Putting the Academy
and the specialty in FOCUS

Family medicine's success depends
on qualities TAFP possesses

By Erica Swegler, M.D., TAFP President

As I reflect on my year as TAFP president, I am reminded of a successful businesswomen’s luncheon I was invited to by a local bank. At first I was surprised to have been invited, as we tend not to identify ourselves as part of the business community — but really it was quite logical. As family physicians we are an important part of our business communities, not only because we ensure the health of the community by extending the longevity of our patients but in being small employers as well.

In fact, family physicians generate an estimated $1.2 million to the local economy in rural areas and $900,000 in urban areas. When patient referrals and other ancillary services are taken into account, that total increases by an estimated $500,000 to $1 million per physician to our local community hospitals. So, I gladly and proudly accepted the invite to the luncheon.

At the luncheon I heard a thought provoking motivational speech by Ms. Anita Vanetti that really put into perspective what I believe make TAFP and our profession so great. She spoke on FOCUS — in order to end in Success, one must have Flexibility, Objectivity, Courage and Uniqueness.

In describing FOCUS, she suggested that when one looks at light in the universe, it is made of the many colors of the rainbow, much like the infinite diversity of people in our communities and of our practices. Light can affect great change when it is focused. Focused too intensely, it can burn and destroy, like a laser. Instead, we should strive to be like diamonds — collecting light in, focusing it and reflecting it back to the world with great beauty, sharing our new knowledge, our change.

Applying FOCUS to our organization, we have:

Flexibility
TAFP has demonstrated this by:

• Ground-breaking work in establishing wonderful CME and meeting planning services, which not only provide educational opportunities for members, but also generate non-dues revenue to further the goals of the organization;
• Designing an effective public affairs and legislative advocacy program and leading the call recently heeded for our national organization to do the same;
• Liaising with organizations outside the health care field with whom we share concerns and interests, like the National Federation of Independent Business;
• Establishing an ongoing dialog with health insurance carriers;
• Establishing CME provided over the Internet to provide new, innovative ways for physicians to access knowledge;
• Working with health insurance carriers and others to provide incentives that encourage physicians to provide quality medical care and outcomes; and
• Under my direction, beginning the first-ever public relations initiative of TAFP, our coordinated effort to participate in the Hard Hats for Little Heads program. Check the Member News department in this issue of TFP for a full report.

Objectivity

• TAFP strives to provide evidence-based CME. Family medicine is one of the few specialties to embrace evidence-based medicine;
• TAFP scrutinizes its finances and spends member dues responsibly;
• TAFP anticipates change in the business environment, such as CME.

Courage

• Courage to speak up for patients first;
• Courage to speak for the minority voice and allow it to be heard.
• Courage to advocate for our specialty and our practices through egislative, regulatory and legal action.

Uniqueness

• This is what family medicine must demonstrate to the public: our “brand,” our uniqueness, our value in providing cost-effective, quality care and why we stand out from others who profess to provide the same service. The Future of Family Medicine Project has articulated our core values, which I referred to in my first article: a deep understanding of the whole person, a talent for humanizing the health care experience, a natural command of complexity, a commitment to accessibility on multiple levels and a teamwork approach. Let us constantly market that these qualities mean family medicine. On an individual level, I have always prided myself in being unique. I am hardly a “typical female” (if one ever existed!). This has been my strength, not in being a rebel but in working within a system as a passionate individual to further change. I hope my work within the Texas Academy will be remembered and my thrust for a public relations initiative will be incorporated into the framework of TAFP.

Success

• Legislative advocacy that has resulted in long-coveted and hard-fought medical liability reforms, ground-breaking prompt pay and patient protection, strong public health initiatives, and graduate medical education funding;
• Success manifested as pride in representing the largest single specialty society in the state and having a premier AAFP chapter nationally;
• For myself individually, success in that I, who am but a small diamond chip reflecting back our shared mission and passion for family medicine, as a small chip in a pot of water served as a catalyst to bring water to change its state faster. I hope to have the privilege of representing family medicine in the future, within the TMA, through organizations such as the Texas Medical Foundation, the Texas Council on Cardiovascular Disease and Stroke and The American Heart Association.

Thank you all for the privilege of serving you.