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E-news for December
4, 2006
TABLE OF CONTENTS:
1. IAFP News and link to
last e-News
2. GOVERNMENT RELATIONS
–
3. Medicaid – Illinois
Health Connect Information
4. TOBACCO NEWS
5. MEMBERS IN THE NEWS
6. STUDENTS AND RESIDENTS
INFORMATION
7. NEWS YOU CAN USE
8. REMINDERS WORTH
REPEATING
9. CLASSIFIEDS
____________
IAFP News
*IAFP Government
Relations honored by AAFP for Medicaid Advocacy
The IAFP received a Leadership in State Government Award from AAFP at the
annual State Legislative Conference for our work advocating for family
physicians waiting four to six months for payment from the state's
Medicaid program for services provided. In August, Gov. Blagojevich
issued new rules to pay providers with in 60 days of submitting clean
claims. Read more at
AAFP News Now at this link: http://www.aafp.org/online/en/home/publications/news/news-now/inside-aafp/20061128advocacyawards.html
*Congratulations to Kate
Rowland, MD of Illinois Masonic Family Medicine Residency on her
appointment to the AAFP Commission on Science!!
** Don’t forget,
December 31 is the deadline for IAFP 2007 Awards nominations!
1.
The Family Physician of the Year Award
2. IAFP Media Award
3. Family Medicine Full-time
Teacher of the Year
4. Family Medicine Part-time
Teacher of the Year
Link to full information and nomination forms at http://www.iafp.com/PR/Award%20forms.htm
**The BRAND NEW
DECEMBER 2006/January 2007 issue of Family Physician is available online
http://www.iafp.com/Final%20December.pdf
**Did you miss the last
E-news? Link to it here!
http://www.iafp.com/newsletter/E-news/nov%2017.htm
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GOVERNMENT
RELATIONS
*ITLA lawsuit
challenges medical liability caps
As expected, the Illinois Trial Lawyers Association has filed a lawsuit
challenging the constitutionality of the caps on non-economic damages
passed in the Medical Malpractice Reform Act of 2005.
The case concerns a child and is the first attempt ITLA has made to
challenge the cap on non-economic damages.
Stay tuned for developments in the challenge as the case unfolds.
For more
information:
ITLA’s announcement of the challenge:
http://www.isms.org/news/news_release/2006_1120_ITLA.pdf
The following is ISMS’ response:
http://www.isms.org/news/news_release/2006_1120_challenge.pdf
*VETO SESSION UPDATE
Medical Practice Act
extension passes
The most important legislation of note to family physicians is the
imminent sunset of the Medical Practice Act on December 31st.
IAFP had initially hoped the renewal would pass during the spring
session and the Act would remain in tact for another ten years.
But the House passed the legislation 114-0 on Wednesday and the
Senate followed suit on Thursday to extend the current act an additional
two years.
Also during veto session, the House passed a bill that would enable a county to place a county tax on cigarettes. Currently only Cook County has that authority. IAFP supported the coalition of health and county government agencies. Higher cigarette prices are a proven deterrent for youth and also help more adults quit. The bill will go to the Senate in January.
*Hospital Assessment
Program approved for Illinois:
The Illinois Hospital Assessment Program will provide a critically needed
boost in funding for the state's health care delivery system,
substantially improving Medicaid reimbursements for hospitals. The
approval of this program means that the state can maintain a more adequate
level of support for those that provide essential, high quality health
care not only for Medicaid patients but for all Illinoisans who depend on
hospitals.
The Hospital Assessment
Program will bring Illinois $600 million in new federal Medicaid funds
annually, including $470 million for hospitals and $130 million for other
health care needs.
------------------------------
** DIAL IN FOR ILLINOIS
HEALTH CONNECT INFORMATION
Illinois Health Connect is
Illinois’ statewide Primary Care Case Management program. Under this
program, most people with an HFS or All Kids medical card will have a
medical home through a Primary Care Provider.
What does this mean to
the family physician?
Any physician who treats Medicaid patients must sign up to continue
serving these individuals. Sign
up is quick and easy.
Here are just a few of the
benefits to being an enrolled IHC PCP:
· Enhanced
Maternal and Child Health Rates
· A
Special Monthly Care Management Fee of $2-4 per patient
· Payment
Cycle Improvements by HFS
To hear more about Illinois
Health Connect and to have your questions answered, we hope that you will
participate in one of the upcoming Informational Teleconference Sessions
held on Wednesdays in November and December:
Dec. 6, noon
Dec. 13, 7 p.m.
Dec. 20, noon
To participate, RSVP to
Kristen Jackson at 630-435-0356, ext. 221 and leave a message with your
name, phone number and which session you wish to attend. The call in
number for these teleconferences is 800-201-6800, Passcode 894-2625#.
________________
TOBACCO NEWS-
*Support a statewide
smoke-free Illinois
Please go to and sign the Smoke-free Illinois Resolution as an individual
doctor, a practice or an institution or an FMIG group to show your
support. Local lawmakers need
to see supporters in their district!
Go to http://www.smokefreeillinois.org/state/
for more information and to download the resolution to sign and submit!
- The Naperville City Council voted on Nov. 21 to draft a clean indoor air
ordinance that does not include any controversial exemptions.
- Oak Forest voted to join Orland Park and Tinley Park with 100% clean
indoor air. Only Orland Hills
passed a bad law that will leave the choice up to business owners.
- Carbondale rejected a city clean indoor air law, but passed a resolution
encouraging the State of Illinois to pass a bill.
