I challenge you over the next year to inspire and recruit one student to join us in family medicine. Why?  For America's Health.

Janet Albers, MD - new IAFP president

IAFP took our annual meeting off the grid this year, going north to Key Lime Cove Water Park resort in Gurnee.  The two and a half day meeting combined committee meetings, CME, SAMs workshops, the annual awards dinner and the All-Member Assembly all in one place, with extra time to enjoy the water park with family and friends!

Here are the highlights, with links to more information

Award Winners honored Friday night - the November issue of Illinois Family Physician has lots of information on all our awards winners. You can also download the press release

Executive Vice President Vince Keenan was saluted for 25 years at IAFP (read the release here)

You can check out many of the best photos on our Facebook Page

Resident - Student seminar - IAFP held a half day workshop for students and residents led by IAFP's own student and resident leaders:  Resident president Emma Daisy, MD; president-elect John Trimberger, MD and student president Kristina Dakis and president-elect Karena Rounsaville. 

Presentations were provided by:

• AAFP Speaker John Meigs, MD on AAFP opportunities and services
• IAFP Executive Director Vince Keenan on Health is Primary
• Drew Coleman on the Most Important Money Moves You Can Make
• IAFP Deputy Exec. VP Gordana Krkic on Advocacy and the Nov. 4^th Election Results
• John Trimberger, MD and John Franco, MD on the National Health Service Corps, commitment and fulfillment.

2 Minutes 2 Slides 2 Questions competition

In a new twist on research presentations, three students and a resident presented an interesting case in two minutes, using two slides -and then faced two questions from the audience.  Congratulations to SIU Springfield's Maria Khattak for her winning presentation called "My Belly Is Bubbling

Finally a three FP Panel covered their career paths and took questions from the attendees:

-Sachin Dixit, MD Advocate Medical Group, Orland Park and IAFP Board Member         

-Timothy L. Switaj, MD, FAAFP Deputy Commander for Clinical Services (Chief Medical Officer/Staff) Reynolds Army Community Hospital - Fort Sill, OK

-Naomi Parrella, MD - Advocate Medical Group - Mt Prospect and Family Medicine Clerkship Director at Rosalind Franklin University Chicago Medical School

The All Member Assembly provided the annual business of the Academy

Election results were announced and the new board of directors was installed by AAFP Speaker John Meigs, MD of Alabama.  Your IAFP Resident board member is Emma Daisy, MD - Fellow at the University of Chicago and your Student board member is Kristina Dakis of UIC.

President Janet Albers, MD of Springfield provided her inaugural speech, calling on all IAFP members to recruit one more family physician and pledging to make workforce issues a priority.

The Assembly adopted seven scheduled resolutions

-Resolution of Commendation for Bechara Choucair, MD (Chicago Dept. of Public Health)

-Exemptions from ADEAfor physician licensing

-Evaluating the State's new payment models under the Affordable Care Act

-Surveying members on Single Payer system

-Prohibiting the Sale of Raw Milk

-Opposing Tobacco Sales in retail locations with a pharmacy

-Condolence for LeBaron P. Johnson, MD

-Condolence for Robert Heerens, MD

IAFP took our annual meeting off the grid this year, going north to Key Lime Cove Water Park resort in Gurnee.  The two and a half day meeting combined committee meetings, CME, SAMs workshops, the annual awards dinner and the All-Member Assembly all in one place, with extra time to enjoy the water park with family and friends!

Here are the highlights, with links to more information

Award Winners honored Friday night - the November issue of Illinois Family Physician has lots of information on all our awards winners. You can also download the press release

Executive Vice President Vince Keenan was saluted for 25 years at IAFP (read the release here)

You can check out many of the best photos on our Facebook Page

Resident - Student seminar - IAFP held a half day workshop for students and residents led by IAFP's own student and resident leaders:  Resident president Emma Daisy, MD; president-elect John Trimberger, MD and student president Kristina Dakis and president-elect Karena Rounsaville. 

Kristina Dakis, Emma Daisy, MD; John Trimberger, MD and Karena Rounsaville lead the discussion

Presentations were provided by:

• AAFP Speaker John Meigs, MD on AAFP opportunities and services
• IAFP Executive Director Vince Keenan on Health is Primary
• Drew Coleman on the Most Important Money Moves You Can Make
• IAFP Deputy Exec. VP Gordana Krkic on Advocacy and the Nov. 4^th Election Results
• John Trimberger, MD and John Franco, MD on the National Health Service Corps, commitment and fulfillment.

