Time for the 2013 Active Member Survey

IAFP surveys its active members every two years.  Your input is vital in guiding the Board, committees and staff in their efforts to represent Illinois family medicine and meet their needs.  Results will be compiled and shared with the IAFP Board of Directors at their meeting November 10, 2013 and will help in shaping the Academy's direction for 2014 and beyond.  Please set aside 10-15 minutes and complete the online survey by July 26.

Click here to access the survey

Call for 2013 Resolutions

Have a great idea or a problem that needs an Academy solution?  The IAFP Task Force on Resolutions begins meeting July 9 to discuss resolutions for the AAFP Congress.  Please send resolutions to Gordana Krkic at gkrkic@iafp.com.  If you need help developing a resolution, you can find tips on the AAFP web site here. Resolutions for the Illinois Chapter Annual Meeting may also be submitted.  

Call for Board and Officer Nominations

The Leadership Development Task Force is seeking nominations for the IAFP board of directors. Please send a cover email indicating willingness to serve, a resume and answers to the following questions:

 1.     Identify areas where you have skills, experience or interest (such as finance, public relations, health information technology, CME, GME, and/or government relations).

 2.     Describe how you can help IAFP further its mission. 

Please submit your letter of intention and your CV to IAFP Executive Vice President Vincent D. Keenan, CAE at vkeenan@iafp.com by Friday, August 2. We have three board slots for the class of 2016 (three-year term) and we are seeking a New Physician board member (less than seven years in practice) for a two-year term.  Nominations will also be accepted for the positions of 2^nd Vice President, 1^st Vice President, President-elect, and one Alternate Delegate and one Delegate to the AAFP Congress of Delegates (two-year terms). Questions? Contact David Hagan, MD, chair of the Leadership Development Task Force at djhmd80@yahoo.com or IAFP Executive Vice President Vince Keenan vkeenan@iafp.com.  

EHR Medicaid Meaningful Use Update

Please attest online by June 30 so that you will be paid at Medicare rates for Medicaid primary care visits retroactive to January 1.  If you attest July 1 or after, your Medicaid payments will be from the day of attestation. If your attestation passes the adjudication requirements, the Department of Healthcare and Family Services (DHFS) will process your payment. 

1. If you are called by DHFS, please respond.  They are trying to process your attestation for payment.
2. Check your status online on MEDI in the EHR application.
3. If by the first of July, your status has not changed, contact the EHR Adjudication Unit for assistance: 217/782-5565 *3236 for Kevin Miller *3234 for Amanda Wanless *3237 for Veronica Schulz-Lehr *3235 for Mecky Lang    

According to CHITREC (Chicago Health Information Technology Regional Extension Center) The Illinois Department of Healthcare & Family Services (HFS) has started processing payments for all Adopt, Implement, or Upgrade (AIU) and Meaningful Use attestations. The first set of payments have gone out this week, but due to a backlog of attestations, it may take several payment cycles for all providers to receive their incentive payments. HFS hopes to get caught up over the summer months.    

REMINDER:  If you are planning to attest to Medicare for the 2013 attestation year HFS strongly recommends you do NOT switch to the Medicare program until your 2012 Medicaid attestation is adjudicated.  Changing programs will cancel your Medicaid attestation and your 2012 Incentive payment.  Please direct questions and concerns to the EHR Payment Incentive Program support email,hfs.ehrincentive@illinois.gov.  

Medicaid Medicare parity payments update

The Illinois Department of Healthcare and Family Services has posted a new Provider Notice to the Physicians Provider Notices page. You may view the Physicians Provider Notices page for the notice. The department now has created a Primary Care Provider Incentive Payment Program webpage that contains a link to the Medicaid Electronic Data Interchange (MEDI) system. Providers are asked to apply for the incentive program by completing the attestation online instead of using the paper format. The department has created an

ACA Approved Provider Listing by National Provider Identifier (NPI) for the providers who have successfully completed their attestation as of JUNE 22. If you submitted an attestation to the department but your NPI is not on the list, please contact the Provider Participation Unit (PPU) by calling 217-782-0538 for assistance. 

July Lunch & Learn: Integrated Medication Management in Primary Care

Presented by: Mark Loafman, MD, Assistant Professor of Family and Community Medicine, Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine

Thursday, July 25, 2013, 12:00-1:00pm CST

Learning Objectives:

- Articulate how integrating clinical pharmacy services into an inter-professional care team can effectively overcome systems barriers to optimal care for patients with chronic conditions, with immediate results.

