Come to Destin With Us in July! 

Physician Practice QI Award

Paid Advertisement.  The Physician Practice Quality Improvement Award Program online application is live! Physician practices continue to make great strides in providing reliable preventive services and implementing effective care management methods. We think these practices should be recognized for their hard work. TMF Health Quality Institute sponsors the Physician Practice Quality Improvement Award Program with several state medical associations. Any physician practice in the states of AR, CO, KS, LA, MS, MO, OK, TX or Puerty Rico with one or more licensed physicians providing care for Medicare fee-for-service patients is eligible to apply for an award.

Doctors Represent MS in Washington

Drs. Jason Dees, Sarah Grabmiller and Brent Smith.

Mississippi was represented in May by three member family physicians at the AAFP's Family Medicine Advocacy Summit (FMAS) in Washington, D.C.

	Dr. Biswas

The MAFP Foundation has awarded the 2019 Crawford Scholarship to Dr. Moumita Biswas, a third-year resident at EC HealthNet in Meridian.

As part of the scholarship, Dr. Biswas will attend the MAFP Annual Meeting in July. She said she is excited to attend the meeting and explore leadership opportunities within MAFP.

She has been a student member and a resident member of MAFP. As a resident, Dr. Biswas was elected to the Foundation board in 2017-18. She has also served on two MAFP committees.

Dr. Biswas earned a bachelor's degree from Millsaps College and a master's degree from the University of Mississippi Medical Center. She completed medical school at William Carey University College of Osteopathic Medicine in 2016 and will complete her EC HealthNet residency in August.

The Crawford Scholarship is just one of several offered each year by the MAFP Foundation to promote family medicine as a specialty.

You may already know that as part of a new Division of Medicaid initiative, the physician visit limit for Medicaid beneficiaries was increased from 12 to 16 beginning in January 2019.

Please be aware that two new changes will take effect July 1 of this year:

1.  The monthly prescription drug limit will increase from 5 to 6.
2. The number of allowed home health visits per state fiscal year will increase from 25 to 36.

These changes are part of the Medicaid Enhancing Access to Services and Engagement (EASE) Initiative, a series of program changes aimed at increasing beneficiaries' access to needed services in the most appropriate setting. 

Alliant is New P.A. Vendor

Alliant Health Solutions will begin performing prior authorization reviews as the Division of Medicaid transitions to a new vendor for Utilization Management/Quality Improvement Organization. Alliant replaces eQHealth Solutions beginning August 1, 2019. 

Get ready to meet the future of Family Medicine! Ten medical students have been named Academy Ambassadors and will be at Annual Meeting this July eager to help with our meeting and meet family physicians. The new ambassadors are:

• Kaylie Bradshaw, UMMC (student board member)
• Richard Burgan, WCUCOM (student board member)
• Will Casey, UMMC
• Maggie Dickerson, UMMC
• Jordan Jackson, UMMC (student board member)
• Daulton Newman, UMMC
• Huong Nguyen, WCUCOM (student board member)
• Louise Stewart, UMMC
• Shelby Swede, UMMC
• Lane Williamson, UMMC

The next Wellness Wednesdays phone call, " Lifestyle Medicine: Healthy Habits to Improve Your Well-Being," will be held Wednesday, June 19, at 11:15 am Central. The session will:

• introduce the field of lifestyle medicine
• understand its health benefits
• appreciate the importance of time and prioritization
• apply lifestyle medicine to a busy schedule

Jonathan Bonnet, MD, CAQSM, FAAFP, will be the guest speaker. Wellness Wednesdays is a production of the Ohio Academy of Family Physicians and all AAFP members may participate at no charge.