Tuesday Night Jazzfest

Monday -- Happy Birthday, NAPCRG!

 Monday we sang Happy Birthday to NAPCRG and toasted 40 successful years.  For the plenary, esteemed NAPCRG greats took us through the years of NAPCRG and primary care research from the beginning in 1972 to the what lies ahead for the discipline. Jerry Kruse gave a lively rendition of the Saga of Michael Klein...a hoot indeed!  And that was just the start of the day!  Poster presentations, paper sessions and workshops filled the remainder of a productive day.

Sunday in Pictures

T.R. Reid Wows the Crowd

  

The first official day of the Annual Meeting kicked off with a plenary session by T.R. Reid, American author, well-known reporter, documentary filmmaker and commentator on NPR's Morning Edition.  T.R.'s presentation was both lighthearted and thought-provoking as he recanted his experiences with health care around the world while completing his book, "The Healing of America" and PBS documentary "Sick Around the World".   T.R. compared four different health care models, their characteristics, pros and cons, and what his experiences were with each.  He pointed out the myriad downfalls of the current U.S. system, most notably that the U.S. spends the most on health care and Americans have the worst health of industrialized nations. From his vast experiences and research, T.R. concluded that the best system is one that covers health care for all individuals from cradle to grave.  This in turn makes preventative care something that heath care providers are invested in, therefore driving down costs and improving health in the long term.  As T.R. concluded his speech, he kindly summed up his book for the audience in one sentence: "If we could find the will to provide health care for everyone, the other countries could show us the way".  This conclusion brought the audience to their feet...a great way to start the week!

Evaluating Practice Transformation PreCon Kicks off Annual Meeting

The Evaluating Practice Transformation Preconference took place today as the precursor to the start of the larger Annual Meeting on Sunday.  Nearly 70 attendees gathered to explore the emerging science of evaluating practice transformation.  Attendees collaborated with one another and shared ideas, challenges, and successes in measuring the effects of changes in practice.  A mix of presentations from presenters of a variety of disciplines including anthropology, economics, and organizational psychology demonstrated the importance of taking into consideration other viewpoints when looking at how to evaluate practice change.  

The attendees also participated in small group work to develop evaluations for case studies.  This small group collaboration fostered the exchange of ideas and sharing of best practices.  Learning from one another:  what a concept!

Five additional workshops on Evaluating Practice Transformation are embedded in the Annual Meeting programming and will go into greater detail on specific elements of the topic.  For the embedded session schedule and descriptions, see page 6 of the onsite program.

Standing Room Only at NAPCRG Clinical Pearls Presentations

NAPCRG’s Clinical Pearls presentations have been gaining traction for the past two years, and reached a defining moment at the Family Medicine Forum (FMF) in Toronto recently.  The room was so packed full of people, the group was required to change rooms by the fire marshal.  As shown by this success, clinicians are obviously interested in the latest research that is relevant to their practice. Clinical Pearls presentations are NAPCRG taking the best of the best research that will have an impact on primary care clinical practice and presenting it to clinicians.  The presentations leave out the methodology, and are presented in a digestible format that is relevant to the clinician audience.   Clinicians at the 2011 FMF, the AAFP’s 2011 Scientific Assembly, and again at this year’s 2012 FMF have responded with only positive feedback and each year continue to grow in popularity. A well-deserved ‘Bravo!’ goes out to those who have made this program a success.  This was the vision of Past President, Jeannie Haggerty, who also was a presenter at the presentation at FMF in 2011 along with Val Gilchrist and Rick Glazier.   Vanessa Diaz has been integral to the program’s success and presented at the 2011 Scientific Assembly with Bernard Ewigman.  Last week in Toronto, Rick Glazier, Martin Dawes, and David White brought down the house with their presentation. Way to go to all involved in this important program!