2018 marks 70 years of the Colorado Academy of Family Physicians. The CAFP began in 1948 as the Colorado Academy of General Practice, just one year after the formation of the American Academy of General Practice. The past 70 years have brought challenge, opportunity, and change to family medicine in Colorado and beyond. To commemorate…
As proclaimed by Governor Hickenlooper, October 2018 is Family Health Month in Colorado. Each year the state proclaims October as Family Health Month in recognition of family medicine’s work on behalf of patients and valuable role in the health care system. The CAFP continues to have a strong presence at the Colorado Legislature, and the…
Colorado voters legalized the use of recreational marijuana on November 6, 2012. In the almost six years since, policy makers and citizens alike have been carefully watching to see what consequences might arise. Most seem to agree the “great experiment” has been a mix of successes and failures. One issue of high priority to family…
Turn on the TV, go online, pick up a newspaper, it’s not hard to see that healthcare and health policy are hot and contentious topics. The endless debate can leave healthcare providers wondering: how can I possibly make a difference? How can we add the voice of experience and reason to all the noise? Primary…
By Stephanie Gold, MD The Primary Care Investment Strategy The CAFP is pursuing a Primary Care Investment Strategy (PCIS) with the aims of: 1) accurately measuring how much is being spent on primary care in Colorado 2) increasing spending on primary care to a target of 15% of total health care spending 3) requiring increasing…
By Michael J. Pramenko, MD Stop the press. Public and private payers take note. Primary Care in the United States is undervalued. Surely, and sarcastically speaking, primary care providers are shocked by this news. In medicine and public policy, we like to believe that we follow the evidence and let facts guide the implementation of…
By Zach Wachtl, MD Going to the doctor can be very different these days, especially if you consider how it contrasts with experiences 50, 25, or even 10 years ago. Perhaps in the past, or in some places today, when you got sick you sat in a waiting room, had your vitals taken, waited in…
by Gina Carr, MD Despite the knowledge that societies with a better primary care orientation have better outcomes as well as increased efficiency and better perceptions of patient experience of care, we are not yet routinely incentivizing primary care providers (PCPs) and services. Why is the societal value of reduced mortality rates, reduced rates of…
by Monica Morris, DO, CAFP President The CAFP is excited to announce we are launching a new initiative to increase the investments being made in primary care to at least 15% of total health spending, double what we spend today. This initiative will accelerate the move to paying for high value services like primary care,…
For decades, the Children’s Health Insurance Program (CHIP), or Child Health Plan Plus (CHP +) in Colorado, has provided a viable path to ensuring that children in thousands of working families have access to quality affordable health care. The program serves families that make too much to qualify for Medicaid and too little to afford…
Experts Come Together to Share the Importance of Adolescent Vaccines A new initiative from the American Academy of Family Physicians (AAFP) seeks to educate providers, staff and patients about the vital need to vaccinate teenagers. In many states, including Colorado, vaccination rates among teens for HPV, flu, meningitis and others are below the goals set…
During the 2016 legislative session, the CAFP championed HB-1142, the Colorado Rural Preceptor Tax Credit. This bill was designed to offer a $1,000 tax credit, to be taken on personal income taxes, to preceptors in rural communities. Training more students in rural areas can encourage more to go on and practice in rural areas, and…