AAPHP NewsLetter - September 1999

Table of Contents (Additional information is available below next to the item number.) 

To submit an item send it to aaphp@iname.com. AAPHP news is produced whenever several items of possible interest accumulate.

1. AMAP -Information on Physician Performance Measurement Systems and input requested on draft AMAP Diabetes Measurement System.

2. AMA Council on Scientific Affairs, upcoming reports available for review.

3. New Southwest Journal of Medicine call for abstracts

4. New listserv available to learn about satellite public health programs.  Of interest to anyone with satellite download capability.

1. The American Medical Accreditation Program, AMAP, requests our input as they further implement their quality improvement activities, the Clinical Process and Patient Outcomes components of AMAP. General information about this program is at http://www.ama-assn.org/amap . They will be issuing a nationwide call for physician performance measurement systems that meet established Criteria for AMAP-compatible Physician Performance Measurement Systems. In addition they are identifying performance measurement sets that systems will be required to adopt in order to become or remain AMAP-compatible. This activity will promote standardization in physician-level performance measurement. 
THEY ARE NOW CALLING FOR COMMENT ON THE DRAFT AMAP ADULT DIABETES MEASUREMENT SET. 

The primary purpose of the Measurement Set is to encourage improved patient care by ensuring physicians receive standardized, useful information about how they manage adult patients with Type 1 and Type 2 diabetes compared with established clinical recommendations and with their relevant peers. They would like comments by October 29, 1999. The draft set is supposed to be available at the web site above, however it was not when I looked. Therefore any one interested in reviewing these measurements may have to contact Karen Kmetik, PhD at 312-464-4221 or karen_kmetik@ama-assn.org for a copy of the document.

2. Listed below is a roster of reports that the American Medical Association's Council on Scientific Affairs (CSA) is working on for the AMA's 2000 Annual meeting. If we are interested in reviewing any of the reports we must let them know no later than 10/22/99. If any AAPHP member  would be interested in reviewing one or more of these reports send me the appropriate contact information along with the name of the report so that I can request the AMA send you the report. The topics are:

•  Detection, Diagnosis, and Intervention of Hearing Loss in Newborns and Infants (Resolution 435, 1-98)
• Women's Health: Gender-based Differences in Health and Disease Race and Ethnicity Classification Systems, Proposed Recommendations (to fulfill Recommendations of CSA Report II, A-98)
• Accuracy, Importance, and Application of Data on US Standard Certificates Sharps Disposal (home care guidelines) (Resolution 404, A-99)
• Providing Safety-Type Needles for Use in Health Care Settings (Resolution 430, A- 99)
• Xenotransplantation Clinical Trials (ethical and scientific implications) (Resolution 505, A99
• Decade of the Brain (Resolution 517, A-99)
• Use of Antimicrobials in Consumer Products (Resolution 506, A-99)
• Interaction of Antibiotics with Oral Contraceptives
• Impact of Genetic Modification on Agriculture, Food, and Health
• Organized Medicine's Role in the National Response to Terrorism (CSA rep 4. A-99)
• Hospital Cancer Registry Funding (Resolution 835, A-99)
• Use of Cellular Phones in Hospitals (Resolution 815, A-99).

3. Medical Research Papers Now Being Accepted For New Southwest Journal of Medicine Medical specialists, research professionals and health care providers are now invited to submit research papers to the Southwest Journal of Medicine. Due to debut in early 2000, this will be the first medical journal to take a close look at the patient care and clinical research challenges posed by the region's growing number of Mexican, Central American, Asian, Pacific Rim and African immigrants, as well as the "active retired" and other groups such as Native Americans who have lived in the Southwest for generations. For more information on submission guidelines, visit the journal's Web site at http://www.swjm.org .

4. The following is the first announcement sent out on the new listserv run by your secretary. Instructions for joining are at the end. Subject: Surveillance of Vaccine-Preventable Diseases, Surveillance of Vaccine-Preventable Diseases December 2, 1999 9:00 a.m. 12:30 p.m. Pacific Time.
This live, interactive, satellite broadcast is for physicians, nurses, infection control practitioners, nurses, epidemiologists, laboratorians, sanitarians, disease reporters, and others who are involved in surveillance and reporting of vaccine-preventable diseases (VPDs). The goal of this event is to enhance the surveillance of vaccine-preventable diseases. 
Learning Objectives: This course will provide training for surveillance of VPDs, including diphtheria, Haemophilus influenzae type b (Hib), hepatitis A, influenza, measles, pertussis, rotavirus, rubella, and varicella.
After the course, participants should be able to:

• 1. Identify three main levels of the national surveillance system.
• 2. Describe the concept of surveillance indicators and list one or  more surveillance indicators.  For each VPD listed above:
• 3. Discuss the importance of surveillance and case identification.
• 4. Describe appropriate mechanisms of surveillance.
• 5. Describe appropriate application of case definitions, clinical descriptions, and case classifications.
• 5. List most appropriate laboratory tests for surveillance.
• 6. List epidemiologically important data to collect for surveillance.

The 3.5 hour-long program will feature a question-and-answer session during which participants may interact with course instructors via telephone or fax.

Faculty:
William L. Atkinson, MD, MPH Medical Epidemiologist, National Immunization
Program, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention(CDC), and Melinda Wharton,
MD, Chief, Child Vaccine-Preventable Diseases Branch, National Immunization Program, CDC. Numerous other surveillance faculty are expected to participate.

CONTINUING EDUCATION CREDIT: Continuing education credit will be offered for a variety of professions, Based on 3.5 hours of instruction. Videotapes of this program are available for purchase by contacting the CDLHN at 619-594-3348 or by email at cdlhn@mail.sdsu.edu.

For more information, including registration or facilitation of this course, please contact the California Distance Learning Health Network at (619) 594-3348 or send an email to cdlhn@mail.sdsu.edu. For a list of other distance learning opportunities see our web site at http://www.foundation.sdsu.edu/cdlhn  Jackie Weber, Public Health Projects, California Distance  Learning Health Network, 9245 Sky Park Court, Suite 224, San Diego, CA 92123, Telephone: 619/594-3348 , Fax: 619/594-2111 Fax, email: cdlhn@mail.sdsu.edu, web page http://www.cdlhn.com  public-health-satelite@list.pitt.edu

This message was sent by the "public-health-satellite" mailing list. **The propose of this list is to provide an easy means to communicate information about public health training programs available for downlink via satellite.

**If you want to send information about a public health program available via satellite, send an E-mail to public-health-satellite@list.pitt.edu with a description of the program, objectives and information on registration or downlinking the program. The message will automatically be sent to everyone on the list.  **If you do not want to receive mail from this list, send an E-mail to: Majordomo@list.pitt.edu with the following command in the body of your E-mail message: unsubscribe public-health-satellite **If received this message directly from the mailing list, you want to continue to receive mail from this list you do not have to do anything.

**If this message was forwarded to you and you would like to join this list directly then send an E-mail to Majordomo@list.pitt.edu with the following command in the body of your E-mail message: subscribe public-health-satellite
OCT 5 '99 @ 3:II PM, KENT CO HEALTH DEPT P2