Annual Meeting - 2013 Just 3 weeks away!

Inspiration, Collaboration, Celebration & Camaraderie

November 7-9 at the Hilton Lisle/Naperville

Online Registration is NOW OPEN at www.iafp.com or click here

Here's your chance to ask the question everyone wants the answer to.  The opening plenary session at the annual meeting is about GetCoveredIllinois.gov and Medicaid expansion.   Click here to submit your question(s).  Answers will be posted in the November 15th issue of E-News.

High-quality CME, committee meetings, the awards banquet and even a wine tasting also await you.  Our meeting is centrally located in DuPage County - easy to access and with FREE parking!  Naperville also offers fantastic activities for families. Check out the meeting schedule. Register online or download a registration form here.  You should have received a brochure in the mail, or you can check it out on our website.

IAFP is the meeting management organization for the Family Medicine Midwest Foundation.  The 2^nd Annual FM Midwest conference united the best in family medicine with top quality students in Milwaukee Oct. 4-6.  The conference drew well over 300 attendees, more than 50 residency programs under 41 organizations from nine Midwestern states at the Residency Fair and 20 corporate exhibitors.  Three inspiring plenary speakers, 61 sessions and presentations and 36 poster presentations all wrapped up in a day and a half.   Another highlight:  Family Medicine Midwest Foundation Board Chair Janice Benson, MD shared the news that FM Midwest had been awarded the AAFP Foundation Program of Excellence award the previous week!  Congratulations to the many dedicated committee volunteers and thank you to the Midwest Organizations that support FM Midwest year round.

Link to the photo gallery and check out the Midwest family medicine revolution!

MEDICAL DIRECTOR- Family and Adult Medicine at Erie Family Health Center

Site Medical Director for new Erie Waukegan site opening July 2014 - Apply at www.eriefamilyhealth.org
The Site Medical Director for Waukegan will collaborate with: the Site Health Center Operations Director regarding all aspects of site management; the Medical Directors for Family and Adult Medicine, Child and Adolescent Medicine, and Women's Health to recruit, retain, and develop clinical providers; improves the quality of care of patients at the site by working with site providers, QI and Erie provider leadership to establish evidence-based best practices for the site; leads the clinical team to insure cohesive care throughout the site; maintains referral relationships with the site's hospital partners; gets to YES with Erie's patients and employees to help provide service excellence.
Requirements: MD or D.O from accredited institution, licensed physician in Illinois. Additional master's level degree in public health, management and administration or equivalent experience, preferred. Board Certified in primary care discipline. Federal DEA license, CPR certification. Two or more years of clinical primary care experience. Previous leadership experience preferred. Bilingual (English/Spanish) preferred, proficiency in medical Spanish required.

CERMAK HEALTH SERVICES OF COOK COUNTY: There are postings for Primary/Urgent Care physicians at Cermak Health Services of Cook County, providing healthcare to the detainees at the Cook County Department of Corrections. The scope of services provided by Cermak includes: health screening; primary care clinics, 24/7 urgent care center; and medical infirmary care. Join a group of dedicated, caring providers.

Hurry, these postings will only be available for a limited amount of time!

Please refer to this link for more information on how to apply.

ACCESS COMMUNITY HEALTH NETWORK (ACCESS) an FQHC organization offers outstanding primary & preventive care in nearly 40 community health center locations throughout Chicago & surrounding suburbs. Accredited by the Joint Commission, ACCESS serves as the medical home for more than 200,000 patients each year. HRSA & NHSC eligible

Physician primary care opportunities; (English/Spanish), Chicago City & DuPage County locations;

www.accesscommunityhealth.net or brenda.mitchell@accesscommunityhealth.net  inquires to Brenda Mitchell, Manager of Recruitment 600 W Fulton, Chicago, IL 60661, 312.526.2066.

Illinois Marketplace and Medicaid Expansion web live

Starting October 1, those eligible for Medicaid expansion are able to enroll for services to begin coverage on January 1, 2014.  High-volume has caused some lags in website and call center response (okay, that's a bit of an understatement!).  Meanwhile, even the certified navigators and assistors are encountering the same problems in their efforts to help patients in person.  Remember, your patients have until December 15 to enroll and ensure coverage on January 1, 2014 -  www.getcoveredillinois.gov is the website, although call center staff are encouraging patients to enroll by mail in the meantime.  Reports from the field indicate that it may take six weeks for the application to be processed to determine eligibility for and the amount of any premium assistance subsidies.   Patience and persistence will be required. 

Training on the Marketplace for you or your staff

EverThrive  (formerly the Illinois Maternal and Child Health Coalition) is doing four-hour presentations to build awareness about the Illinois Marketplace.  This does not qualify persons who attend to be marketplace Certified Application Counselors but would be a "Marketplace 101" course.  Attendees will be equipped with information on how to connect communities to coverage.  Here is list of presentations.  Plans are underway for more presentations statewide in first quarter 2014. 

