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January 20, 2017

In This Issue...

  1. Academy News
  2. Government Relations
  3. News You Can Use
  4. Members in the News

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Academy News

Registration is open! Upcoming Opportunities for Collaboration and Education

IAFP is proud to host and co-host three unique events in early 2017 - each has CME and incredible networking opportunities.  Click on each link to learn more. Online registration is open for all three events. 

  • AAFP Ten State Conference - Feb 17-19   The Keynote presenter is acclaimed author Rebecca Costa.  Presenters include AAFP Vice President of Advocacy, Practice Advancement and Policy Shawn Martin with a look at what Washington, DC may look like under President Donald J. Trump and a Republican Congress. Other presentations cover education on a variety of clinical and policy issues. 10 CME credits are available, along with the opporunity to network with family medicine leaders from around the country! Note: The IAFP Board of Directors will meet on Feb. 17 from 9am to noon. If you have an issue that you'd like to bring forward, email the president at [email protected].
  • Springfield Essential Evidence and National Procedures Institute March 9 & 10.  March 9 is the Essential Evidence CME format and March 10 we present Ultrasound: Office, Hospitalist, and Emergency with Musculoskeletal Scanning. Decreasing costs of equipment, improved portability, and improved imaging and technology are a few of the reasons you'll want to learn office/ hospitalist and emergency department (ER) ultrasound. Musculoskeletal (MSK) ultrasound will also be introduced. Separate registration and fees for both events.  Learn more!
  • Chicago Essential Evidence - March 23-24 This incredibly popular, fast-paced CME returns with up to 12.5 AMA PRA 1 credits available.  One day registration option and new physician discount for those less than seven years into practice! 

Send us your FP of the Year Nomination!

Nominations are due June 1 and our NEW online form makes it easier than ever to nominate a deserving IAFP member.

Looking for Special Constituency Delegates to AAFP Conference

The AAFP National Conference of Constituency Leaders (NCCL) is the AAFP's leadership and policy development event for underrepresented constituencies. NCCL serves as a platform for different perspectives and concerns of AAFP members to help bring about change. The Illinois chapter seeks to ensure all five constituencies are represented. 
-Women
-Minority
-International Medical Graduate
-New Physician (less than 7 years post-residency)
-Gay Lesbian, Bisexual and Transgender physicians or allies constituency. 
If you would like to apply, please contact Jennifer O'Leary, IAFP deputy executive vice president, by March 1 at [email protected]. Your registration will be covered and travel expenses (limits apply) will be reimbursed by IAFP.

 

Tar Wars Update
For those members who are teaching Tar Wars in their local schools, make your plans for entering the state poster contest! Deadline is April 30. Detals are on our Tar Wars web page.

 

Action Alert - Tell Walgreens to take tobacco off the shelves!
IAFP's public health committee has an action item charge to urge pharmacies to remove tobacco from their shelves, as CVS did. Link to May-June 2016 Illinois Family Physician issue page 15 for details. 
Walgreens is holding its annual shareholders meeting on January 26. The Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids has an action alert you can use, calling on Walgreens to end tobacco sales. If you wish to add your voice, please use the link below by January 25. 
Send a message to Walgreens asking them to end tobacco sales!

Have you checked out the Member Benefits available to you?Get a discounted hotel room practically anywhere, secure your identity, try out home delivered, easy-to-prepare meals, and find other discounts exclusive to IAFP members.  


Government Relations

If you have any questions or would like more information, please contact Gordana Krkic, CAE, Deputy Executive Vice President of External Affairs at [email protected]

State Update

This week marked the start of a new legislative session. Most notably, the Illinois Senate introduced a package of bills (SB1 - SB13) in hopes of starting the discussion that might end the budget impasse. Senate President Cullerton (D-6 Chicago) and Minority Leader Radogno (R-41 Lemont) announced committees would meet next week, with a goal that bills pass over to the House by Feb. 1.

The list below contains some of the items from the full package:

  • funding for the remainder of FY 17
  • Imposition of a $.01 per ounce tax on sugar-sweetened beverages 
  • Increases the individual income tax rate from 3.75% to 4.95% 
  • Increase the corporate income tax rate from 5.25% to 7% 
  • two-year property tax freeze
  • workers' compensation reform
  • education reform
  • minimum wage increase
  • Chicago pension relief
  • procurement reform
  • gaming expansion

The House had not proposed a set of its own bills to address the budget impasse. Governor Rauner is scheduled to give his State of the State Address on Jan. 25th. Bills are already being filed for introduction and include scope of practice, network adequacy, pharmacists' ability to prescribe contraceptives, among those relating to healthcare.

You can save the date for our Spring into Action lobby days.  Let IAFP facilitate your introduction to new members of the General Assembly or reconnect you to your returning lawmakers.  Online registration will be available.  Check your calendars now and determine which date you can be there:  Tuesday May 9, Wednesday May 10 or Thursday May 11. 

Federal

AAFP Webinar: The New Administration, Congress, and Family Medicine

The 115th Congress and the new Administration plan to drastically rearrange the health care landscape. What does this mean for you, your practice, and your patients? Join AAFP's upcoming webinar to get a quick and easy grasp of the new legislative landscape and how it will specifically affect family physicians.

Wednesday, January 25 at 1 p.m. CT

During the webinar, you will:

  • Gain an overview of the new Administration and Congress.
  • Learn how new proposals will specifically affect family physicians.
  • Find out how you can make a difference.

