May 14, 2010

MAFP E-BULLETIN, May, 2010, VOL.4, NO.5

Click on www.mdafp.org for Details, Registration and
A Very Special Message from
MAFP President Dr. Yvette Rooks

Register for Entire Conference or Per Day

Don’t Miss…

• SAM Study Hall

• Program Approved for up to 32 CME Credits

• AAFP President Lori Heim, M.D.

• Career Dinner Session for Special Constituencies

• Yoga Class for Mind and Body

• A Convenient Location in a Beautiful Setting

... Much more!

In this issue:

AAFP to Hold Family Medicine Global Health Workshop

Applications for RFPHM Now Available

AAFP Live! Offers Free Online CME for Members

Getting Started: Tools for the New Physician Now Online

Survey Part of Action Agenda to Reduce the Burden of Asthma in Maryland

Environmental Scan

AAFP to Hold Family Medicine Global Health Workshop

us at the workshop as an attendee or share your experience with others by submitting an abstract. Abstract submission deadline is June 1, 2010 (www.aafp.org/intl/workshop).

Special guest speakers:

• Donna E. Shalala, PhD, President of University of Miami and former Secretary of Health and Human Services in President Bill Clinton's administration

• Fitzhugh Mullan, MD, Murdock Head Professor of Medicine and Health Policy, School of Public Health and Health Services at George Washington University

Questions? Contact Rebecca Janssen, AAFP International Activities Senior Program Coordinator, at rjanssen@aafp.org.

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Applications for RFPHM Now Available

Applications for the Recognition of Focused Practice in Hospital Medicine (RFPHM) program are now available (https://www.theabfm.org/moc/rfphm.aspx). Family physicians must be currently certified Diplomates of the ABFM in order to apply for and maintain this recognition. This program, being offered in conjunction with the American Board of Internal Medicine (ABIM), will utilize the current ABFM Maintenance of Certification (MOC) framework and is the first customized MOC pathway that draws heavily on practice-based learning as its foundation. In order to receive this recognition, a physician must successfully complete the examination process and fulfill the educational requirements. If you have questions, please contact the ABFM Support Center by calling 877-223-7437 or by emailing help@theabfm.org.
 

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AAFP Live! Offers Free Online CME for Members

The AAFP has released a series of three online self-study CME tracks offering the latest science presented by the leading experts in Diabetes and Cardiovascular Disease, Pain Management and Sleep Disorders.

This is outcomes-based CME that evaluates your members current practices, helps implement best practices, and measures the effect of changes on patient care. Each online track is offered FREE to AAFP members. Members can begin a track, by visiting www.aafplive.org.
 

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Getting Started: Tools for the New Physician Now Online

Getting Started: Tools for the New Physician, a career planning resource for Resident members, is now a PDF and available online. Developed and updated annually, it is designed to help members structure their career planning around their goals, with resource links and ideas to support them during the critical years following residency when they most need it, including:

• Practice styles

• Contract negotiation

• Licensure, credentialing, privileging needs

• Chapter contact information

• Practice management resources

• AAFP CME reporting/tracking

In prior years, this resource was developed as a CD and mailed only to PGY-2 resident members. This year, AAFP has made it available to all members as a downloadable PDF so they can access the information when they are ready for it. Also added this year are various planning checklists to help them track their progress and stay on schedule.
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Survey Part of Action Agenda to Reduce the Burden of Asthma in Maryland

The Maryland Asthma Control Program as part of its Asthma Action Agenda goals, is conducting a needs assessment to determine Professional Development and Education needs of health care providers in Maryland around the NIH Asthma Management Guidelines. This survey is intended for healthcare providers who provide care to asthma patients and is structured to determine their knowledge of and adherence to the guidelines based on the 6 priority messages in the Guidelines Implementation Panel Report:

• use of inhaled corticosteroids

• initial assessment of asthma severity

• written asthma action plans

• follow-up visit

• assessment of asthma control

• control of environmental exposures

The survey results will be used in conjunction with a standardized pre/post test tool to develop appropriate workshops for clinicians and to assure content consistency of the workshops. The availability of Family Physicians with more expert knowledge of asthma management is vital to achieving our goal of reduced asthma burden in Maryland. Please take the survey at: http://www.surveymonkey.com/s/asthma  Deadline: June 15, 2010

Maryland Asthma Control Program
Maryland Department of Health & Mental Hygiene
http://www.marylandasthmacontrol.org 
 

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Environmental Scan

Looking for part-time or full-time family physician

Job Description:
Excellent benefits -- Competitive salary with incentive bonus -- Flexible schedule -- 100% Outpatient -- Infrequent physician calls -- State-of-the-art electronic health records -- New office facility -- Partnership opportunities -- Waterfront community -- A part of Maryland's largest physician-owned medical group

Contact:

Maryland Primary Care Physicians, LLC in Pasadena, Maryland
Diana Kerner, Practice Manager

Phone: 410-255-2700
E-mail: dkerner@mpcp

An increasing numbers of parents took their children to pediatricians rather than family physicians and internists over the last decade, according to a new study by Gary L. Freed, M.D., M.P.H., director of the Child Health Evaluation and Research (CHEAR) Unit at the University of Michigan Health System. The findings are important because different types of doctors often make different decisions on diagnostic tests and therapies for children. The trend also has important implications for future planning for the medical workforce and the number of doctors needed in the United States. Read more below and let us know if you need help with coverage. The release is also available online at http://www2.med.umich.edu/prmc/media/newsroom/details.cfm?ID=1586.

Bill rewards some Md. doctors for providing after-hours care
Leaders hope measure helps curb shortage of primary care doctors
Baltimore Business Journal, April 16, 2010
“Primary care doctors in Maryland are getting a raise. Kind of.
A bill that moved through the recently concluded General Assembly session requires, as of Oct. 1, that health insurance companies pay primary care physicians in their networks more for seeing patients at night, during weekends and on holidays. Currently, there is no financial incentive for pediatricians and other primary care providers to treat patients when their offices are closed.”

A Doctor's IT Prescription
HealthLeaders Media, April 15, 2010
“David Blumenthal, MD, has spent countless hours over his career using paper—writing down procedures, medication prescriptions, and evaluating x-rays. Through the years, he resisted technology. In fact, the National Coordinator for Health Information Technology for HHS says his wife still runs the computers at home. "My wife actually thinks it's a huge failure in vetting that I have this job," he joked about his overall skills. He spoke a few weeks ago to members of the Patient Centered Primary Care Collaborative about how he was forced by peer pressure to embrace technology and for that, he's a better physician. His message is instructive to physicians everywhere, especially those who are resistant to change.”

Six Ways Future Healthcare Will Emphasize Individual Care
“For the next phase of healthcare reform in the United States, leaders will place more emphasis on individualized care—people keeping themselves healthier and out of hospitals, and finding ways to help themselves better manage their own health, according to a new PricewaterhouseCoopers' HealthCast survey report. Part of this individualized care is related to what is included in the new healthcare reform legislation signed into law last month. Embedded in the reform package are provisions that increase emphasis on illness prevention, positive health outcomes, better coordination of care, and comparative effectiveness research, which includes personalized or customized medicine.”  

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Baltimore, MD 21228
Phone: (410) 747-1980 - Fax: (410) 744-6059
E-Mail: info@mdafp.org