Highlights from TAFP’s Interim Session, March 5-7, 2015

Advocating for you and your patients
With the Legislature in session, there was extensive discussion about GME funding, Medicaid, scope of practice, telemedicine, direct primary care, and a variety of public health initiatives including obesity and e-cigarettes. TAFP’s CEO, Tom Banning, discussed the status of pending legislation, answered questions and led a town hall-style discussion during the Commission on Legislative and Public Affairs. The commission recommended that TAFP investigate options for Medicaid reform and consider engaging a consultant. The members agreed that the Texas Medicaid program suffers from numerous problems and TAFP needs a better understanding of the problems and various solution options to advocate for specific Medicaid reform.

The Commission on Health Care Services discussed the implications of the announcement by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services that the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services will begin shifting some portion of Medicare physician payment from fee-for-service to value-based models in the next few years. The commission also heard a presentation from the director of medical and clinical services at Wal-Mart regarding their in-store clinics and plans for expansion and discussed the Texas Patient-Centered Medical Home proposal drafted by a sub-committee. A draft set of principles and quality metrics will be circulated amongst the commission and the TAFP Board of Directors for comment before the next meeting.

Member services and resource in development
The Leadership Development Committee met to continue forming the curriculum for a new year-long leadership program and for a concurrent workshop during the 2015 Annual Session and Primary Care Summit in The Woodlands. Stay tuned for more details on applying for the inaugural class of TAFP’s Family Medicine Leadership Experience.

The first of a series of videos in the Embracing Change series was previewed at Interim Session and the board and the Commission on Membership and Member Services discussed resources in development to accompany the videos. Click here to visit the Embracing Change series.

TAFP is an ACCME-accredited provider of continuing medical education and has maintained that status since 1996. Staff and volunteers collaborate to plan and produce education for members and ensure compliance with all requirements. At Interim Session, the Commission on Continuing Professional Development celebrated the four-year reaccreditation that was granted by ACCME on July 31, 2014.

Public health and research
TAFP meetings are an opportunity to gather and participate in discussion on a variety of topics. Section meetings are held at TAFP’s Interim and Annual Session on maternity care, rural health, and research and are intended for any member to show up and participate. The Section on Research met and heard from Kim Fulda with the North Texas Primary Care Research network. They hope to have representatives from all research networks at the Annual Session meeting.

The Section on Maternity Care and Rural Physicians usually meet together. At Interim Session they discussed initiatives intended to increase interest in medical students and residents in pursuing full scope family medicine in a rural setting after training. They also made a recommendation that TAFP draft a position paper to prioritize funding for family medicine residency programs that emphasize obstetric care including continuity care and operative cesarean sections.

The Commission on Public Health, Clinical Affairs, and Research also has interesting discussions and guest speakers. Any member is welcome to attend as a guest. At Interim Session, the commission heard from Rachel Wiseman from DSHS on infectious diseases and Dr. James Mobley presented on Ebola. Future topics may include physician suicide prevention, burn out, and telemedicine and telepsychiatry for physicians.

Organizational matters
The Nominating Committee met to identify candidates for positions on the Board of Directors. They selected two candidates for one at-large position and two candidates for the new physician position on the board of directors. TFP will profile the four candidates in the Summer issue. The Section on Special Constituencies and the Sections on Medical Students and Residents also have the ability to select nominees for the board. The Member Assembly will elect members of the board and officers at Annual Session and Primary Care Summit in The Woodlands, Nov. 12-15.

Here is the proposed slate of directors and officers for 2015-16:

• President-Elect: Tricia Elliott, MD
• Vice President: Tamra Deuser, MD
• Treasurer: Janet Hurley, MD
• Parliamentarian: Rebecca Hart, MD
• Delegate to AAFP: Linda Siy, MD
• Alternate Delegate to AAFP: Doug Curran, MD
• New Physician Director: Emily Briggs, MD, MPH; Alyssa Molina, MD
• At-large Director: Brett Johnson, MD; Christina Kelly, MD
• Resident Director: Shiv Agarwal, MD
• Medical Student Director: Chris Trinh

The Bylaws Committee reviewed recent changes to the AAFP bylaws and made recommendations to ensure alignment. They recommended a change to clarify that members may join the component (local) chapter that fits their needs. This amendment, along with others proposed last summer will be voted on by the membership at the Business and Awards Lunch during the TAFP Annual Session and Primary Care Summit in The Woodlands. The proposed amendments will be printed in the summer issue of Texas Family Physician.

