Thank you to the four organizations that have already committed to co-sponsoring our upcoming webinar package, "Stay On Course: Your Ticket to Family Medicine CME," being offered in lieu of the Michigan Family Medicine Conference & Expo.

Additional year-long sponsorship opportunities are still available - please share with vendors and partnering organizations. This is great opportunity for 12+ months of increased visibility and brand awareness.

Family physicians, residents, and students are encouraged to register for "Stay On Course" by June 18 to receive the discounted early-bird rate. You will have between July 24, 2021, through July 17, 2022, to watch the webinars and earn up to 13 CME credits. Register today to save!

On June 1, Gov. Whitmer and the Department of Licensing and Regulatory Affairs (LARA) announced the adoption of new administrative rules that, effective June 1, 2022, require implicit bias training for medical licensure and renewal in Michigan. MAFP will be hosting webinar/in-person CME events to help members meet this new training requirement. Currently, physicians in Michigan are required to complete training on human trafficking (1 hour), medical ethics (1 hour), and pain and symptom management (3 hours) for medical licensure. MAFP is hosting on-demand webinars on these topics in its “Stay On Course: Your Ticket to Family Medicine CME” year-long webinar package.

The Kids Access to Primary Care Act (H.R. 1025) is a bipartisan bill introduced in the U.S. House of Representatives that would help address Medicare-Medicaid payment disparities and the access-to-care barriers they create. The bill, among other provisions, calls for uplifting reimbursement for Medicaid primary care services to the Medicare payment rate floor. Primary care physicians are encouraged to contact their U.S. Representatives to urge them to co-sponsor the Kids Access to Primary Care Act, and to support the bill when it comes up for a vote. Click here for your U.S. Representative’s contact information.

U.S. Department of Health and Human Services sent a letter to insurers and healthcare providers following reports of ongoing concerns about Americans facing costs associated with COVID-19 vaccinations or testing. The letter reminds healthcare providers of their signed agreements to cover the administration of COVID-19 vaccines free-of-charge to patients, and group health plans and health insurers of their legal requirement to provide coverage of COVID-19 vaccinations and diagnostic testing without patients shouldering any cost. The letter also outlines healthcare providers' options for seeking reimbursement for testing and vaccine-related fees.

The U.S. Department of Labor's Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) announced it is issuing an emergency temporary standard to protect healthcare workers from contracting COVID-19. The standard focuses on healthcare workers most likely to have contact with someone infected with the virus. OSHA announced the new standard alongside new general industry guidance, both of which are aligned with Centers for Disease Control and Prevention guidance. The emergency temporary standard establishes new requirements for settings where employees provide healthcare or healthcare support services,

We received our copy of Michigan Family Physician in MAFP's mailbox this week—hopefully you did, too! Included are details about our “Stay On Course” on-demand webinar package (register by June 18 to save!), the state’s new hepatitis c elimination campaign, American Board of Family Medicine updates, and more. Interested in writing a clinical or practice management article for a future magazine issue? Email your proposal to dlawrence@mafp.com.

As a condition of continued membership in the Academy, active members are required to report at least 150 credits of approved continuing medical education (CME) every three calendar years. Members whose re-election cycle ended Dec. 31, 2020, were granted a 1-year extension due to the COVID-19 pandemic. If you are among this group, you have until Dec. 31, 2021, to report your earned CME credits to AAFP. Failure to report by this date will result in membership cancellation effective May 2022. Visit mafp.com/events for free and member-discounted live and on-demand CME webinars and professional development events to help you meet your 3-year CME re-election cycle requirement.

If you are an American Board of Family Medicine (ABFM) diplomate needing to complete your stage requirements by Dec. 31, 2021, you are encouraged to start taking action now. ABFM's Continuous Certification Process is divided into continuous 3-year stages. Within each stage, there are minimum requirements for Performance Improvement and Knowledge Self-Assessment activities, as well as total points and CME credits. There are several options for diplomates to consider, including attending upcoming Knowledge Self-Assessment virtual sessions offered by Family Medicine Foundation of Michigan in September and December.

When you register for our “Stay On Course: Your Ticket to Family Medicine CME” on-demand webinar package, you also have the option to attend two FREE live virtual keynote presentations. Each presentation is approved for 1 CME credit.

