Author Archive

Georgia Healthy Family Alliance Welcomes Alexis Klima as Director of Philanthropy

The Georgia Healthy Family Alliance welcomes Alexis Klima as director of philanthropy effective March 2022. Alexis is a philanthropy and marketing professional with more than 13 years of experience managing and growing programs, as well as increasing exposure, involvement and revenue for organizations. She is skilled at recognizing and motivating potential in others and translating philanthropy, marketing and business ideas into strategic action.

As director of philanthropy, Alexis will support the Your Giving is Great Medicine capital campaign aimed at expanding the reach and funding of the Tar Wars Tobacco and Vaping prevention program statewide, as well as increasing support for Community Health Grants and Immediate Needs Grants in communities where GAFP members live and serve.

Alexis’ most recent philanthropy position was as the development director for the Children’s Home Society of Florida within the Sun Coast (Tampa, St. Pete and Clearwater) and Lakeland regions. Within this role, she conducted the full spectrum of donor development – cultivation, solicitation, stewardship and donor recognition. She led fundraising efforts for annual and major gift donors, donor-centered events, committee management, corporate sponsorships, foundation support, media relations and local board development.

Alexis earned a MBA with a specialization in Marketing from Florida Institute of Technology and a Bachelor of Arts in Mass Communication from Georgia College & State University.

Connect with Alexis at aklima@gafp.org or 478-714-3760.

ABFM’s New Alternative to the One-Day Exam Requirement

The Family Medicine Certification Longitudinal Assessment (FMCLA) is the alternative to the one-day examination requirement for Family Medicine Certification. Launched in December 2018 as a pilot to study the feasibility and validity of this approach, FMCLA quickly earned an overwhelmingly positive reputation as the preferred option for most Diplomates and was approved for permanent implementation in April of 2021.

A longitudinal approach like FMCLA promotes enduring learning and retention. This has been endorsed by those who participated, with the predominant feedback being that physicians are learning as they go. Participants have also reported that FMCLA has reduced their stress, eliminated travel, and minimized preparation time as compared to the one-day examination. To date, over 70% of eligible physicians have chosen the FMCLA option, which becomes available for current Diplomates to select in the year prior to when their next examination is due.

As a participating physician, they would complete 25 quarterly questions over three to four years until they complete 300 questions. Clinical references can be used during the exam, and they have five minutes to complete each question. Immediate feedback is provided, and they choose the time and location that’s convenient for them. They will remain certified throughout their participation as long as they meet other ABFM requirements.

To find out more about the FMCLA process, watch the new video on Youtube or access an informational handout on the ABFM website.

Contact Ashley Webb by email with questions.

Mentors Needed for Family Medicine Leads Emerging Leader Institute

The Emerging Leader Institute (www.aafpfoundation.org) (ELI) is seeking family physicians interested in helping shape the future leaders of the specialty. Thirty student and resident scholars are brought together for an innovative immersion into leadership development, focusing on project management and three tracks: Policy & Public Health, Personal & Practice, and Philanthropic & Mission Driven.

An integral component of ELI is mentoring. The mentor serves as a role-model, reflecting the leadership attributes that the program imparts while providing guidance and support in the execution of the leadership project by the mentee. A mentoring facilitator, volunteer ELI faculty, and the AAFP Foundation are available for on-going support and to provide resources for a successful mentorship. ELI mentors are a dedicated group of volunteers and an essential component in the growth of the program participants.

Family physicians at any stage of their career, who are current AAFP members, are encouraged to learn more about this powerful opportunity. The AAFP Foundation is committed to representing the rich diversity of the specialty and the patients served; mentors from all areas and backgrounds are welcome.

Family physicians interested in becoming a mentor for ELI should email Rachael Redler at rredler@aafp.org for more information.

Public Health Spotlight: 2022 Youth With Special Needs Survey- Complete by March 25

The Georgia Department of Public Health in partnership with Georgia Academy of Family Physicians has developed a survey to help us better understand family physicians’ treatment of youth with special needs.  We will use this information to develop and provide additional education, training, and support for family physicians and their staff.

You can access the survey at the following link: https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/VS87BFL

The survey will take less than five minutes to complete.  Thank you for your participation.  Thirty respondents will win a $25 Amazon e-gift card (random drawing after March 25).

