Annual Session 2011 daily news wrap – Thursday

Tags: hcsm, social media, national procedures institute, cme, annual session and scientific assembly

Thursday, July 28, 2011 5:15:00 PM

All hands were on deck for this busy Thursday. A note on how it all fits together, “Annual Session” refers to the business portion while the “Scientific Assembly” refers to the continuing medical education portion.

Both were in full swing today with Day 2 of the NPI workshop, the start of general session CME, and TAFP members meeting throughout the day in a dozen different policy-making groups.

One CME seminar to highlight is “Financial Realities for the Physician Manager,” with top Academy business minds Dr. Robert Youens of Weimar, Dr. Doug Curran of Athens, and Dr. Stephen Benold of Georgetown. Both Dr. Youens and Dr. Curran run very successful family medicine practices in rural areas, and Dr. Benold spends part of his time as a financial advisor. The idea for this seminar actually began with our August 2010 Strategic Planning meeting: TAFP members wanted more training as an increasing number of physicians are taking a larger role in the business side of medicine. Whether running a solo practice or joining a large hospital group, this seminar taught attendees the basics of business—addressing the difference between benchmarking and profit, the bottleneck concept, and the importance of efficiency.

The Commission on Public Health had two excellent speakers speaking on the challenges facing Texas – Dr. Stephen Harris, the medical authority for Dallas County HHS, and Brian Rosemond of DSHS. Dr. Harris highlighted top public health goals: decreasing childhood obesity, implementing routine HIV testing, and addressing the North Texas Mass Critical Care Guidelines and FEMA mass sheltering rules. Many commission members didn’t know about FEMA’s “Guidance on Planning for Integration of Functional Needs Support Services in General Population Shelters,” but they were surprised to hear that some measures make it possible to hold cities liable if they aren’t able to meet very specific special needs of their patients, even if they are unfeasible on a mass scale.

On another note, what’s a conference without good food? During an excellent lunch, a special guest speaker updated commission members on the latest dietary guidelines and challenges facing school-aged youth in Texas. Former Dallas Cowboys fullback Daryl “Moose” Johnston, representing DairyMAX and Fuel Up To Play 60, gave commission members something to chew on – actions they as family physicians could take to influence better nutrition and more physical activity in pediatric patients and their families.

The last event of the night is the TAFP Commission on Legislative and Public Affairs / Town Hall Meeting. Always a popular meeting, commission members and guests digested the 82nd Texas Legislature and discussed the potential fallout from some pretty severe budget decisions. (For a recap, check out the final episode of TAFP’s Capitol Report webcast.)

That’s all for Thursday. Thanks for joining us in Dallas and online, and don’t forget to stay connected to your colleagues. We encourage you to comment, tweet on Twitter (using hashtag #TAFP), and post on our Facebook page.

– kalfano

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