Contents tagged with texas family physician
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Texas Family Physician - Vol. 63 No. 1, Winter 2012
Go to the TFP archive
View the virtual issue
President’s letter
Member news
2011 Year in Review
Perspective
CONTENTS
Preserving a family traditionWith three decades of rural … more
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Patient-centered medical home: Are we or aren’t we?
By David W. Bauer, M.D.
When is a patient-centered medical home not a patient-centered medical home? In my practice, the answer is “every day.” In 2009 we received NCQA’s designation as a Level 3 PCMH. To achieve this, our physicians had to document ways in which our patients had enhanced access to our practice, provide examples of how we use evidence-based guidelines to provide quality care, demonstrate the means by which we coordinated care across time and space, and a number of other measures. We do, in fact, do those things every day. What we don’t do, is do all of them for every single patient, every single day.
Consider the analogy of a patient with diabetes whose hemoglobin A1c is 6.9. We would say that the patient’s diabetes is well controlled and congratulate the patient. But there are many ways that a patient could achieve this value. One would be to have very little fluctuation of her glucose from hour to hour. Another would be for the patient to drop into the 40s overnight, and climb to 200 immediately after meals. The hemoglobin A1c is an average, and doesn’t factor in variation. For years, decreasing variation has been the mantra of those working to improve quality, increase efficiency, and decrease medical errors in the hospital setting. As we migrate toward a new model of health care in this country—the PCMH—it would be valuable to embrace this concept in our offices as well.
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TAFP Foundation funds family medicine research, awards scholarships
TAFP Foundation funds family medicine research, awards scholarships
The TAFP Foundation raises and distributes funds for medical student scholarships for students planning to pursue a career in … more
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TAFP members appointed to Texas Institute for Health Care Quality and Efficiency
TAFP members appointed to Texas Institute for Health Care Quality and Efficiency
Texas Governor Rick Perry has appointed 13 members to the board of directors of the Texas Institute for … more
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AAFP Board decides to continue participation in the RUC
AAFP Board decides to continue participation in the RUC
The verdict is in. AAFP will continue participation in the AMA/Specialty Society Relative Value Scale Update Committee, better known as the … more
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Recovery audit contractors: The age of audits and remediation
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The age of audits and remediation
By Kate Alfano
It’s a fact of medical practice that despite the best intentions, a physician who does not know how to correctly code for his or … more
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CMS releases final rule for ACOs, relaxes requirements to participate
CMS releases final rule for ACOs, relaxes requirements to participate
By Kate Alfano
On Oct. 20, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services released the final rule for establishing … more
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TAFP creates new CME symposium
TAFP creates new CME symposium
Save the date for Primary Care Summit – Dallas/Fort Worth, Nov. 5-7, 2010
TAFP is proud to announce the newest addition to the annual symposia series: Primary Care … more
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If a frog had a back pocket …
If a frog had a back pocket …
It’s time for a political reality check
By Tom BanningTAFP Chief Executive Officer/Executive Vice President
This issue of Texas Family Physician features a series … more
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News from the 2011 C. Frank Webber Lectureship
News from the 2011 C. Frank Webber Lectureship
Gaining clinical knowledge, advancing the specialty
More than 400 physicians, residents, and medical students gathered at the Omni Austin Hotel at … more