Become A Tar Wars Champion In Your Community

There are 2 ways that you can help us stop our Georgia youth from smoking or vaping before they ever even start:

  1. Become a Tar Wars presenter!  Program Q & A and Presenter Training Sessions are available every Wednesday and Thursday from 12:15-12:45 pm through the months of March and April.  Click HERE to sign up!
  2. Become a Tar Wars champion in your community! Are you connected to your area principal, school board and/or school nurses and health educators?  Would you love to see students in your local school systems receive the Tar Wars program?  We would love that, too!  Please connect us with your area school leaders so that we can spread our anti-tobacco and anti-vaping message to students across our state.  Please email Abbey Carr at acarr@gafp.org for resources and information on how to get connected!

Advocacy Update Second Session, 156th Georgia General Assembly

The Second Session of the 156th Georgia General Assembly launched in the second week of January.  At the end of this session, all bills still pending (not having passed out from both the House and Senate) will be dead.  The Georgia Academy of Family Physicians leadership (Legislative Committee and the Legislative Session Working Group) have been meeting weekly to receive updates and advance the Academy’s mission of advocating for family medicine and our patients.

The Georgia General Assembly has expended 19 of its potential 40 days as of February 17th.  Upcoming key dates are March 15 (Crossover – last day for a bill to pass from one chamber to the next) and proposed Sine Die (Final Day of Session) which is April 4th.

Mental Health Parity – House Bill 1013

The Georgia Academy supports the Mental Health Parity Bill (HB 1013), sponsored by Speaker David Ralston, which codifies mental health parity and other sections that supports family physicians treating their patients.  The Academy lobbyists are working with bill sponsors and supporters to increase support for loan forgiveness for family physicians that would enhance Georgia’s mental health workforce. The bill is currently pending in the House and Human Service Committee.

Expand Medicaid Coverage for Post-Partum Women from Six Months to 12 Months –SB 338

The Georgia Academy successfully supported Medicaid expansion for post-partum women from six weeks to six months during the last legislative session.  The Georgia Academy was proud to join Senator Dean Burke, MD and a coalition of over 15 groups (including the March of Dimes) to support Medicaid Coverage for post-partum women for up to12 months.  In a letter to the Georgia General Assembly, we noted our support, stating in part:

Women are at risk for pregnancy-related mortality and morbidity throughout the first year after delivery.

According to the Georgia Maternal Mortality Review Committee, of the 516 maternal deaths reviewed from 2012 to 2017, 39 percent were determined to be pregnancy-related, and 75 percent of those

pregnancy-related deaths were deemed preventable. Access to medical care during the postpartum period can be a critical tool in addressing the State’s maternal mortality crisis.

The bill unanimously passed out of the Senate on February 7th and is now pending in the House Health and Humans Services Committee.

Administrative Relief – Removal of Prior Authorizations for Chronic Medications – Senate Bill 341

The Georgia Academy voted to support passage of Senate Bill 341, sponsored by Senator Kay Kirkpatrick, MD.  If passed it would mandate insurance plans to forgo prior authorization for chronic medications.  This would be for non-ERISA (federally exempt) insurance plans as the State cannot enact changes to ERISA Insurance plans.  GAFP has an ongoing policy to support legislation that would ease administrative burdens, such as onerous prior authorizations required by many insurance plans.  This bill has passed out of the Senate and is currently pending in the House Insurance and Labor Committee.

Medical Malpractice Legislative Relief Bills  – House Bill 807 and House Bill 961

The Academy supports House Bill 807 (CANDOR – Communication & Optimum Resolution).  This bill, if passed, would allow there to be pre-litigation between the medical community and patients if there has been a perceived harm during treatment.  CANDOR is completely voluntary, and both sides must agree for the pre-litigation negotiation to occur.  Regardless of the outcome of a CANDOR mediation, there is no trigger to report to the Composite Medical Board, nor the National Practitioner’s Databank.  The GAFP Congress of Delegates already has a policy to support pre-litigation/CANDOR legislation, if helpful for family physicians and our patients.

House Bill 961, which the Academy supports, along with a large coalition, including the trial attorneys and the Georgia Chamber of Commerce would restore apportioning of damages to all responsible parties.  This bill has been reported out of the House Judiciary Committee and is now pending a vote on the House floor.

