Louisiana Academy of Family Physician's Response to the LA Health First Proposal
For Immediate Release
November 25, 2008
Statement attributable to: James Campbell, MD
President, Louisiana Academy of Family Physicians
The Louisiana Academy of Family Physicians supports the concepts outlined by the Louisiana Department of Health and Hospitals in its Health Care Transformation document authored by Louisiana Health First, and, in so doing, acknowledges the concerns regarding cost, efficiency and effectiveness of the current health care delivery system in Louisiana. The Academy advocates for patients to ensure that they receive quality, patient-centered medical care, and has upheld principles to that end for quite some time. Many of those principles are set forth in the Louisiana Health First initiative, including expansion of coverage with transition to a patient-centered medical home model of delivery that rewards desirable outcomes and is based on care coordination, quality, and access.
In the interest of optimizing success, the Academy suggests that the following additional principles be addressed by Louisiana Health First:
- Development of a plan to increase primary care physician workforce in Louisiana through strengthening of recruitment and training of family physicians, and assurance of incentives to address the current shortage of primary care physicians, especially in underserved and rural areas of the state
- Advancement of incentives to engage the community in their own health care
- Construction of specific protocols that will further define the concept of a “patient-centered medical home” for Medicaid patients in Louisiana
- Establishment of budgetary stability of the health care delivery system
The creation of a sustainable system for quality health care will require the participation of primary care physicians at the core level of the program. The Louisiana Department of Health and Hospitals and Louisiana Health First must continue to work with The Academy and all primary care physicians as the plan moves forward. As details begin to emerge, input from primary care physicians will be critical to achieve viable completion and implementation of the plan, as well as maintenance of the program to ensure the health and well-being of Louisiana’s patient citizens.
Below are the four (PDF) documents that were discussed during the conference call held Tuesday, November 25th, between the LAFP Executive Committee and Legislative Committee along with Tony Keck with DHH to discuss the LA Health First Concept Paper.
Please review the documents above and direct any comments / questions to Ragan Canella at rcanella@lafp.org.
