On September 23, Ohio Academy of Family Physicians President Anna McMaster, MD, accepted on behalf of the OAFP, the 2019 American Academy of Family Physicians (AAFP) Leadership in State Governmental Advocacy Award. The award was presented to Dr. McMaster during the AAFP Congress of Delegates in Philadelphia.
The OAFP submitted for consideration its advocacy successes during the past year made possible through collaborative partnerships with unlikely or untraditional partners. The OAFP typically partners with like-minded organizations that focus on access to and delivery of primary care. Three recent successes involved “outside the box” partnerships to assist us in advancing policy that supports family medicine and primary care.
- Passage of Step Therapy Reform Legislation – we partnered with state patient advocacy and disease-specific associations ranging in focus from dermatology, rheumatology, and multiple sclerosis to psoriasis, sickle cell, and blood disorders.
- Adoption on One-Bite Administrative Rules – we partnered with the Ohio Physicians Health Program, alcohol and substance abuse treatment providers, disability rights advocacy organizations, state lawmakers who sponsored the original legislation, and attorneys who regularly represent physicians before the State Medical Board of Ohio.
- Choose Ohio First Primary Care Scholarship Fix – we partnered with the Ohio Council of Medical School Deans, medical school financial aid officers, lobbyists for universities across the state, state legislators, the Ohio Association of Community Health Centers, and the Ohio Patient-centered Primary Care Workforce Learning Center.
Dr. McMaster, in accepting the award, encouraged other state chapters to think broadly about partnerships (unusual bedfellows) that could provide shared resources and amplify efforts that result in advocacy success stories for family medicine.