Staying the Course to Transform Health Care

July 21, 7-8 pm ET, Presenter: AAFP President Dr. Ada Stewart

Will Artificial Intelligence Expand Family Medicine Comprehensiveness?

July 22, 7-8 pm ET

Presenter: AAFP Vice President & Chief Informatics Officer Dr. Steven Waldren

Halfway into 2021, MAFP has welcomed 294 new members—36 active physicians, 65 family medicine residents, and 193 medical students. If you see a name you know, or the name of a a member who practices in your community, reach out to say hi to welcome them to our Michigan chapter of AAFP.

Avani Sheth, MD, a family physician and chief medical officer at Neighborhood Service Organization (NSO) in Detroit, has been named a Crain’s Detroit Business 2021 Health Care Hero. During the pandemic, Dr. Sheth took on the role of safety officer at NSO, leading its COVID-19 taskforce and vaccination initiative. Do you know a rising star in health care? The nomination application for Crain’s Notable Rising Stars in Health Care is open through July 6.

Six Ascension Medical Group (AMG) Excellence in Medicine awardees are family physician members of MAFP: Kwame Francis, MD; Mark Paschall, MD; Sean Coyle, MD; Beena Nagappala, MD; Veen Panthangi, MD; and Robert Camara, DO. Congratulations!

June is Men’s Health Month, and Harland Holman, MD, assistant professor at Michigan State University College of Human Medicine and a core faculty member of the Spectrum Health/Michigan State University Family Medicine Residency, talked with WZZM-TV 13 about the two leading causes of death for men in the U.S. and the importance of maintaining primary and preventive care visits.

Jennifer Edwards-Johnson, DO, MPH, assistant professor and community assistant dean at Michigan State University College of Human Medicine’s Department of Family Medicine, authored an article in the May issue of the Journal of the American Board of Family Medicine on resident debt. She writes about her own experience and the experiences of her colleagues as the backdrop to the rising medicine resident debt, which impacts residents’ choice of specialty and practice type.

Do you have news to share about yourself, your practice, or a colleague? Email info@mafp.com.

The 2021 AAFP National Conference of Family Medicine Residents and Medical Students will take place July 29-31. AAFP student and resident members considering a career in family medicine are invited to attend this one-of-a-kind virtual event full of networking, connections with residency programs, educational sessions, and more. Scholarships to attend National Conference are available through the AAFP Foundation. Don’t miss your chance to explore all that family medicine has to offer—for free! Submit your scholarship application by June 15.

With this year’s National Conference being held virtually, MAFP is once-again transitioning its traditional Friday-night Michigan reception at Shark Bar in downtown Kansas City to a pre-conference virtual Michigan reception and kick off through Zoom. Bring your own beverage and food to enjoy as you mix and mingle with fellow MAFP members on July 28, 6:30-7:30 pm ET, to get a snapshot of Academy initiatives that can enhance your family medicine journey, facilitate making connections and developing mentors, and helping advance your career. There will be time for a live Q&A. Register today and spread the word to your colleagues!

Now in its eight year, Family Medicine Foundation of Michigan’s Future of Family Medicine Student Conference will be held virtually on Saturday, Oct. 9. The cost is just $25! Highlights include:

The Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education, American Association of Colleges of Osteopathic Medicine, Association of American Medical Colleges, and Educational Commission for Foreign Medical Graduates designed a new toolkit to aid programs preparing for incoming residents, as well as help students entering residency after a challenging and potentially disrupted final year of medical school.

House Democrats Urge White House to Expand Medicare

Legislation has been introduced in the U.S. Congress that would fund an additional 100 new Teaching Health Center Graduate Medical Education (THCGME) programs in high-need communities and create an estimated 1,600 new resident physician slots. The Doctors of Community (DOC) Act calls for permanent authorization of the program, as well as increased and sustained annual funding. Should this legislation be signed into law, it would create the largest expansion of the THGME program in more than 20 years. Michigan currently has one family medicine THCGME site, Authority Health in Detroit.

