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Dec. 3, 2014 | Issue 102 |
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Government Affairs
New Rx Monitoring Law Enables Naloxone Prescriptions
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Act 139 of 2014, which creates a prescription monitoring program to begin later in 2015, allows first responders to carry and administer naloxone to opioid overdose patients. Friends or family members of a person at risk of experiencing an opioid-related overdose, such as from heroin, Oxycontin, Percocet, or Vicodin are now able to receive a prescription for naloxone and administer it. They are then to call 911 and have immunity from drug possession prosecution. The naloxone provision of the law went into effect Nov. 29. |
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Practice Advocacy
Healthy PA Program Moves Forward
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Dec. 1, 2014 marked open enrollment for the Healthy PA Private Coverage Option (PCO). The PCO is for low-income, single working adults aged 21-64 who do not qualify for Medicaid under the current guidelines. Existing Medicaid beneficiaries are being asked to complete a health questionnaire to determine which coverage type they fall into. Existing Medicaid benefits will be divided into two coverage types, Healthy (low-risk) and Healthy Plus (high-risk). All medically frail, disabled, pregnant women, and seniors will fall under the Healthy Plus option. Consumers can apply online at www.compass.state.pa.us or by calling 1-866-550-4355 to determine eligibility. |
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Education
PAFP Thinks Ahead to Great Education Opportunities in 2015
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| As December's holidays quickly approach, the PAFP is thinking ahead to 2015! From the Valley Forge CME Conference and Annual Meeting in March to the Chesapeake Summer Escape, plenty of live educational opportunities will offer relevant clinical sessions and plenty of fun activities with your friends and colleagues. As always, the PAFP offers free, online CME 24 hours a day, seven days a week, 365 days a year. |
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Public Health
Register Now for Free Emergency Planning CME
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Weather impacts the operations of a medical practice. Register at www.pafp.com/plan for a free lunchtime mini-webcast CME series. This series meets the patient safety and risk management CME requirements.
• Jan 14: Primary care physician roles in disasters and importance of preparedness
• Jan 15: Risk and hazard vulnerability assessment for medical practices
• Jan 21: Planning for disasters - key elements of business continuity planning for medical practices
• Jan 22: Evaluating the practice emergency plan - training and drills
• Jan 28: Practice Communications in Emergencies - communicating with patients and partners
• Jan 29: Preparing patients with special health care needs for emergencies
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Quality Improvement
Variable Relationships Can Be Deceiving |
The graphical relationship between two variables may suggest a causal relationship, but looks can be deceiving. Seeing a correlational relationship doesn’t promise a causal one. A correlational relationship says two variables behave similarly, but it doesn’t necessarily follow that one variable causes the other’s behavior. Drawing conclusions about their relationship based strictly on correlation can lead to misleading conclusions and misdirected attempts to control a variable’s behavior to affect another variable’s behavioral outcome. Investigate other variables which may be responsible for the causal effect on both variables before determining a truly causal relationship. See our Data Diamond presentation for more.
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Residents & Students
Nominations Wanted for Exemplary Teaching Awards |
You've been lucky to learn from physicians who have played an important role in your life, helping you get closer to your dream of being the best physician you can be. Honor those who have inspired you most - you know they deserve it! Nominations are wanted for full- and part-time faculty and volunteer faculty. Ask your residency coordinator or department secretary for help pulling the nominations packet together (they’ll be delighted!) - your heartfelt letters are the most important elements of a successful nomination. Contact Molly Talley for more info. Deadline: January 30, 2015.
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Top Tips from RPC, CHCC November Meeting
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The Residency Program and Community Health Center collaboratives met Nov. 7 in State College. Read the entire wrap-up newsletter here. Find some top tips below:
• Less sensitive in-office FOBT (Hemoccult II) is essentially worthless as a screening tool for CRC and should never be used. Use high-sensitivity FOBT- either FIT or gFOBT (e.g. Hemoccult SENSA).
• Multidisciplinary weight management program approach: dietary intervention, exercise intervention, behavioral intervention, medication.
• Sarcopenia Effect: Muscle Dysfunction → Sedentary Lifestyle → Slow Metabolic Rate → Weight Gain → Glucose Intolerance.
Introducing Primary Healthcare Consultants
After months of research, planning, and development, the PAFP is proud to introduce Primary Healthcare Consultants. From Meaningful Use to patient-centered medical home transformation, Primary Healthcare Consultants is dedicated to practice innovation and transformation. Click here to visit the website!
Nominate Yourself or a Colleague for 2015 Family Physician of the Year!
You are a family physician – the person patients trust most when they’re not feeling well, when they have questions about their health, when they need everything from vaccinations to prescriptions. There are thousands of excellent family physicians in Pennsylvania, and we want to hear why you think you or a colleague is the best of all – maybe you’ll be chosen as the Pennsylvania Academy of Family Physicians’ 2015 Family Physician of the Year!
Jan. 19, 2015 is the deadline for entries to the PAFP’s 2015 Family Physician of the Year contest – be sure to read the contest rules on www.pafp.com/topdoc.
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