The Show-Me-State Update is your source for the latest news and information impacting the medical community. Time-sensitive information and requests related to healthcare, advocacy issues, and professional development opportunities from MAFP are included.
November 2022 – Important MAFP News & Events
Virtual KSA Approaching – November 20
Registration deadline: November 9
Missouri has teamed up with other state chapters to deliver high-quality virtual KSAs this fall. The second session is approaching:
• November 20, 2022, 4:30 pm – Care of Women
The registration fee is $150 for MAFP members and $250 for non-members. We have less than 10 spots available for this session, so don’t wait to register!
Missouri Academy’s Annual Meeting
The Missouri Academy of Family Physicians will hold its annual meeting on Saturday, November 12, at 11:45 a.m. at Big Cedar Lodge.
The annual meeting is held in conjunction with the 30th Annual Fall Conference. Attendees of this conference can earn up to 13.50 Live Category 1 CME credits.
What’s Your Family Medicine Story?
The MAFP is preparing to celebrate 75 years of representing family physicians in the state. As part of our anniversary, we want to celebrate YOU!
Take a few minutes to share a story about why you became a family physician, a patient that impacted you, or how you impacted a patient’s life. These stories will be published in the January-March 2023 issue of the Missouri Family Physician magazine.
Help Wanted!
The MAFP is seeking members interested in representing their geographic area on the board of directors. The board meets three times yearly; some meetings are in person only, and others are hybrid or virtual.
Your leadership will guide the MAFP to represent Missouri family physicians on state and national issues. It is an excellent opportunity to learn from each other while supporting your profession.
We are looking for alternate board members for the Kirksville area (District 2), Jefferson City/Columbia area (District 5), or south/central area (District 9). District counties can be found here, and you must live or work in the district. If you are interested, please send your letter of interest and CV to kpabst@mo-afp.org.
Virtual Speaker Opportunity
The MAFP is setting the 2023 Virtual CME series schedule, and we invite you to consider presenting a session. Dates and topics for next year include:
• February 23 – OB/GYN and Maternal Health
• March 23 – Adolescent Care
• April 27 – Men’s Health
• May 25 – Nutrition and Obesity
Submit the call for presentations to Bill Plank (bplank@mo-afp.org) for consideration by the Education Commission. If you cannot present a topic but can recommend a subject matter expert, please forward the call for presentations to them!
Mark These Dates on Your Calendar!
- November 11-12, 2022 – 30th Annual Fall Conference – Learn more
- November 13, 2022 – MAFP Commission and Board of Directors Meetings (Big Cedar Lodge, Ridgedale)
- November 20, 2022 – Virtual KSA: Care of Women – Learn more
- February 13-14, 2023 – MAFP Advocacy Day – Learn more
- February 14, 2023 – MAFP Board of Directors Meeting (Courtyard Marriott, Jefferson City)
Other News and Updates
UMC Workforce Survey Announcement
Watch your email inboxes! The University of Missouri Center for Health Policy is conducting a survey this fall to understand better the characteristics of the physician workforce in the state. Invitations to participate in the survey are being emailed to a random sample of physicians across Missouri. Survey data will be used to assess practice locations, areas of practice, availability, and demographic characteristics of Missouri’s physician workforce.
Completion of the survey will take approximately 5 minutes. Answers are confidential and protected on a secure server. All reporting will be aggregated to protect anonymity. If you have questions about the survey, please email hcworkforce@missouri.edu.
Understanding the physician workforce will help better serve Missourian’s health care needs. The following organizations are aware of the survey and support efforts to develop informed, reliable health care workforce policy in the state:
• Missouri Academy of Family Physicians
• Missouri State Medical Association
• Missouri Association of Osteopathic Physicians and Surgeons
• Missouri Hospital Association
• Missouri Rural Health Association
• Missouri Department of Health and Senior Services-Office of Rural Health and Primary Care
• University of Missouri Health Care
• Mercy Springfield Clinic
If selected to participate, please respond so we can better assess Missouri’s workforce needs. Thank you!
Child and Adolescent Health Groups Sound the Alarm on Mental Health Crisis
Last October, the AAFP joined the American Academy of Pediatrics, the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, and the Children’s Hospital Association in declaring children’s mental health a national emergency. One year later, the AAFP and our partners are calling for further legislative action to address this crisis.
Family physicians and their primary care colleagues play a critical role in identifying mental health conditions, ensuring equitable access to mental health care, and reducing the stigma of mental illness. Without family physicians, the nearly one in five U.S. adults who experience some form of mental illness each year may go untreated.
Advocacy efforts include:
• Sending a letter to President Biden urging his administration to continue the work to address the youth mental health crisis.
• The AAFP is advocating for the Senate to pass the bipartisan Improving Access to Behavioral Health Integration Act (S. 4306), which would establish a federal grant program for primary care practices to implement evidence-based behavioral health integration programs.
CMS Releases New Tools to Prepare States as COVID-19 Public Health Emergency Ends
The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) released a robust set of FAQs and related guidance that address the multiple queries that CMS has received. These FAQs provide guidance to support state efforts to unwind the continuous enrollment condition and other COVID-19 temporary authorities in Medicaid and CHIP after the public health emergency (PHE) ends. The FAQs address the following issues: the unwinding period; renewals and changes in circumstances; non-MAGI ex parte renewals; waivers; countable resources; premiums; fraud; and abuse among other issues. Contact, Julie Harrison manager, Center for State Policy at the American Academy of Family Physicians with questions.
AAFP Advocacy in Action
The CDC’s Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices voted unanimously during its Oct. 19-20 meeting to add COVID-19 vaccination to next year’s child, adolescent and adult immunization schedules. The ACIP also said COVID-19 shots should be included in the CDC’s Vaccines for Children program, which each year provides millions of kids with free inoculations against a number of infectious diseases. Learn more.
Join Leading Physician Well-being Program
There’s still time to apply for the 2023 Leading Physician Well-being (LPW) program, but the window to do so closes on November 4 at 5 p.m. CDT. Now entering its third year, LPW is a tuition-free certificate program that empowers members to champion well-being in their practice or organization by growing their knowledge and skills in three foundational areas:
1. Physician well-being: Participants build expertise through education about the current state and importance of well-being, how to measure it, and best practices to achieve it.
2. Leadership development: LPW scholars learn to lead through wielding influence, implement change management and performance improvement (PI) activities, and communicate with medical colleagues and others.
3. Performance improvement: Participants develop and implement a PI-CME project in their practice or organization that meets ABFM Performance Improvement Activities requirements.
A comprehensive FAQ provides more information about the program, and a tentative schedule of next year’s LPW activities is available. For more information or questions, please email Heather Woods. The LPW program is made possible through funding by the United Health Foundation.