AAFP addresses a long list of issues with HHS

It's not exactly a letter to Santa, but AAFP asked the federal government to bring solutions and relief to many issues critical to family medicine in responding to a call for comments to U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius on the next phase of HHS retrospective review of their regulations.  The list of burdensome and counterproductive regulations is long and AAFP  Board Chair Jeff Cain, MD covered them all, with references to AAFP's many previous letters covering these same issues that continue to complicate and obstruct the family physician's practice and ability to provide the best care for patients.  Some of the worst problems include the looming transition to ICD-10, the unnecessary prior authorization processes, and the many hoops Medicare and private insurers place between providers, patients and the care they need.  Link to Dr. Cain's letter with AAFP comments and you can also get more information in this week's AAFP News Now story.

Final 2013 IAFP Lunch & Learn Webinar

Did you miss August's Lunch and Learn webinar?  Due to popular demand, this webinar will be repeated on Thursday, October 31.  Registration is limited so, sign up today!

Illinois Parental Notice of Abortion Act - What Family Physicians Need to Know  Presented by: Debra Stulberg, MD, Assistant Professor, Department of Family Medicine, The University of Chicago and Lorie Chaiten, Director, Reproductive Rights Project, Roger Baldwin Foundation of the ACLU of IL
Thursday, October 31, 2013, 12:00-1:00pm CST

The Illinois Parental Notice of Abortion Act is due to go into effect August 15th. Now is time for family physicians in Illinois to understand what the law will mean for our patients.

Register Online

AAFP Webinar on Employment Contracts

The Evolution of Anticoagulation Management with an initial focus on atrial fibrillation (TEAM-A) is a competency-based initiative to reduce stroke and other complications associated with thrombus formation through continuing education and quality improvement activities that result in optimal anticoagulation management. Telligen, Illinois' Medicare Quality Improvement Organization, is one of ten organizations collaborating on this multi-institution initiative.  Telligen will bring practice facilitation and CME resources directly to two more family physician practices in Northeastern Illinois as part of this initiative.

These resources are available at no cost and include an onsite nurse practice facilitator for 4 to 6 weeks in your office, two CME offerings (one is a live lunch n' learn with expert clinical faculty) and a patient registry if one is not available through your EHR or other registry product.  The education content focuses on assessment and appropriate antithrombotic therapy for your patients with atrial fibrillation, including the use of the new class of drugs recently approved by the FDA for management of patients with this condition.

The project has just been extended so that two more IAFP member practices can participate.  A generous stipend is provided to each participating practice.   To find out more, send an email to Vince Keenan, vkeenan@iafp.com

The Illinois Psychiatric Society presents DSM-5: What You Need to Know

A Master Workshop from the APA Experts 

Springfield: Registration Due by November 1!  Saturday, November 9, 2013 from 8:30 a.m.  -  3:00 p.m.
At the James T. Dove Conference Center in Prairie Heart Institute at St. John's Hospital
619 E. Mason St., Springfield, IL 62701
Garage parking located across the street from the Institute.
Facilitated by: Jeffrey Bennett, M.D.  

Click Here for the Registration Form!      

The Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM) is used nationally and internationally to provide standardized criteria for clinical and research use. The focus of this master workshop is to educate clinicians and researchers on the major changes from DSM-4 to DSM-5, including diagnosis-specific changes (e.g., criteria revisions) as well as broader, manual-wide changes (e.g., revised chapter ordering, use of dimensional assessments, integration of neuroscience and developmental material across the manual). 

2014 Iowa Academy of Family Physicians Winter CME CRUISE

Royal Caribbean Jewel of the Seas 

January 25 - February 1, 2014

As the leaves being changing color this fall, we are reminded that cooler temperatures and snow are just around the corner. Help cure the winter blues by joining the Iowa Academy of Family Physicians on the 2014 Winter CME Getaway aboard the Royal Caribbean Jewel of the Seas. We will set sail January 25 - February 1, 2014 from San Juan, Puerto Rico. The cruise will give you a chance to escape the harsh Midwest winter, enjoy beautiful ports, and receive quality CME.  Click here for more information

Registration deadline is November 11.

Due to the nature of the meeting, Iowa AFP relies on attendees to speak on various topics. The Iowa AFP offers a $300 honorarium for each one hour presentation.

The Illinois Academy of Family Physicians in partnership with the Arizona, Maryland, and Ohio chapters of the American Academy of Family Physicians is excited to announce a virtual nationwide SAM party centered on Maternity Care for Saturday, December 7, 2013 beginning at 8:00 a.m. CST. Mark your calendar now to participate and finish a SAM requirement by the end of the year!

This innovative program will use a robust web-based system that will allow family physician learners from across the nation the chance to complete a MC-FP SAM module while engaging their peers and an expert content leader from a location of their choosing. The cost to register for the virtual SAM is $250 (ABFM fees still apply.)

SAM modules consist of two parts: knowledge assessment and clinical simulation. The nationwide virtual SAM program will focus on the knowledge assessment portion of the module and allow learners to complete the clinical simulation separately at a time of their choosing within one calendar year of the virtual SAM. Once fully completed, the physician learner will receive 12 Continuing Medical Education (CME) credits and recognition for having completed the required stage for MC-FP.

Although live SAM sessions are a popular way of completing the required MC-FP stage, no organization has ever developed a virtual learning session and delivered it nationwide to a large group of physician learners at the same time - it's groundbreaking! This cutting-edge program will bring the issues of maternity care directly into the physician's home or office with guidance from a peer expert and the comfort of completing the SAM with fellow family physician participants.

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