2017 Campaign Calendar Is Now Available. Health is Primary has released its 2017 calendar, which includes our monthly mini campaign information and recommendations for how you can engage to become a primary care champion. A strong primary care system is critical to a high functioning, cost effective health care system and we need your voice – share your story with the campaign, write an op-ed or engage with us on social media. The electronic version of the calendar can be found here, and printed versions can be ordered upon request.
2017 Focus on Policymakers – With health care on top of the agenda for policymakers in 2017, the Health is Primary campaign will focus on educating new and existing members of Congress and the Trump Administration on the value of primary care in delivering better health at a lower price.
January is Fitness and Nutrition month. The tear sheets for fitness and nutrition are now available to download. Help us promote the message on social media, and check out the campaign calendar for suggestions. See AAFP news coverage here. Look for resources on chronic disease in February!
Update from the Strategy Implementation Team
Update from the Practice Tactic Team: The Practice Team continues to work to highlight practices that are making steps to transform their practices to Advanced Primary Care Models.
Physician Readiness Project. The Physician Readiness Project, led by Practice Team Leader Jason Marker M.D., has completed three of four focus groups designed to assess physician readiness to transform their practices at varying stages of the practice transformation process. The final focus group that will be conducted, concerning family physicians and practices that identify themselves as “pre-contemplators” with respect to practice transformation, is in the process of being scheduled. Once all focus groups have been completed by the end of Q1, the information gathered will be used by the Practice Team as part of the Pathways to Transformation Demonstration project. It will assist physicians by making it as easy as possible to identify and overcome obstacles as they transform their practices.
If you would like to be part of this project, get in touch with Jack Janson at [email protected].
Practice Bright Spots Project. The Practice Team has launched a Practice Bright Spots Project, led by Practice Team member and recent past president of the California Academy of Physicians, Jay Lee, M.D. Jay has assembled a team of interviewers, created an interview guide and is in the process of scheduling the Bright Spots project’s first interview. Building on the work of Tom Bodenheimer, M.D. and others, the project’s primary purpose is to determine
how these practices have made the transition from fee-for-service to a blended or comprehensive primary care payment framework. The team will work with interviewed practices to learn what tools they found helpful, what resources are required and how these practices are able to thrive when others struggle to make similar kinds of changes in an environment that can be exhausting and lead to burnout. The team will use findings from this project to develop tools and resources to help other practices on their path to transformation.
If you would like to learn more about this project, let the team know by contacting Jack Janson at [email protected].
Update from the Technology Tactic Team. Building on the progress made at its Vision Summit held in Washington D.C. last April, the Technology Team held a Health Innovation Roundtable in December at the STFM Conference on Practice Improvement, which brought together a diverse set of forward thinking innovators and family physicians from Family Medicine for America’s Health.
At the Health Innovation Roundtable, participants were invited to assist the Technology Team in identifying the most pressing issues facing practices, as they relate to the utilization of advanced technology in primary care. The top three priority pain-points identified where technology could be useful were population health management, patient and community engagement, and moving technology from functioning as a barrier to care to becoming a solution in providing high quality care.
The Technology Team’s next step is to identify tech innovators who can work with some of the participants at the roundtable and others on addressing the three challenges identified. As one of the tech innovators made clear during the roundtable discussion, tech innovations work best when practices and innovators work together to solve real problems in concrete ways.
Additionally, roundtable participants and those who have signed on to be Advisors for the Technology Team, have been invited to review the Vision Statement and give the team their feedback. If you would like to be an Adviser to the Technology Team (or other Tactic Teams), please visit this link and let us know: http://cfarsurveys.polldaddy.com/s/fmahealth-engagement.