Medicaid Budget – Increasing Top 112 Codes to 2020 Medicare Parity – House Bill 911

Governor Kemp has added a proposed $81 million dollars to the State Budget for Fiscal Year 2023 (begins July 1, 2022) to bring up to 112 codes (most commonly used by primary care and obstetrical physicians) up from 2018 Medicare to 2020 Medicare Parity.  He also added in language to do away with “attestation” an issue that has plagued primary care physicians for the past several years to qualify to receive the higher rates.  As part of the Patient Centered Physician Coalition of Georgia, the Academy sent a letter of appreciation to the Governor, that stated, in part:

Representing over 7,500 family physicians, pediatricians, internal medicine physicians, Obstetricians/Gynecologists, and physicians of Osteopathic medicine, we would like to thank you for your proposed State Fiscal Year 2022-2023 budget and your inclusion of ending the attestation issue for primary care physicians and increasing specific Medicaid codes to 2020 Medicare rates.

We appreciate your support of the healthcare needs of Georgia families and acknowledging that our groups tend to see the bulk of the most fragile citizens, those that qualify for Medicaid insurance. From infants, pregnant women, to the aged, blind, and disabled, we tirelessly work to provide quality healthcare.

The budget bill, House Bill 911, is currently pending in the House Appropriations Committee (and subcommittees) but is expected to begin to move through the committee process in the House over the next two weeks.

Conclusion

Please do not hesitate to contact our Executive Vice President, Fay Fulton (ffulton@gafp.org) if you have questions or ongoing concerns on advocacy issues.

GAFP Thanks Governor Kemp’s Proposed $85 Million to Increase Medicaid Payments

The Georgia Academy took the lead on thanking Governor Kemp for asking the Georgia General Assembly to add $85 million dollars to bring up 112 most commonly used codes for primary care and obstetrical/gynecological services to 2020 Medicare rates.  Governor Kemp also added money and language in the budget to end the issue of attestation where some of Georgia’s primary care physicians have been ineligible to receive a higher payment from early increases.  If passed, this rate would go into effect for the State’s 2022-2023 fiscal year which begins on July 1, 2022.

In a letter signed by all of the physician associations of the Patient Centered Physicians Coalition in Georgia, the letter stated:

Dear Governor Kemp:

Representing over 7,500 family physicians, pediatricians, internal medicine physicians, Obstetricians/Gynecologists, and physicians of Osteopathic medicine, we would like to thank you for your proposed State Fiscal Year 2022-2023 budget and your inclusion of ending the attestation issue for primary care physicians and increasing specific Medicaid codes to 2020 Medicare rates.

We appreciate your support of the healthcare needs of Georgia families and acknowledging that our groups tend to see the bulk of the most fragile citizens, those that qualify for Medicaid insurance. From infants, pregnant women, to the aged, blind, and disabled, we tirelessly work to provide quality healthcare.

With your proposed budget, it will allow us to continue to treat Medicaid patients. We look forward to supporting your recommendations through the legislative session.

Our appreciation extends to our many patients who depend on support by the State to receive their medical care. Please do not hesitate to contact our organizations, if you or your leadership would like additional discussions on this critical issue.

Sincerely,

 

Susana Ajoy Alfonso, MD, MCHM, FAAFP – Georgia Academy of Family Physicians President

Randy E. Durbin, DO, MSPH – Georgia Osteopathic Medical Association President

Cary Perry, MD – Georgia OB Gyn Society President

Waldon Garriss, III, MD, MS, MBA, MHA, FAAP, MACP – Governor, Georgia- ACP

Hugo Scornik, MD, FAAP – Georgia Chapter – American Academy of Pediatrics President

 

Ali Bohannon Hired as New Manager of Membership and Operations

GAFP is excited to announce Ali Bohannon as the manager of membership and operations effective December 2021. As manager of membership and operations, Ali will assist GAFP members with leadership meetings, renewing memberships, event assistance, member outreach, and industry questions. Additionally, Ali handles the day-to-day management of the GAFP office.

Before working at GAFP, Ali worked at the Georgia House of Representatives as a committee assistant for Energy, Utilities and Telecommunications, Creative Arts & Entertainment, Retirement, Small Business Development, and Ways & Means committees. She managed committee legislation and documentation, legislative meetings, and constituent issues. Ali earned a Bachelor of Arts in History with a minor in Political Science at the University of West Georgia.

