Family Medicine Week Raises Awareness of the Need for More Investments in Primary Care

We are coming off a busy and energizing week here in Michigan. March 17-23 was Michigan Family Medicine Week, an annual campaign designed to spotlight the family medicine specialty's role in keeping families and individuals of all ages healthy, helping patients manage chronic conditions, and reducing the need for unnecessary hospitalizations and emergency room visits, thus lowering healthcare costs.

Michigan Academy of Family Physicians designates Family Medicine Week each year as the week following the Main Residency Match and includes our Advocacy Day event. This initiative generates tremendous engagement, exposure, and momentum. 

The Michigan Family Medicine Week 2024 message: everyone needs a primary care physician as their usual/regular source of primary and preventive care, yet barriers exist that prevent that from being a reality. Investments in primary care and the primary care workforce are needed to increase access to care and to more evenly distribute family physicians across health professional shortage areas of the state.

Below is a summary of the success of Michigan Family Medicine Week 2024: 

• Gov. Whitmer issued a formal proclamation to recognize the contributions of family physicians. 

• The Michigan Department of Health and Human Services sent a statewide media release to recognize the benefits of having a family physician. 

• MAFP hosted a virtual media roundtable on March 18, to discuss issues impacting family medicine and patients. You can see coverage from this event here. The reach of MAFP's roundtable content extended widely throughout Michigan.

• On March 20, MAFP and Michigan Association of Osteopathic Family Physicians welcomed 200 family physicians, family medicine residents, and medical students to the state Capitol. Members met with 60+ legislators and asked them to oppose inappropriate expansion of Nurse Practitioner Scope of Practice, increase funding for MIDOCs and increase Medicaid payment rates. The day also included a keynote presentation from Natasha Bagdasarian, MD, MPH, FIDSA, FACP, Chief Medical Executive for the State of Michigan.

• Family Medicine Week wasn’t just about awareness. The week also included a key event: the Senate Health Policy Committee heard testimony on Senate Bill 279 which would expand Nurse Practitioners' scope of practice. President Beena Nagappala, MD, MPH, FAAFP and President-elect Rachel Klamo, DO, MS, FAAFP testified in opposition. Here is the video link to the hearing. MAFP testimony begins at 1:31:10.