 - Translate the lessons learned from teamwork and accountability which are now commonly used in acute "rescue" care and complex, advance stage service lines to achieve the same level of accountability for primary and secondary prevention and treatment "upstream".

 - Describe the opportunities for, and approach to, achieving truly accountable care in both the patient centered medical home and the accompanying "medical neighborhood," or community of practice.

Register Online

And what about that ACA Implementation?

Health insurance is changing in 2014--so the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services CMS has updated HealthCare.gov to help consumers get ready for the Health Insurance Marketplace.

When open enrollment starts on October 1, 2013, consumers will be able to apply, compare plans, and enroll. Coverage starts as soon as January 1, 2014. www.Marketplace.cms.gov  has new information too In support of this update, there are a variety of materials for you and the consumers you help, available for immediate download on Marketplace.cms.gov. There are brochures, fact sheets, videos, a postcard, resource card, and a checklist for consumers. 

If you have a news item to share, email it to Ginnie Flynn at gflynn@iafp.com.

Dr. Warren C. Barrow, 84 of Pittsfield, Illinois, passed away Thursday, June 20, He practiced family medicine for 50 years in Pittsfield until he retired in 2011.  His final 10 years in practice were at Quincy Medical Group with IAFP past president Ron Johnson, MD.  Link to the full obituary here

The Associated Press published a story asking how can America meet the growing demand for access to primary care services when millions of Americans gain insurance coverage through Medicaid or subsidized private plans when the Affordable Care Act rolls into the next phase Jan. 1, 2014?  One version of the story that ran in Crain's Chicago Business and the Daily Herald included input from Russell Robertson, MD about obstacles to converting medical students to family physicians.  Another version of the AP story ran in the Southern Illinoisan that included the career plans of Northwestern-McGaw resident Stephanie Place, MD - who will stay in Chicago to practice at an FQHC after fielding tons of job offers.  A companion sidebar article included input from SIU Dept. of Family and Community Medicine interim chair John Bradley, MD on how the ACA provides the benefits of insurance and some mechanisms for physicians to improve efficiency through EHRs, but also can be challenging for physicians to manage the immense changes so quickly.

Dawn Brunner, MD was back on Ask the Family Physician on WCIA-TV June 18. The topics covered sunscreen SPF fact and fiction, new vaccine requirements (such as Tdap) and migraines.

Ravi Grivois-Shah, MD has been busy!  He was quotedin a June 15 Chicago Tribune exploring why honesty in speaking with your doctor is so important. Next, on June 18 he received the Excellence in Public Health Policy Award from the Illinois Public Health Association for his work with the Oak Park Department of Health and advocacy efforts in his home city of Oak Park and in his practice location in Chicago.  And finally, heprovided insight on how to wisely consider social media when researching job candidates in a June 24 article in American Medical News

Michael Hanak, MD was elected to the position of chair-elect for the AMA's Young Physician Section.  He recently served as our Illinois delegate to the New Physicians section of the AAFP National Congress of Special Constituencies.

IAFP Second Vice President Alvia Siddiqi, MD is the new Medical Director for Illinois Health Connect, which is the Illinois Medicaid primary care case management program.

Jerry E. Kruse, M.D. has been named executive associate dean and chief executive officer of SIU HealthCare at Southern Illinois University School of Medicine. He received the unanimous support of the SIU HealthCare Board of Directors, the clinical chairs and hospital partners.  Kruse has been professor and chairman of the Department of Family & Community Medicine from 1997 until March 2013. He will be the authority for all clinical and clinically related academic issues and planning. He is also a plenary speaker at the 2013 Family Medicine Midwest Conference, Oct. 4-6 in Milwaukee.

Sign up for ILHIE Direct by June 30 for HIPPA-compliant communication

Did you know that exchanging protected health information via email and fax may not be HIPAA compliant? That's why thousands of healthcare professionals in Illinois are exchanging electronically with ILHIE Direct. The Illinois Health Information Exchange (ILHIE) is now offering ILHIE Direct at no cost through June 30, 2013. More information is available here.

2013 Assembly in San Diego | Get Connected, Up-to-date, and Inspired

Assembly is our opportunity to start family medicine's bright future. It's our time to share solutions and insight with other family physicians. And this year in San Diego promises to be the best yet. Join thousands of your colleagues for the 2013 AAFP Scientific Assembly, September 24-28, in San Diego.

See Assembly firsthand in this brief video shot onsite last year.

Take five days to learn, connect, and be inspired. Choose from 300-plus CME sessions and many other innovative ways to learn, share, and grow.

Register by August 21 to save up to $100.*                  

*This offer does not apply to Students, Residents, Inactive, or Life members.