AAFP Praises Medicaid Payment Parity Bill

AAFP Asks CMS to Help Physicians Transition From CPC+

FPs Invited to Join COVID-19 Community Corps Effort

As a founding member of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services' COVID-19 Community Corps, family physicians are invited to encourage patients to get a COVID-19 vaccine by joining the "We Can Do This" campaign. The initiative is a grassroots effort of trusted local voices who are promoting vaccination as one of the best tools available to end the pandemic.

Earlier this month, Pres. Biden announced the national goal of reaching a 70% vaccination rate by the July 4 holiday and declared June as the “National Month of Action.” In Michigan, 60% of teens and adults age 16 and older have now received at least one COVID-19 vaccine dose. Michigan Department of Health and Human Services reports that COVID-19 vaccinations have been trending downward for the past two months. Just recently, the state has begun distributing vaccine to family medicine practices to help in reaching those who are vaccine-hesitant, given that primary care physicians are trusted sources of vaccines and vaccine information. Click here for the latest vaccine distribution spreadsheet, which shows where vaccines have been delivered in Michigan, by facility type. If you have yet to register to receive vaccines, be sure to follow these three steps for participating in the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s COVID-19 Vaccination Program.

The U.S. Senate HELP Committee is planning for a hearing later this month on vaccine confidence. Discussion will focus on the importance of both the COVID-19 vaccine and routine immunizations, as well as how to best reach rural communities and other hard-to-reach populations. Please answer the following two questions by Tuesday, June 15 to help inform AAFP’s feedback to the committee

The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), through the Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA), announced it is dedicating $4.8 billion from the American Rescue Plan to support the HRSA COVID-19 Uninsured Program. This funding will allow the program to continue reimbursing clinicians for testing uninsured individuals for COVID-19.

Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) announced an additional payment amount for administering in-home COVID-19 vaccinations to Medicare beneficiaries who have difficulty leaving their homes or are otherwise hard-to-reach. Medicare is incentivizing healthcare providers and will pay an additional $35 per dose for COVID-19 vaccine administration in a beneficiary’s home, increasing the total payment amount for at-home vaccination from approximately $40 to approximately $75 per vaccine dose. For a two-dose vaccine, this results in a total payment of approximately $150 for the administration of both doses, or approximately $70 more than the current rate.

Healthcare professionals are asked to be aware of false COVID-19 vaccination record cards, which may be presented at physician offices, local health departments, and other vaccination locations. Blank copies of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s COVID-19 Immunization Record cards are also in circulation, providing opportunities for entering false information. It is important to look up your patients in the Michigan Care Improvement Registry (MCIR) prior to vaccine administration to verify their immunization status. To report suspicious activity involving fake vaccination record cards, call 1-800-HHS-TIPS or visit the Internet Crime Complaint Center.

Faculty members at approved health professions schools who are interested in training the next generation of health professionals may be eligible for the Health Resources and Services Administration's Faculty Loan Repayment Program (FLRP). FLRP works to recruit health professions faculty from diverse backgrounds. Participants receive up to $40,000 to pay off their qualifying educational loans in exchange for two years of teaching service. Applications are due July 1 at 7:30 pm ET.

Title V of the Social Security Act of 1935, as amended, provides funding to states to improve the health of mothers, infants, and children. Michigan’s Title V draft application is for services from Oct. 1, 2021, to Sept. 30, 2022, and includes a report on activities and services provided in fiscal year 2020. Michigan Department of Health and Human Services welcomes comments on the application by June 30 at 5 pm ET. Comments can be submitted to MDHHS-MCHBlockGrant@michigan.gov.

Federal Budget Request Outlines Priorities for Health Agencies

AAFP’s EveryONE Project Toolkit offers materials for improving patient health through a variety of avenues, and the Neighborhood Navigator helps family physicians address social determinants of health (SDOH) at point-of-care by connecting patients with food, housing, and financial and other local services.

A new series of lifestyle medicine resources is available for AAFP members. Included are a free, online, 60-minute CME program titled, “Incorporating Lifestyle Medicine Into Everyday Practice,” and an accompanying lifestyle medicine implementation guide.

Lucrative Family Medicine Opportunity Midland, MI

Welcoming Physician to Community Health Center Houghton Lake, MI

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