The Finance Committee reviewed the combined 2014 audit for TAFP and NPI. There were no major findings. The committee also reviewed and made changes to TAFP’s investment allocation.

The Commission on Academic Affairs is recommending that the two sections that have met in conjunction with their meeting sunset and their functions be absorbed by the commission. The two sections are Section on Medical Student Education and Section on Family Medicine Resident Education.

The commissions reviewed and provided feedback on various member services and activities including production of Texas Family Physician, educational programming, Texas Conference of Family Medicine Residents and Students, the Texas State Family Medicine Preceptorship Program, and much more.

Member highlights
The Nominating Committee is recommending to the board that Drs. Troy Fiesinger and Lindsay Botsford be confirmed as TAFP’s delegate and alternate delegate, respectively, to the TMA Interspecialty Society for a term of three years. Fiesinger has served as the alternate delegate from TAFP for many years and Botsford has been actively involved with both TMA and TAFP since medical school and residency and is a graduate of TMA’s Leadership College.

Members from across the state were selected for scholarships to attend AAFP’s Annual Chapter Leadership Forum and National Conference of Constituency Leaders. They include Dusty Narducci, MD; Bhavana Mocherla, MBBS; Adana Amechi-Obigwe, MD; Tasaduq Mir, MD; Puja Sehgal, MD; Samuel Wang, MD; and Stephanie Roth, MD. They join the official representatives to NCCL Ann Messer, MD; Mary Nguyen, MD; Bruce Echols, MD; Ikemefuna Charles Okwuwa, MD; and Alicia Wooldridge, MD.

The Commission on Continuing Professional Development selected program chairs for TAFP’s educational programs for the near future. Program chairs include Kristi Salinas, MD, and Karla Toledo-Frazzini, MD, for the 2016 Texas Family Medicine Symposium in San Antonio; Ikemefuna Charles Okwuwa, MD, for the 2016 C. Frank Webber Lectureship; and Jennifer Culver, MD, and Tasaduq Mir, MD, for the 2016 Annual Session and Primary Care Summit in Dallas.

The Section on Residents held elections for officers and delegates. Nish Shah, MD, from San Jacinto Methodist, was elected chair and Shiv Agarwal, MD, from JPS, was elected to be the nominee for the resident director on the TAFP Board of Directors. They elected Charvi Shah, MD, as vice chair and Soraira Pacheco, DO, as secretary. Both are from UTMB Galveston. The delegate and alternate to National Conference are David Aldrete, MD, from UT San Antonio, and Rebecca Burke, MD, from UTMB Galveston. The delegates and alternates to TAFP’s Member Assembly are Samuel Mathis, MD, from Memorial Herman; Michael Hansen, MD, from UT Houston; Tracey Angadicheril, DO, from UTMB Galveston; and Lorraine Charles, MD, from UT Tyler. The resident liaison is Heather Aquirre, DO, from Christus Spohn.

Medical students met and held elections for officers and delegates for the coming year. Chris Trinh from TCOM was elected chair and the nominee for the student director position on the TAFP Board of Directors, Herbert Rosenbaum from UT Southwestern was elected secretary, and Carissa Huq from Texas A&M was elected chair-elect. The delegate and alternate to AAFP’s National Conference are Dan Nguyen from Texas Tech Amarillo and Blessing Amune from UT San Antonio. The FMIG liaison is Sarah Hutchison from TCOM. The delegates and alternates to TAFP’s Member Assembly are Kanza Muzaffar from Texas Tech, Tonya Sweezer from TCOM, Jean Yau from Baylor, and Sarah Abdellatif from TCOM.