October is Pennsylvania Family Physician Month

In honor of the thousands of family physicians across the Commonwealth and their dedication to providing comprehensive, quality, whole-life care to their patients and communities, Gov. Josh Shapiro has proclaimed October 2024 “Family Physician Month.” View the proclamation.

Pennsylvania Academy of Family Physicians Celebrates National Family Medicine Week, Brings Attention to Need for Investment in Primary Care

In celebration of National Family Medicine Week, Sept. 29-Oct. 5, the PAFP issued a press release to statewide media touting the specialty and thanking family physicians, residents, and medical students for their commitment to providing quality primary care to all Pennsylvanians. The PAFP also called for sustained investment in primary care to help family physicians continue to meet the health care needs of their patients and communities. Read the press release.

New AI initiative between AAFP & Rock Health announced

The American Academy of Family Physicians is collaborating with Rock Health, a leader in digital health since 2011, on a new initiative to explore the application of digital health and AI tools in the primary care setting to enhance operations and improve outcomes. The shared focus of the "Advancing AI and Digital Health for Primary Care Initiative" is on improving healthcare delivery for patients, primary care providers, and practices. Physicians are asked to share your feedback and insight by participating in a survey on the Use of AI and Digital Health. Take the survey here. Learn more about the collaborative.

REMEMBER:  It's a license renewal year!   Register now for the October 19th FM Essentials Summit - REGISTRATION CLOSES OCTOBER 13!

Join your colleagues during this licensure year for an outstanding event featuring PA state-mandated CME on Child Protection and Opioids/Addiction along with a selection of primary care topics offering up-to-the-minute information for your practice. All sessions meet the patient safety requirement that’ll also help with your requirements. Half day registration and virtual options available to accommodate extremely busy schedules. Discounted registration for members; non-members welcome! Preview the agenda now. This event will be at the Drexelbrook Event Center in Drexel Hill, PA, on Saturday, October 19. Book your discounted room early! Click here to learn more and register.  

Early bird registration for our 2025 Summer SEA-M-E Conference June 8 -12 at Dewey Beach is now open!  Take advantage of savings now because registration fees will go up January 1.  I know it’s hard to believe it’s time to think about next summer before winter is even here, but what better place to start than with us in Dewey!   Register here!

Call For 2025 CME Conference Speakers - Calling all healthcare providers! An invitation to share your knowledge and expertise!   As it always has, PAFP strives to bring together physician subject matter experts, thought leaders and solution providers to energize, empower and educate.     Our CME conferences feature speakers who offer practical guidance and specific lessons-learned/takeaways that enable attendees to apply this information immediately in practice.  Click here for more information  

Governor signs budget, numerous health care bills acted on

On Thursday July 11, Gov. Josh Shapiro signed into law Pennsylvania's 2024-5 state budget. The spending measure includes full restoration of the Primary Health Care Practitioner line Item in the Pa Dept of Health, with new monies for primary care physician recruitment and retention programs via the Department and PAFP.  Other key legislative issue include a modest change in noncompete rules (HB 1633), expanded childhood vaccine administration scope for pharmacists (HB 1993), and bills that will pave the way for Pennsylvania to be compliant and able to join the Interstate Medical Licensure Compact. Legislative efforts to advance CRNP independence did not pass the Senate. Thank you to all our members and supporters for their advocacy efforts.

FREE CME ONLINE - Choose from 15+ Topics, Including Pain/Opioids! 

According to a recent member survey, FREE online CME is one of the most popular benefits of PAFP membership. So we're adding EVEN MORE outstanding patient safety CME to our on-demand library. Free to all PAFP members! Access recorded CME sessions at your convenience through your free Eeds account, which records and tracks your CME credits. See current list of webcasts.