Welcome Ali to the family of family medicine!  You can connect with Ali at abohannon@gafp.org or 404.321.7445.

 

GAFP President Dr. Susana Ajoy Alfonso Reflects on Her Journey to Leadership

Dr. Alfonso was sworn-in at GAFP annual meeting in November 2021.  She was installed by AAFP President Sterling Ransome, MD and in a gathering of over 100 friends, colleagues and families – she gave her first speech as chapter president.  Below is a selection of her inaugural speech:

First, I would like to thank you again for coming tonight.  I’ll start with some thank you’s, tell you a little bit about my journey in Family Medicine and the GAFP, and end with an invitation.

I’d like to start by thanking my patients who have allowed me the privilege of helping to take care of them and have trusted me to share their life and health journey with them.  You have taught me so much!  I’d like to thank the many classes of residents whom I’ve had the privilege to train.  I counted 19 alums at this meeting!

I’d like to thank my faculty colleagues who have been a part of my leadership journey from the beginning.  A few of them are here tonight and I won’t say which ones were interns with me in 1997!  I’d like to thank Dr. Ralph Peeler who stopped me in the parking lot behind the now demolished Shallowford hospital and said, “have you thought about getting more involved with the GAFP?”  and I said “no” and he said “you should think about it…I think you’d enjoy it.” That was 18 years ago.

I’d like to thank my village of friends, some of them are here tonight, many have known me since I was a teenager, who have at times literally carried me through life’s challenges.

  • I’d like to thank my mom in heaven who inspired me with her courage and willingness to defy the odds.
  • My father who loves with consistency and was never ever hesitant to set me straight.
  • My step mom who loves blindly and with her actions
  • My aunts and my sisters who in so many different ways have supported me as a mom and as a doctor, and a special shout out to my sister Paty who is deployed in Saudi Arabia who typed up my med school application because I was just home with a newborn baby.
  • My sons. I always knew I wanted to be a doctor but when I became a mother realized what my true purpose was and is, whose antics and perspectives kept me grounded…who taught me what is means to love without conditions.  You will both always be what I am the most proud of in this world.
  • To my husband who has walked every step of this journey with me, for always having a unique, practical perspective. I remember the first time having to tell a patient they might have a cancer and walking into our living room and saying a prayer that I would find the right words.  He looked at me and said “why are you praying for yourself, your patient is the one with cancer!” Thank you, Raul, for all the many years of support, even when what I wanted to do sounded crazy…I wouldn’t be here without all of you but especially you!

I was asked to re-apply to medical school after taking a leave to have a baby and was interviewed by someone who said “why are you here?  You should leave this spot to someone who is truly dedicated to medicine.”  After drying my eyes and my blouse because I was nursing and doing my second interview, I realized then and there that being a mother in med school made me different.

My own mother’s words rang in my mind, “you will always be different (she was referring to my ethnicity), and that difference can be your advantage or your disadvantage…it’s up to you”.   Three years later during my induction to AOA, when I was pregnant with my second son, the same person said to me “oh I always knew you’d do well.”

As a family physician I have had the privilege to practice full scope family medicine in an academic setting, serve farmworkers in South Georgia, serve children in an orphanage in the Dominican Republic, and serve as chief medical officer of a QI and UM company. None of which I ever dreamed of doing when I started.

As your president I pledge to work to advance the goals of our academy to serve the patients and families in Georgia and our family medicine colleagues.

COVID has placed a spotlight on some things we already knew:  our healthcare system is fragmented and siloed, we have not invested sufficiently in public health and primary care and prevention, and health disparities remain even when some barriers such as access to vaccine and testing are removed.

We have just finished our three year strategic plan and like our parent organization the AAFP, none of our 5 pillars specify goals around diversity equity and inclusion as we expect to weave DEI into everything we do.  As we work together to change things at a system level and advance family medicine through education, advocacy and service my call to action is this: I invite you to join me in beginning the culture change toward inclusion.

Mother Theresa says, “not all of us can do great things, but each of us can do small things with great love”.  When you go back next week to your practices, hospitals, and communities, look at whose voice is not being heard and invite them to the table.  Different perspectives will make us stronger, different perspectives will make us more innovative, different perspectives will allow us to build more effective healthcare teams and ultimately help us.