We have a new fax number: 630-559-0739

Illinois Tar Wars winner goes to DC

Jarrett Robertson of Moweaqua represented Illinois in the National Tar Wars Poster Contest this week.  He spent Monday meeting with poster winners from around the country, and then enjoyed the poster contest banquet and awards ceremony. Jarrett received Special Recognition honors for his poster.  Tuesday he headed to Capitol Hill with his parents Craig and Brandi for a special meeting with Sen. Dick Durbin in the Capitol Dome followed by a guided Capitol tour.  Sen. Durbin even tweeted his congratulations and a photo.   He finished off the day with staff from Sen. Mark Kirk's office and headed home to Illinois with amazing memories and photos like this!

Jarrett's trip to Washington, DC was made possible by a grant from Pfizer Charitable Contribution to the Family Health Foundation of Illinois. 

You can link to the AAFP News Release for full details and see the posters here. 

REPEAT Proposal for a New Member Group Supporting Single-payer Coverage

Alap Shah, MD, a new family physician from Oak Park, has a strong interest in advocating for single-payer health care (or 'Improved Medicare for All'), and wishes to start a member interest group to foster this discussion within the IAFP, and ultimately the AAFP.  With the recent implementation of the ACA, and legislative discussions at all levels about its successes and failures, it's an opportune time to discuss a system that he believes will truly provide affordable, accessible, and equitable health care for all.  If you are interested, or would like to know more, please contact Dr. Shah directly at alap.pradip.shah@gmail.com.   

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

Matthew Plofsky, MD of Deerfield received praises from the Deerfield Record editorial board on July 17 for his photography exhibition and fundraiser. Plofsky lost a patient, 8-year old Sam Sommer to leukemia last December.  Dr. Plofsky hosted a photography exhibit on July 20 at the Heller Nature Center in Highland Park, a favorite location of Sammy's.  The money will go to St. Baldrick's Foundation, which raises money for basic research on childhood cancers.

You can learn more, and contribute to his fundraising efforts using these links.

Move Mountains campaign for Pediatric Cancer Research

You can make direct donations to St. Baldrick's in Sam's honor. 

If you would like to view and order one of Dr. Plofsky's amazing photos (like the one here), please use this link to choose a photo and set up your framing order.  All the artist's proceeds go directly to St. Baldrick's.

Throughout Sam's cancer battle, Dr. Plofsky was there as his family physician, the doctor who has cared for him since he was born.  "He was getting care in Milwaukee - I just tried to make a point to stay involved make sure he's OK and I visited him," says Plofsky "I focused on doing what I could as a person rather than the one making medical decisions.  That's what family medicine is all about."

LeBaron Paul Johnson, MD, 93, died July 19 after a short illness. He was a charter Fellow of the American Academy of Family Physicians, and founder and Director of the Family Practice Residency and Emeritus Professor of Family Medicine at the University of Illinois at Rockford.  He was instrumental in bringing a regional medical school to Rockford, founding the Residency in Family Practice on the Rockford Campus, and was head of the Department of Family and Community Medicine as Professor until retiring as Emeritus Professor of Family and Community Medicine. Later, the L.P. Johnson Family Health Center, a comprehensive family medicine teaching facility associated with the University of Illinois College of Medicine was established. 

Craig Davenport, MD, to fill the position of director at the Rural Medical Education (RMED) Program at the University of Illinois at Rockford. Dr. Davenport is from Pittsfield, Ill., in rural Pike County. He is a 1995 graduate of Pittsfield High School and a former patient and extern of IAFP past-president Ronald Johnson, MD.  The announcement appeared in the July 23 Rockford Register Star.

IAFP past president and past AAFP Speaker Carolyn Lopez, MD chronicles the success of the Chicago Department of Public Health's Healthy Chicago initiative and spotlights the significant contributions of family physicians to their advocacy efforts in this week's AAFP Guest Editorial published July 23.  Lopez is president of the Chicago Board of Health

Stefan Kozak, MD of Springfield is mentioned in a July 24 State Journal Register story about physicians who signed a support letter for the medical marijuana pilot program.  The article reports that Springfield area physicians are not currently talking publicly about their plans to prescribe marijuana once the pilot program begins. 

Family medicine collaborative event - Family Medicine Midwest 2014 - October 10-12 in Minneapolis!

 How can you contribute to the success of the event?  

Attend the event and share in the Joy of Midwest Family Medicine.  Networking and learning opportunities are everywhere, from the pre-conferences to the closing research presentation!  Information, the schedule and online registration are all available on the conference web site at www.iafp.com/fmm

Donate to the scholarship fund:

State Update

Medicaid provider updates on pregnant women

Medicaid providers recently received a provider notice from HFS regarding Medicaid Presumptive Eligibility for pregnant women. This notice was intended to ensure that all providers who see pregnant women are aware of their coverage, eligibility and do not delay in seeing the patient.  

Federal Update

AAFP Summary of CMS rules for Medicare Payment 2015 Schedule

AAFP condenses hundreds of pages into this handy 12-page summary.   AAFP News also has a great summary this week.

