AAFP Congress of Delegates – Day 3

October 26^th at COD in the Books!

Day three of the AAFP Congress of Delegates started with a report to the congress from executive vice president and CEO Shawn Martin. In his address, Martin highlighted several ongoing activities of the national organization such as fighting for the G2211 code that, if allowed to go into effect as planned in 2024, would allow primary care physicians the ability to capture some of the complexity required to provide quality longitudinal care. He also discussed an effort to understand family physician compensation across the country and encouraged members to complete the Family Medicine “Know Your Worth” survey so that the AAFP could create a benchmarking dashboard. Finally, he reviewed the AAFP strategic plan and outlined six key priorities for moving Family Medicine forward:

• Financing for primary care and the need to secure better investment in primary care. AAFP has called upon the AMA to help modernize the current payment system to one that appropriately values FM and primary care.
• Physician Autonomy – “FMs are at our best when in service to our patients, not corporations.”
• Comprehensiveness and Continuity of care – Family docs have a unique ability to meet the needs of a community; we need to better create a marketplace that allows this.
• Practice Experience – Supporting all innovations in PC delivery; AAFP is engaged to support members to use AI correctly
• Inclusiveness – Family Medicine, including AAFP leadership, should be representative of the communities they serve,
• Family Medicine Workforce – FM needs a stronger presence on medical school campuses to encourage students to go into family medicine.

The day also saw the kickoff of organizational policy-making, with reference committee recommendation reports and floor debate for extracted resolutions. Utah’s resolution asking the AAFP to establish a national Family Medicine Week passed as written with reference committee support. Debate also resumed over the formation of a Nominating Committee for national-level organizational leadership, concluding with a new process to be enacted for the 2024 cycle. Under this new system, small and medium chapters such as Utah and many other western states will have a more level playing field upon which to run candidates for the AAFP board, speaker, vice-speaker, and president-elect positions.

By Thea Sakata, MD – Delegate