Archives
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Dedication and hard work of our preceptors keep the preceptorship program strong
By Perdita Henry
When the Legislature reinstated funding for the Texas Family Medicine Preceptorship Program last year, you might have heard a whoop of joy from the TAFP headquarters in North Austin. The program — in which mostly first and second-year medical students spend two to four weeks seeing patients with a family doctor — presents an excellent chance to showcase the best aspects of a career in family medicine.
While state support returning to the program was welcomed news, what makes the Preceptorship Program great is the dedication of our fantastic preceptors. Those medical students who go through the program and go on to become family physicians carry the memory of their preceptor as their own image of a real family doctor, and many count their preceptor among their most revered mentors.
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Falling leaves, falling temperatures, and the beginning of flu season
By Perdita Henry
It’s October and fall has officially arrived. As we anticipate cooling temperatures and autumn leaves, our friends in the Immunization Unit at the Texas Department of State Health Services have once again named October 1 as Texas Influenza Awareness Day.
I know, right? Break out the decorative safety face masks and the Tamiflu — it’s a party!
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2017 and MACRA are on the way, but now you can pick your pace
By Perdita Henry
The march from volume-to-value by way of the Medicare Access and CHIP Reauthorization Act of 2015 has been steady, and as we prepare to meet 2017, anxiety about the new Quality Payment Program has left many wondering what hurdles they will have to face.
CMS recently announced the Pick Your Pace Program, specifically designed to assist medical providers at different readiness levels as they prepare for MACRA. The announcement was a welcomed development by AAFP Board Chair Robert Wergin, MD, who took it as a sign that CMS not only took into account AAFP’s comment letter in reference to MACRA but also realized physician success in implementing the new payment program benefits everyone in the health care community.
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