill. More

Where Have All the FPs Gone?

Workforce Study Shows 'Severe' Shortage in Massachusetts

(08/02/2007)

Legislation Proposes to Relieve Residents' Student Loan Debt

(08/01/2007)

SCHIP Legislation May 'Get the Medical Home Moving'

(07/18/2007) -- Congress will have an opportunity to include a provision for a patient-centered medical home as part of legislation that reauthorizes the State Children's Health Insurance Program, or SCHIP, said Rep. Patrick Kennedy, D-R.I., during a June 28 congressional briefing in Washington. More

AAFP Taps YouTube to Reach Consumers With Men's Health Message

(07/18/2007) -- For the first time, users of the Internet phenomenon YouTube can learn a little about men's health, the personal medical home and the Academy's consumer site familydoctor.org -- thanks to an AAFP video clip URL to follow posted recently on YouTube and other video-sharing Web sites (Discuss this story on the AAFP News Now bulletin board.) More

Check Out Chronic Care CME Audio Programs Online

(07/18/2007) -- As part of its 2007 Annual Clinical Focus: Management of Chronic Illness, the AAFP is offering free audio CME programs on care of patients who suffer from chronic illness. AAFP members can earn 1 Prescribed CME credit for each online program they complete. More

Health Care Reform: It's the Buzz

(07/17/2007) -- It's not very sportsmanlike to say: "I told you so." So, for the sake of propriety, the AAFP and family physicians should restrain themselves. Why? Well, it seems that family medicine's message is starting to resonate -- the U.S. health care system needs serious care and attention. More (Members Only)

P4 Initiative Produces 'Radical' Approaches to Residency Training

(07/17/2007) -- Fourteen family medicine residency programs this summer are launching what have been dubbed "radical" approaches to training residents. The 14 programs, participants in the Preparing the Personal Physician for Practice, or P4, initiative, expect to reorder students' understanding of family medicine, other specialties’ assessment of family medicine and residents' own perceptions of themselves as physicians. More

AAFP Leads Call for SGR Fix on Capitol Hill

(07/16/2007) -- The AAFP recently urged congressional leaders to stop a scheduled 10 percent reduction in Medicare payment rates next year and to provide positive payment updates in 2008 and 2009. That request was made during a series of July 10 meetings on Capitol Hill and reiterated in a press briefing just after the visits. More

AAFP Survey Shows Number of FPs Using EHRs Continues to Climb

(07/13/2007) -- Results from a recent AAFP survey indicate that the number of family physicians using electronic health records has risen consistently since the Academy began measuring members' EHR usage in 2003. Half of the 459 respondents to the survey, which was mailed to a random sample of 4,000 active AAFP members in April 2007, said they had either fully implemented (37 percent) or were in the process of implementing (13 percent) an EHR system in their practices More

State Scorecard Offers Models for Improving Health System

(07/13/2007) -- The United States can vastly improve its health care system simply by using tools that already are in place, according to a recent Commonwealth Fund report. "Aiming Higher: Results from a State Scorecard on Health System Performance," used 32 quality indicators to rate states' health systems in the general areas of access, quality, potentially avoidable use of hospitals and costs of care, equity, and residents' ability to live long and healthy lives. More