ACOFP President

By Ronnie B. Martin, DO, FACOFP dist.

April 25, 2008

Advocacy in Washington
Several members of the ACOFP Board of Governors, including Dr. Jan Zieren, Dr. Kenneth Heiles, Dr. Paul Martin, Dr. Kevin de Renier, Dr. Jeffery Grove, Dr. Thomas Told, Dr. Steven Rubin, and Dr. Carol Henwood joined ACOFP Executive Director Pete Schmelzer and me as well as more than 900 osteopathic students and physicians for the annual D.O. Day on the Hill event in Washington, D.C. yesterday.

Meeting with more than 90 Senators and more than 320 members of the House of Representatives, this army for the osteopathic profession discussed the needed reforms in the current SGR and Medicare payment system, the changes needed in the graduate medical education system to allow the osteopathic profession to continue to grow and serve the patients of the country, and the epidemic of obesity that threatens the health of our patients and country.

Most of the offices we visited expressed support for an 18-month temporary fix to the impending decrease of up to 15 percent in physicians payments and are looking for a more permanent solution to the funding formula that commits physicians to being the only group to not receive yearly positive updates to reimbursement.

If you have not, contact your representative and senator and ask them to support a fix to the Medicare payment system and reform of the SGR. Your voice is the best weapon that we have in this effort, and your support of OPAC gives us the tools needed for the effort.

Today, Pete, Jan and I are attending the Federal Health Counsel in D.C. where, among other speakers, Mark B McClellan, M.D., PhD, former administrator for the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services and commissioner of the Food and Drug Administration and currently a Senior Fellow of the Brookings Institution will discuss our health system and initiatives in patient safety, access, quality and patient health. In addition, Carolyn M. Clancy, M.D., the Director of the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality will discuss federal initiatives’ on quality and safety and their effect on your practice and our profession.

Get to Know Your Board of Governors
"I come from a family of educators and always knew that at some point I would end up working in an academic environment. Early in my career in this profession becoming an educator meant leaving my mountain home to go east to accept a position. I could never bring myself to make that much of a geographic change. When a position opened up not only in an intermountain state, but my home state I knew I had to accept the opportunity. Mollie and I were inspired by the students the year we visited all the Colleges of Osteopathic Medicine and we knew then we would have to be a part of Osteopathic Education. I hope to bring my love of Procedural Family Medicine, and my 35 years of Rural Family Practice experience to the halls of Rocky Vista University to lend a hand in shaping the Osteopathic Family Physician of the future. " --Thomas N. Told, DO, FACOFP dist. and Past-President of ACOFP.

Online CME Available Through ACOFP
Many of you have requested a convenient method to obtain top quality CME in addition to the ACOFP Annual Conventions, the Intensive Review Course or meetings of the ACOFP state affiliates. The association listens and continues to attempt to meet your needs and fulfill your requests with quality online programs covering topics that affect family physicians and your patients.

ACOFP currently offers “Getting a Leg Up on Cardiovascular Disease”. This course offers 2 Category 1-B AOA Credit. It provides physicians information on the risks posed by atherothrombosis and the evidence-based measures that can be taken to improve the recognition and treatment of patients with PAD and post ACS/stroke so as to reduce future MI and stroke. Register for it today!

As the electronic component of our educational offerings grow and become more diverse, ACOFP also is looking at developing modules and educational offerings available online as well as live to assist all osteopathic physicians maintain competency and certification. These programs are being developed in anticipation of the changes being discussed by the AOA and the AOBFP.

Back to Campus
Pikeville College School of Osteopathic Medicine ACOFP Student Chapter provided a bit of springtime cheer and hope to members of their local community by delivering 30 Easter baskets to underprivileged families in rural Pike County. Thirty Easter baskets were presented to children in the pediatric wing of Pikeville Medical Center, the local emergency/homeless shelter, and a local family that had survived a house fire. Danielle Nicole Luther, President led the philanthropic effort, which as with all such efforts, provided as much benefit and satisfaction to the students who participated as to those who received the gifts.

Outreach events such as the one undertaken by the ACOFP student chapter at Pikeville are a hallmark of our medical students and residents and set a standard of giving that challenges each of us to match, making all of us proud. .

Make your opinions known! Send an email to me and ACOFP. Share your thoughts, make comments, and tell us what you have been doing in regards to osteopathic family medicine.

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