The Office of the National Coordinator for Information Technology, or ONC, has announced that two initial companies have been authorized to test and certify electronic health record, or EHR, systems for compliance with the standards and certification criteria that were issued by HHS earlier this year. (Source: AAFP Practice Management)

The creation of state-based health insurance exchanges under the recently enacted health care reform act will give federal and state governments the opportunity to move from a volume-based to a value-based health care system by putting in place measures to better reward the provision of primary care services. That was one of the main messages delivered by AAFP President Lori Heim, M.D., of Vass, N.C., and other speakers who participated in an HHS panel on Aug. 30. (Source: AAFP Government and Medicine)

The International Committee of Medical Journal Editors, or ICMJE, has updated its uniform disclosure form, which journal article authors use to report potential conflicts of interest. (Source: AAFP Professional Issues)

A number of AAFP members received various honors and awards this past month. (Source: Inside AAFP)

The Council of Medical Specialty Societies, or CMSS, recently filed a motion to intervene on behalf of all physicians in an existing case filed by the AMA, the American Osteopathic Association and the Medical Society of the District of Columbia. The case involves the applicability to physicians of an antifraud identity theft federal regulation known as the “Red Flags Rule.” (Source: AAFP Practice Management)

The AAFP has created a new tool to gather information on member preferences in an attempt to more closely track the needs of members in terms of products, services and actions of the Academy. The Member Census tool is designed to gather information about individual members so the AAFP can advocate more effectively, offer relevant and timely products and services, and educate legislators and other decision makers about family medicine’s issues. (Source: Inside AAFP)

As part of an ongoing effort to replace the current Medicare physician payment system with a more equitable system that better rewards the provision of primary care services, the AAFP has developed a toolkit to help family physicians and their patients generate support for fixing the system. (Source: Inside AAFP)

Stop the review! That’s basically what HHS recently told the Office of Management and Budget, or OMB, regarding HHS’ breach notification final rule. The rule was sent to the OMB on May 14 for a regulatory review, as required by executive order. (Source: AAFP Government and Medicine)

One of the provisions of the recently enacted health care reform legislation is the creation of a national commission that will be dedicated to making recommendations regarding health care workforce issues. According to some analysts, this commission could emerge as the dominant force in driving and shaping the nation’s health care workforce policies. (Source: AAFP Government and Medicine)

The Academy recently sent a detailed list of comments to CMS regarding the agency’s proposed rule for the 2011 Medicare physician fee schedule, which was published in the July 13 Federal Register. In a July 28 letter addressed to CMS Administrator Donald Berwick, M.D., the Academy expressed its appreciation for the agency’s efforts in addressing primary care issues “within the parameters permitted by the current statute.” (Source: Inside AAFP)