2 Minutes 2 Slides 2 Questions competition

In a new twist on research presentations, three students and a resident presented an interesting case in two minutes, using two slides -and then faced two questions from the audience.  Congratulations to SIU Springfield's Maria Khattak for her winning presentation called "My Belly Is Bubbling

Finally a three FP Panel covered their career paths and took questions from the attendees:

-Sachin Dixit, MD Advocate Medical Group, Orland Park and IAFP Board Member         

-Timothy L. Switaj, MD, FAAFP Deputy Commander for Clinical Services (Chief Medical Officer/Staff) Reynolds Army Community Hospital - Fort Sill, OK

-Naomi Parrella, MD - Advocate Medical Group - Mt Prospect and Family Medicine Clerkship Director at Rosalind Franklin University Chicago Medical School

The All Member Assembly provided the annual business of the Academy

Election results were announced and the new board of directors was installed by AAFP Speaker John Meigs, MD of Alabama.  Your IAFP Resident board member is Emma Daisy, MD - Fellow at the University of Chicago and your Student board member is Kristina Dakis of UIC.

President Janet Albers, MD of Springfield provided her inaugural speech, calling on all IAFP members to recruit one more family physician and pledging to make workforce issues a priority.

The Assembly adopted seven scheduled resolutions

-Resolution of Commendation for Bechara Choucair, MD (Chicago Dept. of Public Health)

-Exemptions from ADEAfor physician licensing

-Evaluating the State's new payment models under the Affordable Care Act

-Surveying members on Single Payer system

-Prohibiting the Sale of Raw Milk

-Opposing Tobacco Sales in retail locations with a pharmacy

-Condolence for LeBaron P. Johnson, MD

-Condolence for Robert Heerens, MD

Exchange Open Enrollment Opened Nov. 15

IAFP shared this brochure at the annual meeting, which can be helpful to members in working with their patients to ensure coverage. 

These tips, messages, and talking points are provided to help family physicians know what resources are available to help their patients find coverage through Medicaid or Get Covered Illinois -

Consider including some of the tools provided here in your office

Learn more - visit the websites and links listed as resources

Additional Resources

Doctors for America pocket cards: Note the IAFP member Kohar Jones and medical student Adam Silver are authors of this great resource!

Be Covered http://illinois.becovered.org/ an unbranded campaign by Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Illinois to increase residents' understanding of how to use their new insurance and also assist those who still need coverage, prepare for the next enrollment period

Your IAFP contact is Gordana Krkic, CAE Phone: 630-427-8007 Email: gkrkic@iafp.com

Clock is ticking on Medicaid Parity Payments

AAFP has been lobbying at the federal level to extend the Medicaid Primary Care Parity program past its expiration date of December 31st of this year.  The program, active for the 2013 and 2014 calendar years, increased Medicaid payments for specified primary care services to Medicare levels for certain primary care physicians.  If this program is not extended past this year, our members will see drastic cuts to their Medicaid payments, forcing many of them to limit or stop seeing Medicaid patients altogether.  

At the moment, there are three pieces of legislation at the federal level that support extension of this program - two in the House of Representatives, and one in the Senate.  The AAFP is supporting the Senate legislation, Ensuring Access to Primary Care for Women and Children Act (S.2694).  To that end, IAFP sent a letter in support to the state of Illinois as the Dept. of Healthcare and Family Services is also working to ensure the program's continuation. 

Now, AAFP and IAFP need YOUR help to stave off these looming cuts to Medicaid physician payment! Please use a Speak Out letter that is now available for both the Senate and the House to urge them not to cut your Medicaid payment.

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

Congratulations to Rush medical student Kirsten Anderson who has been appointed at the student member to the AAFP Commission on Quality and Practice for 2015.

IAFP Past president and current AAFP Vice Speaker Javette C. Orgain, MD authored a column in the November/December issue of Upscale magazine detailing the benefits of having a family physician for your entire family.

Aaron Michelfelder, MD authored a column on how elements of Eastern medicine can help everyone with the challenges of winter weather.   

Darcy Benedict, a student at the University of Illinois at Chicago (UIC) College of Medicine enrolled in the joint MD/ MPH program is a 2014 Pisacano Scholar and was profiled in this month's Annals of Family Medicine. As a family physician, Darcy's vision is to unite patient-centered, compassionate care with community outreach and advocacy to empower patients and their communities, and advance health equity for everyone, especially for the most marginalized populations.

Tim Ott, DO, 2014-15 chair of the IAFP Family Medicine Educators Committee, relayed the need for men to get regular checkups, just like they get tune-ups on their cars, for a story on WGEM-TV in Quincy. 

Congratulations to our newest Illinois Fellow of the American Academy of Family Physicians (FAAFP)

Thomas J Hansen, MD, FAAFP of Downers Grove.