New Jersey Academy of Family Physicians Selected to Provide Practice Transformation Services in Delaware

Trenton, NJ —The New Jersey Academy of Family Physicians (NJAFP), the largest primary care medical specialty society in the state, has recently received its provisional accreditation as a provider of continuing medical education by the Accreditation Council for Continuing Medical Education (ACCME). ACCME accreditation means that the NJAFP can now certify educational activities for category 1 credit of the American Medical Association’s Physician’s Recognition Award (“AMA/PRA”). The AMA/PRA is utilized by state licensing boards and boards of medical specialties to re-license physicians and re-certify them in their areas of specialty.

According to National Continuing Medical Education Advisor, Steve Passin, president of Steve Passin & Associates, “NJAFP’s entry into the ranks of accredited organizations in the United States places them among those medical educators in the country and have demonstrated their skill levels in developing the highest levels of educational activities consistent with identified needs of the physician population and the primary care physician community specifically.”

ACCME accreditation seeks to assure both physicians and the public that continuing medical education activities provided by the NJAFP meet the high standards of the Essentials Areas and Criteria for Accreditation of the ACCME. The ACCME rigorously evaluates the overall continuing medical education programs of institutions according to standards adopted by all seven sponsoring organizations of the ACCME: the American Board of Medical Specialties, the American Hospital Association, the American Medical Association, the Association for Hospital Medical Education, the Association of American Medical Colleges, the Council of Medical Specialty Societies, and the Federation of State Medical Boards. The NJAFP is pleased to be part of a group of organizations in the United States, including major medical schools, medical societies, hospitals and other medical education organizations that have been awarded this accreditation status.

In announcing this achievement to his staff, Raymond J. Saputelli, executive vice president, NJAFP, said, “This acknowledgement of the Academy’s performance in practice demonstrates the meaning of our association’s motto, ‘Advancing the cause of family physicians and their patients for more than 65 years.’”

All of the NJAFP’s educational initiatives pass a rigorous peer review process under the aegis of the CME Program Team headed by Deputy Executive Vice President Theresa Barrett, PhD. For additional information about education products and services for family physicians and other primary care professionals available through the NJAFP, please contact Dr. Barrett at (609) 394-1711

Trenton, N.J. – The New Jersey Academy of Family Physicians (NJAFP), the largest primary care medical specialty society in the state, was recently awarded a role as vendor for the Practice Transformation Services Project offered by the Delaware Center for Health Innovation (DCHI) as part of the Delaware State Innovation Model (SIM) grant. DCHI's main goals for this Project comprise better health, improved healthcare quality and patient experience, lower healthcare costs for all of Delaware's residents, and improved provider experience.

Through a grant-funded contract with the State of Delaware, NJAFP will be working in close collaboration with the Delaware Academy of Family Physicians (DAFP) to provide practices with:

  • On-site and remote coaching from practice transformation experts
  • Access to a transformation-targeted educational curriculum and region-based learning collaboratives
  • A comprehensive pre-transformation practice assessment, followed by semi-annual assessments
  • A practice-specific plan for conversion to value-based payment models
  • Accredited Continuing Education (for applicable activities)

Academy staff will work with enrolled practices to assess each practice's transformation status and provide coaching and educational opportunities designed to assist practices in achieving transformation as defined by the DCHI.

“As a group, the NJAFP/DAFP healthcare transformation team is highly qualified to provide services for this project.  Our experience working in the primary care practice setting, and as the advocacy organization for primary care providers, means we have a distinct understanding of how the work being done with this project could accelerate the rapid transformation required for the success of primary care practice transformation throughout Delaware,” said Raymond J. Saputelli, executive vice president, NJAFP, and executive director, DAFP.

Established in 1949, NJAFP provides expert services for practices including: practice transformation, patient centered medical home (PCMH) recognition, continuing medical education (CME), quality improvement (QI) initiatives, leadership and staff training, and workforce redesign. Since 2009, NJAFP has worked with more than 1,500 physicians in approximately 1,000 locations across five states on practice transformation and PCMH activities. As the membership organization for family physicians, NJAFP has been a leader in developing and providing CME to physicians for more than 15 years, and has successfully completed more than 100 programs locally and nationally.

Practices eligible for participation in the Practice Transformation Services Project include primary care practices of all sizes with little or no transformation experience, partial transformation experience and/or PCMH certification, and can include members of Accountable Care Organizations (ACOs), Clinical Integration Networks (CINs) and health systems. For more information or to speak with someone about enrolling a practice in DCHI's Practice Transformation Project, visit https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/PTS_DE.