Get an outline of the new legislative landscape from AAFP's Senior Vice President, Advocacy, Practice Advancement and Policy, Shawn Martin. Learn from a fellow family physician how these proposals could impact your practice and your patients.  Click here to register

AAFP Launches Landing Page for Elected Officials

The AAFP has introduced an online resource designed to inform legislators about key issues in primary care. Lawmakers will be able to access information, utilize online tools, and easily reach out to AAFP issue matter experts. Intended to be an asset to share when elected officials have questions, please feel free to familiarize yourself with the available content, and let your legislators know that family medicine is here to help.

Get started today, with the AAFP's newest Speak Out letter to ask your members of Congress to preserve all insurance coverage currently in place. Any changes resulting from the expected repeal of Obamacare should not eliminate insurance or Medicaid coverage for anyone currently insured. Click here to access the Speak Out letter which you can edit, and then Speak Out will deliver your letter directly to both Senators Durbin and Duckworth as well as your U.S. Representative. You can find some excellent backgound on AAFP's priorities and the process ahead in the AAFP's Shawn Martin's In the Trenches blog post from January 4.

IAFP also has a Health Care Coverage web page with connections AAFP's resources, and also the letter to members from AAFP President John Meigs, Jr. MD, FAAFP.


News You Can Use

Strategies for Coding and Reimbursement - Webinar

January 31 at 2:15pm CT
California AFP is hosting this webinar, with discounted rates for Academy members. 
Click here to learn more and register.

Important notice regarding Zika test for pregnant patients

The FDA has issued a safety communication to healthcare providers regarding a commercially available Zika test, the ZIKV Detect IgM Capture ELISA by InBios International. This ZIKV Detect test is currently being used by Laboratory Corporation of America (LabCorp) for IgM serological testing. LabCorp observed higher than expected false positive results. FDA has not yet determined whether the reported false positives are related to the ZIKV Detect test itself or the testing facility. Because confirmatory tests may take a week to a month to complete, the FDA is issuing this alert so that health care providers and patients know about a higher likelihood of false positive results. 

Medicaid IMPACT Notice 
Effective February 1, 2017, the Department will terminate any Medicaid provider that was enrolled prior to February 1, 2012, and has not revalidated their information through the IMPACT system. Although provider information will remain in IMPACT as "In-Process" for at least 30 days, all claims and encounters submitted by a terminated provider will be rejected. Terminated providers will be required to submit a new Medicaid provider enrollment through IMPACT and the earliest possible begin date will be the date the new enrollment is submitted.
Link to the full provider notice

Medicaid MCO hosts Upcoming Town Hall Meeting -  Chicago
WellCare Health Plans invites IAFP members to an upcoming town hall event on Janurary 26 in Chicago to learn more about their WellCare and Harmony Health Plans. Learn more here - RSVPs are required.

New 2017 MOC Project: Identification and Management of Psychosocial Stressors in Children with Overweight and Obesity 
Learn how to address these issues in your practice with ICAAP's upcoming MOC activity Identification and Management of Psychosocial Stressors in Children with Overweight and Obesity. Participants will learn about the cyclical connection between toxic stress and obesity as well as practical tips on how to screen, counsel, and refer for one focused psychosocial stressor of their choice. To register or for more information, please contact Mary Elsner, Director of Obesity Prevention Initiatives, at 312/733-1026 x237 or [email protected]. This activity is funded by a grant from the Illinois Department of Healthcare and Family Services and the Otho S. A. Sprague Memorial Institute.


Members in the News

If you have a news item to share, email it to Ginnie Flynn at [email protected].

IAFP Public Health committee member Raj Shah, MD is a co-author of an Op-Ed in Crain's Chicago Business on January 19 sharing the startling results of their research comparing the rate of low birth weight babies born in Chicago, to the city of Toronto. Toronto's low birth weight rate was lower, especially in the poorest communities.

Fred Richardson, MD who was a keynote speaker at the 2015 Family Medicine Midwest has expanded his home care practice really far! He know provides home visits in Chicago and in Effingham, where the need is great in this rural community. He was profiled in the January 9 Decatur Herald and Review.

Congratulations to Haemi Choi, MD of Loyola University Health System, who is serving as the team physician for the women's USA Hockey Team at the Winter World University Games, from January 28 to February 8 in Kazakhstan. The announcement appeared in several suburban local Tribune editions and well as Patch publications

2009 IAFP Family Physician of the Year Risha Raven, MD authored an editorial in the January 13 Bureau County Republican outlining the many ways her patients have benefited from the Affordable Care Act and encouraged the new Congress and Administration to not reverse the progress made.

Leslie Mendoza-Temple, MD was featured in an NorthShore Magazine article on ways to maximize your heath at every age, decade by decade.

New to Illinois IAFP member Megha Manek, MD authored a letter to editor in the January 13 Springfield State Journal-Register supporting a tax on sugary drinks to reduce consumption and support health care in Illinois.

IAFP board member Careyana Brenham, MD was featured in a January 16 State Journal Register article covering a public rally to support the Affordable Care Act and the improvements in health care coverage as a result of the law's implementation.

That same day, IAFP past president Janet Albers, MD and the SIU Family Practice Center were featured for their work in an Access to Care Collaborative that focused on an underserved neighborhood called Enos Park. Their work, which includes community health workers proving wrap-around services, resulted in improved health outcomes and reduced crime rates. Coverage in the State Journal Register and WAND-TV shared their outstanding results.

Kevin Most, DO addressed some concerns about what repealing the ACA without a replacement could mean in his WGN-AM radio show on January 15. 

Brian Chicoine, MD, medical director of the Adult Down Syndrome Center at Advocate Lutheran General Hospital in Park Ridge, was interviewed by WGN-AM radio on January 17 about strides made in Down's Syndrome research and treatment that have greatly extended the life span for those patients.