AAFP Needs Your Medicaid Payment Parity Stories

On May 29, AAFP launched a member campaign to collect stories on how Medicaid primary care payments help practices, patients, and communities. AAFP will bring a selection of these stories to Capitol Hill over the summer to convey to Congress how important continued funds are to the delivery of timely and quality health care. Member stories from more than two dozen states have been collected, but AAFP would like more.

Use the campaign link posted on the AAFP website to share your views with Congress.

Support AAFP's efforts for strong FDA Regulation of e-cigarettes

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) will accept public comments on a proposed rule to provide it with authority to regulate e-cigarettes and other tobacco products until Aug. 8.
Sign a petition to share your concern about e-cigarettes.

The AAFP sent a letter in support of the FDA's assertion of authority to regulate all nicotine delivery devices, regardless of flavor, on June 2. As nicotine is an addictive drug, the AAFP's position specifies that the FDA must have full regulatory authority on all tobacco products and nicotine delivery devices, and must be permitted to use the same procedures it uses to regulate tobacco. Add your name to a petition by Aug. 1. You will be listed in a letter to the FDA, together with other family physicians who are concerned about the current lack of regulatory oversight on the manufacture, distribution, and safety of e-cigarettes.

Click here for full information on each of the positions listed below:

Private Practice - North Shore 

Medical Director - Friend Family Health Center in Chicago

Central IL Opportunities through AIMS Physician Recruiting

Advocate Lutheran General Family Medicine Residency

Faculty position opening

PrimeCare Community Health

Multiple positions available with teaching opportunities

PCC Wellness Center

PCC has openings for physicians at their clinics on the Near West Side and in Oak Park

 Access all our FREE self-study CME that meets your needs! Log on at with www.iafp.com/education

Presented by: Kate Rowland, MD, MS, Faculty, Advocate Illinois Masonic Family Medicine Residency Clinical assistant professor, University of Chicago Editor-in-Chief, Priority Updates from the Research Literature

August 28, 2014, 12:00-1:00PM CST

- Briefly describe what a PURL is and where they come from

- Explain several examples of articles from the research literature and how they pertain to primary care practice

California AFP Webinar on Opioid Prescribing

California Academy of Family Physicians CO*RE ER/LA Opioid REMS :  Achieving Safe Use While Improving Patient Care live Webinar (given at four remaining times, beginning September 23):

You can visit the series landing page here to find registration links to all the webinars. 

These 90-minute webinars meet the FDA requirements for ER/LA opioid risk evaluation and mitigation strategies [REMS], and include a wide range of topics relevant to your practice and patients. The webinars include the latest evidence-based information and practical tools you will put immediately to use, and much more. Upon completion of the assessment and evaluation you will receive 1.5 AAFP Prescribed credits, and receive both the faculty slides and additional resources you can use to improve your care of patients.

SPEAKER OPPORTUNITY

FOID Mental Health Reporting

IAFP is looking for a family physician who has a presentation or would be willing to develop a presentation for our membership regarding the Illinois Firearm Owners Identification (FOID) Mental Health Reporting System.

If you are interested in presenting to IAFP members, please contact Sara Ortega, Education and Accreditation Manager, at sortega@iafp.com. For additional FOID information, please visit the IL Department of Human Services website.

Ten Steps Forward: Building Momentum on the Baby-Friendly Pathway in Illinois

September 11 in Springfield

This conference is intended for anyone in Illinois who is working on or interested in pursuing Baby-Friendly designation for their hospital, or who is interested in supporting Baby-Friendly in their community. Please see the flyer for more information or follow this link to go directly to the registration page:  www.tinyurl.com/TenStepsForwardIL

Thanks to funding from the Illinois Department of Public Health's We Choose Health Initiative, the registration fee for this conference is only $10, which will cover lunch and refreshments. 

Hosted by the American Academy of Pediatrics and moderated by the American Academy of Family Physicians, this webinar will provide information about two hard-hitting tobacco education campaigns currently in the media- the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's Tips From Former Smokers campaign and Food and Drug Administration's The Real Cost campaign. The webinar will also feature a discussion about the clinician connection to these campaigns, and how the campaigns can be used to bolster discussions with patients and families about cessation issues. Register for this webinar.

New resource from the Illinois Poison Control Center

The Illinois Poison Center has developed a free online resource library called  "My Child Ate..." http://illinoispoisoncenter.org/my-child-ate   (MCA), which is dedicated to providing easy-to-use, consumer-friendly information and treatment advice regarding 42 of the most common substances involved in child poison exposure.  MCA is the only resource of its kind offered by a U.S. Poison Center.

Coming next month - Smoking Cessation Awareness Week

August 18-22

The Chicago Department of Public Health has declared that "Nobody quits like Chicago!" and will ramp up smoking cessation awareness that week.  Join them and help your patients quit for good.  Find resources on www.MyTimetoQuit.com and you can download a flyer for your practice!