Last chance! Annals of Family Medicine Call for Papers due August 31

ABFM

The American Board of Family Medicine (ABFM), via its role as a Support and Alignment Network for the TCPI, is sponsoring a special issue of the Annals of Family Medicine focused on sharing lessons in practice transformation. The Call for Papers is due August 31. Learn more at Call for Papers: Learning from Practice Transformation. To help stimulate new knowledge relevant to supporting practice improvement and facilitated practice transformation, the Annals of Family Medicine is issuing a call for manuscripts that address learning from practice transformation efforts. Accepted papers will be published in a 2019 supplement to the Annals. Articles with the potential to assess outcomes, describe methods, or otherwise translate learning from these and other practice transformation models will be considered.

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New NCCRT Resource; Last CRC Webinar Series is August 28

American Cancer Society

The NCCRT has recently released new sample risk assessment and screening algorithms.  These algorithms include recommended screening options for the average-risk and high-risk patient and can serve as a starter policy for your practice. Two samples are provided to meet the needs of practices using either the USPSTF screening recommendations or the 2018 American Cancer Society Colorectal Cancer Screening Guideline.  These algorithms are also included in  the Risk Assessment And Screening Toolkit To Detect Familial, Hereditary And Early Onset Colorectal Cancer

Register for the last webinar in the Colorectal Cancer Screening Summer School:

Improving CRC Screening Access for Uninsured Patients
Tuesday, August 28, 2018 | 12:00 – 1:00 p.m.

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Tara Nolen, MPH Elected as 2018-19 TFKC President

KAFP/TFKC

Congratulations to KAFP’s Tobacco Control Coordinator, Tara Nolen, MPH who has been elected to serve as the 2018-19 president of the Tobacco Free Kansas Coalition (TFKC). This is her second year to serve as president. Tara’s term ends June 2019. The TFKC is a statewide alliance of health, medical, education, parent, youth, law enforcement, health coalitions and individuals advocating for laws, policies and funding of proven programs to significantly reduce tobacco use and addiction, especially among children and high-risk populations. These individuals and organizations are committed to reducing the health and health cost burden caused by tobacco use in Kansas. Major health organizations, voluntary health and professional health associations, local health departments, regional prevention centers, state agencies have joined forces over the past 20 years to develop programs and policies that reduce the prevalence of tobacco use by both adults and youth. To learn more about TFKC and how to get involved visit the TFKC website.

 

 

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AAFP Offers Educational Resources on JUULing

AAFP

The AAFP has released resources to educate family physicians and patients about a new brand of e-cigarette known as JUUL, which is popular among adolescents and young adults. FDA Commissioner Scott Gottlieb pledged to expand the Youth Tobacco Prevention Plan to include efforts to stop young people from using tobacco products, focusing on e-cigarettes such as JUUL. The full article Rise of ‘JUULing’  Among Youth Sparks Sharp Response explains about the new product and its harmful effects. In addition, AAFP has some helpful resources to educate you and your patients.  JUULing Fact Sheet for Physicians and JUULing Fact Sheet for Patients Also check out the Tobacco and Nicotine Cessation Toolkit, and its Ask and Act tobacco cessation program resources.

And don’t forget the Kansas Tobacco Quitline is a free resource for your patients by phone (1-800-QUIT-NOW) by text or mobile application, and online www.KSquit.org.

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Navigating Rural Health Resources Webinar Series

KDHE

You are invited to join the Kansas Office of Primary Care and Rural Health for the latest webinar in the Navigating Rural Health Resources series!

When: Tuesday, August 14, 2018 at 12:30 – 1:30 p.m.

This webinar will highlight information and resources about:

  • Pre-exposure Prophylaxis (PrEP)
  • Emergency Medical Services for Children (EMSC)

Click here to register!

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States Move to Implement Medicaid Work Requirements

Kansas Health Institute

In January 2018, the federal government officially signaled its willingness to approve the implementation of work requirements in the Medicaid program. As a result, states now have a new Medicaid eligibility option that previous administrations, both Republican and Democratic, were unwilling to approve. The option is based on Section 1115 of the Social Security Act, which gives the federal government authority to waive certain provisions of federal Medicaid law to allow states to undertake demonstration projects —such as work requirements—in their Medicaid programs, as long as the projects further program objectives.

A recent survey found that, of Kansas currently enrolled Medicaid or uninsured and presumably eligible for Medicaid if it were expanded, 49 percent said they were already working, another 34 percent had a disability that prevented them from working, and 17 percent were otherwise not working. Read full article.

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Social Isolation and Impact on Health Outcomes Among Rural Residents

KDHE

In this newly released policy brief, researchers at the University of Minnesota Rural Health Research Center looked at nationally-representative data on social habits of older Americans to learn more about social isolation and its impact on health outcomes in rural communities. Read Gender Differences in Social Isolation and Social Support among Rural Residents.

 

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Focus on Immunizations

AAFP

The AAFP’s national public service announcement campaign (PSA) continues in August with a segment on shingles. Watch the PSA about the shingles vaccine. Each PSA educates the audience about an issue and urges them to visit familydoctor.org for more information. Please help educate your patients by referring them to the familydoctor.org website.

Below is the schedule of monthly PSAs:

Ultimately, it is important that patients, after viewing the PSAs, will gain a sense of empowerment over their own health. Increasing patients’ knowledge of important health issues that affect them is intended to help them feel more prepared and willing to talk about them with their family physician.

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First Human West Nile Virus Cases Reported This Year in Kansas

KDHE

The Kansas Department of Health and Environment (KDHE) is reporting two cases of neuroinvasive West Nile virus (WNV) disease in individuals who reside in Johnson County. Four regions of the state remain under a high-risk warning for WNV, including north central, south central, northwest, and southwest Kansas. Northeast and southeast regions are at moderate risk for WNV infections. WNV can be spread to people through mosquito bites, but it is not spread from person to person. About one in five people who are infected develop a fever and other symptoms. Roughly one out of 150 infected people develop the more severe version of the disease, neuroinvasive disease, which includes swelling of the brain or brain tissue and, in some cases, death. There are no vaccines or medications to treat WNV. People who have had WNV before are considered immune. Please encourage your patients, especially the vulnerable populations to take steps to prevent infection because of the possible complications. KDHE recommends assessing your risk of WNV and taking action to prevent mosquito bites and protect yourself against WNV. Visit the KDHE WNV website weekly to learn about the current WNV risk level. Read entire news release.

 

 

 

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KanCare Expansion Community Meeting in Concordia July 31

Alliance fora Health Kansas

If you live in Concordia or nearby, please consider attending the KanCare Expansion Community Meeting on Tuesday, July 31 at 6:30 pm

Sign up here.

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