This is an unfortunate tactic to kill discussion at the local
level, since it is not clear how long the General Assembly could take to
pass a meaningful law. IAFP
member and retired family physician Mary Pohlmann, MD is Chair of
Smoke-free Carbondale and has done interviews and had letters to the
editor published since the vote. The
coalition continues to meet and plan next steps.
Keep up with all the smoke-free coalition activity in your community or across the state at http://www.smokefreeillinois.org.
Members in the News
– If you would like a copy of
any of the articles below, contact Ginnie Flynn at gflynn@iafp.com.
Penelope Tippy, MD of
West Frankfort and her colleagues at SIU-Carbondale family medicine
residency program are widely featured in the Autumn 2006 issue of Aspects,
the SIU Alumni publication. Dr.
Tippy is personally featured in one biographic article.
The following article showcases the strides in adolescent health
services made by SIU Carbondale under Tippy’s leadership.
The residency program now has a mobile “Care-a-van” that
travels to the high schools to provide needed services to the teenagers of
the county who truly lack access to health care, counseling and mental
health services. It’s one of
many avenues that SIU family medicine is providing for the area’s young
people.
Also in that issue,
SIU made note that SIU Decatur family medicine residency professor Katie
Miller, MD was elected president of IAFP this summer.
Ben Brewer, MD of Forrest chronicled a week in his practice for the November 14 “From the Doctor’s Office” in the Wall Street Journal Online. You could say he keeps a pretty interesting practice. In the November 1 installment, Brewer discusses the important role that culture plays in his patient’s beliefs about illness and medicine – and how understanding those beliefs helps him to better treat patients and improves compliance.
Alan Bilyeu, MD authored a
guest editorial in Decatur Herald and Review on November 14 calling
on the Medicare program to better enable physicians to care for our
growing senior population. He
specifically calls for less paperwork, more reimbursement for services and
financial assistance to acquire electronic health record technology.
IAFP Distinguished Service
Award recipient Tom Cornwell was on WDCB Radio on the afternoon of
December 1 talking about the benefits of home visits.
Rick Leary, MD is pictured and mentioned in the November Chicago Hospital News as the medical director of Your Health Care Plus, the Medicaid disease management program.
-------------------------------
INFORMATION AND REMINDERS FOR STUDENTS AND RESIDENTS:
Who are the superstars of family medicine education? Nominate your favorite full-time or part-time faculty for the IAFP Teacher of the Year Awards: http://www.iafp.com/PR/toy.htm
STUDENTS:
Link to the FMIG leader
update from your student board members Aaron Traeger (IAFP Board) and
Jeffrey Griesemer (Foundation Board) http://www.iafp.com/Students/update.htm
Which includes a full list of FMIG presidents.
Link to FMIG resources on the web http://www.iafp.com/students/fmig%20resources.htm
RESIDENTS:
*Congratulations to Kate
Rowland, MD of Illinois Masonic Family Medicine Residency on her
appointment to the AAFP Commission on Science!
*E-MAIL your resident
leaders - IAFPResidents@yahoo.com
Please send any questions or comments.
Link to the full Resident Update on our web site: http://www.iafp.com/residents/update.htm
*JOB LISTINGS AND OTHER
INFO ON-LINE
Here is a place to start:
http://www.iafp.com/JobListings/
FP Jobs Online
has launched an exciting new feature for job seekers called My Work Style.
This state-of-the-art self evaluation tool will help you to uncover
your personal professional style to identify optimal work environments and
potential professional obstacles. The My Work Style self evaluation, a
$100 value, is free to job seekers! Visit
FP Jobs Online to
learn more and get on the right career path today!
**Link to new resources for residents IAFP web site http://www.iafp.com/Residents/index.htm
-----------------------------
NEWS YOU CAN USE
Free Pri-Med Registration
for IAFP members
If you would like to have free registration for PriMed Midwest, April 25-28, 2007, at the Rosemont Convention Center, there are 100 complimentary registrations for IAFP members.
You can register for free by entering the Discount Code 11A11-AN7 before December 15th at www.pri-med.com/midwest
You must be an IAFP member to receive this discount.
REMINDERS WORTH
REPEATING
*Christine Petty, MD
resigns as delegate to AAFP.
IAFP Past President Christine
A. Petty, MD (Coal Valley) resigned from the AAFP Delegate position on
October 29. As a result,
Alternate Delegate Tim J. Vega, MD of Peoria moves up to fill her
slot in the Illinois delegation. This
leaves a vacancy for Dr. Vega’s unexpired term at the Alternate Delegate
position. Any IAFP member
interested in running for that position must submit a nomination to IAFP
executive vice president Vince Keenan at vkeenan@iafp.com.
Nominations are due January 26, 2007.
TAR WARS
See the latest update from IAFP Tar Wars at: http://www.iafp.com/tarwars/presenter%20update.htm
Thinking about
volunteering as a presenter? View
a sample presentation video on the National Tar Wars web site at http://www.tarwars.org/x900.xml
scroll down to the link at the bottom of the page
------------------
If you would like to
list your job opening here, please contact Ginnie Flynn at gflynn@iafp.com
for assistance.
How many times have you thought, “I know what I want to say, but I
don’t know how to say it”? Tell
me your message - I’ll find the words!
I can enhance your practice by interviewing you and/or patients for
marketing pieces; writing, editing or proofreading speeches, website
content, newsletters or handbooks; or updating your curriculum vitae,
office forms or patient education materials.
I deliver experienced, effective and reliable writing services.
I provide quick turnaround, reasonable rates and guaranteed
satisfaction. Contact me at editor@watkinsbusinessandmedicalwriting.com.
I look forward to exploring with you your writing, editing and
proofreading needs!
If you have any news
items to share with the IAFP membership, please e-mail Ginnie Flynn at gflynn@iafp.com
