PROFESSIONFamily physicians told to evolve so specialty can surviveRecommendations from a two-year study include a more patient-centered, evidence-based practice, documented on an electronic medical records system.By Damon Adams, amednews staff. April 12, 2004. In the nearly four decades since it was created as a specialty, family medicine has become a core component of primary care for Americans. But the specialty now finds itself threatened by declining reimbursements and the treatment of health care as a commodity. Medical school graduates are increasingly turning to other specialties that offer more money and better hours. Unless family medicine reverses this trend, it could become extinct. That's the message spelled out in a new comprehensive report by the Future of Family Medicine project. To transform the specialty, family physicians should embrace a new model of care that is patient-centered and evidence-based and features an electronic health records system, the report says. They should offer open scheduling to patients and welcome e-mail communication between the office and patient. Changes to the U.S. health system, including better reimbursements and funding for research in integrated care, also are needed. "The research says that if family medicine does not make the changes that we talked about here, and if the system doesn't evolve in some way to allow that to happen, there probably will not be a family medicine 20 to 30 years from now," said James Martin, MD, chair of the FFM project leadership committee and board chair of the American Academy of Family Physicians. The report does not say how much these changes would cost the average family physician. A task force is developing recommendations on reimbursement and financial models. [...]Full text of American Medical News content is available to AMA members and paid subscribers.
Copyright 2004 American Medical Association. All rights reserved.
|
Feature articlesHealth reform review The Massachusetts experience Litigation stress Being sued is personal as well as professional Comprehensive coverage
Most-viewed
Nov. 23 issueAMA meeting: Delegate vote refines AMA stance on system reform Liability premiums stay stable, but insurers warn this might not last Columns and series
From the vault: 5 years agoState tort reform ballot wins set stage for further battles Nov. 22, 2004 
|
SHARE
