ACTION NEEDED ASAP
Immediate action needed by Pennsylvania family physicians! According to the 2011 Medicare final physician fee schedule released by the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) this week, physician payments will be reduced by 21 percent on December 1, 2010. An additional cut of 4 percent, effective January 1, 2011 will result in a cumulative cut of approximately 25 percent from current levels unless Congress intervenes.  Congress is expected to return in a “lame duck” session and is the only remedy to stop these cuts from taking place.  Please visit the AAFP Speak Out and contact your current member of Congress today.  

PRACTICE ADVOCACY
Medicare Primary Care Incentive Program (PCIP). According to the AAFP, CMS has changed its implementation rules for the Medicare Primary Care Incentive Program (PCIP) after feedback from several primary care organizations, including the AAFP. Under the program, primary care physicians whose primary care billings comprise at least 60 percent of their total Medicare allowed charges will receive a 10 percent bonus from Medicare. The changes to the eligibility rules for the program, which include excluding laboratory charges and other charges from the bonus payment eligibility calculation and subtracting physician hospital visits from the allowed charges, will allow as many as 80 percent of family physicians in the U.S. to qualify for the bonus payment. For more information read the AAFP News Now article.

LEGISLATIVE UPDATE
2010 Pennsylvania State Election Results. Republican Tom Corbett will be the next governor of Pennsylvania beating his Democratic opponent Dan Onorato with 55% of the vote. The Senate of Pennsylvania remained in Republican control (30-20) and no incumbents, Republican or Democrat lost. In the Pennsylvania House of Representatives, the Democrats had a 104-99 majority going into the night. However, they ended the night in the minority. The Republicans are now in the majority by a margin of (112-91) netting 14 seats. PAFP staff is working to reconfigure strategies and issue prioritization in conjunction with the PAFP leadership towards successfully adapting to this new political landscape for the two-year session that begins in January 2011. 

FLU SHOTS COVERED FOR CHILDREN IN FOSTER CARE
Children in foster care can receive a flu shot as part of general well care. According to the Department of Public Welfare, providing flu shots for children and youth in placement is part of normal medical care and covered by a general release from the parent/guardian and or a general medical court order. State law and regulations do not require a special release/court order.

IF YOU DON'T LIKE CHANGE, TRY IRRELEVANCE
Family physician Edward Zurad, MD, uses that quote to drive home the point that family practices need to adopt continuous quality improvement into everyday practice or risk being left behind. Dr. Zurad and internist Dr. Jorge Scheirer presented at an AAFP Scientific Assembly Satellite Symposium in Denver Oct. 1 about the evidence-based tools family practices can use to make changes that can significantly improve care for patients, including those with uncontrolled type 2 diabetes.

The presentation will be available later this month as a CME webcast (a CME monograph will be published this winter). Meanwhile, take advantage of other CME from the PAFP Foundation about quality improvement.

CME monograph.  PDSAs: the Heart of Quality Improvement. Up to 2 Prescribed credits. Qualifies as risk management CME.

"REACHING" MEANINGFUL USE AND THE INCENTIVES THAT COME WITH IT
The recipient agreement is now available for PA REACH East participants. PAFP is a PA REACH East subcontractor and can help you reach “meaningful use” with your EHR system. Although there are some upfront fees with this program through Quality Insights of Pennsylvania the return is substantial for each provider in a practice that reaches meaningful use, said PAFP’s Vice President of Quality Initiatives Lee Ann Grajales. For more information contact her at lgrajales@pafp.com or go to http://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/pafp/keystonephysician_2010summer/#/10

MORE PAFP IN THE NEWS
PAFP President D. Michael Baxter, MD (Reading) is earning more than CME this weekend in Pittsburgh. He was on a mini media tour while in western PA. Dr. Baxter and PAFP Treasurer William Sonnenberg, MD (Titusville) met with the editorial board of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette to discuss family medicine's role in healthcare reform and other topics. The goal is to earn an editorial push from the paper on the importance of primary care no matter who is in office in Harrisburg or Washington, D.C. 

But talking to several editors and reporters at one time still might have been easier than Friday's AM assignment. Callling in at 6:38 am, Dr. Baxter talked live with KDKA radio's Morning News host John Shumway about healthcare.

PAFP will post news clips from the Post-Gazette and KDKA when available. In addition, PAFP is creating a media relations archive where you will be able to find the latest news clips, as well as news releases PAFP distributes to local, regional and statewide media.

THE NEW ISSUE OF KEYSTONE PHYSICIAN IS HERE
Do you know your responsibilities as a mandated reporter of child abuse? What kind of income incentives for FPs are in the new health care reform act? What happend at the recent AAFP Congress of Delegates in Denver. Find out in the new Keystone Physician at http://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/pafp/keystonephysician_2010fall/#/0.