COVID-19 Resources from AAFP and Other Industry Provider Organizations

Joe Nicholson, III, DO – Chief Medical Officer

The COVID-19 pandemic and our clinical response to it continues to change rapidly. Staying informed is one way physicians can prepare their practices to manage their patient populations while keeping their business protected financially and operationally. This blog highlights information available from the American Academy of Family Physicians (AAFP), which publishes numerous helpful clinical resources, plus ways other organizations are providing information to keep physician practices up to date on how to respond to this unprecedented public health situation.

AAFP Resources

Webinar Series

Each Friday, AAFP releases an installment of its weekly COVID-19 CME webinar series covering different clinical topics and perspectives, which is hosted by Nina Ahmad, MD, former AAFP Vaccine Sciences Fellow and CDC Epidemic Intelligence Service Officer.

On Friday, April 10, Ahmad was joined by Oscar Estrada, MD, California Intensivist, to discuss his first-hand experience with COVID-19 in the webinar, “COVID-19 Acute Care Management: An Intensivist’s Perspective.” The webinar is approved for 1 AAFP Prescribed credit, with additional credit available for completing the Translation to Practice® process.

Daily Research Briefs

Each day AAFP publishes a research brief to keep providers informed of the global efforts to combat and treat the COVID-19 virus so they can support their practice and patients with the latest information on coronavirus.

Preparation Checklist

While family practices have likely already begun to treat an influx of patients with COVID-19, the Checklist to Prepare Physician Offices for COVID-19 is worth reviewing to ensure your practice is taking the steps necessary to educate staff and patients, minimize transmission, and manage patient flow.

Self-Study Packages

The Pandemic Self-Study Package: COVID-19 includes courses with AAFP-prescribed CME credits to help keep providers up to date on COVID-19-related topics and includes courses such as:

• Applied cases of symptomatic and asymptomatic patients
• An overview of where we are and where we are going
• Applied cases involving mild, moderate and severe symptoms
• A fundamentals course around detection and response

America’s Physician Groups Resources

The America’s Physician Groups (APG) Coronavirus Update includes advocacy, education, leadership, and other resources about COVID-19 and the impact of legislative, regulatory and policy changes on our communities.

American Medical Association

The American Medical Association (AMA) also maintains a resource center for physicians, with news and content that includes a downloadable Physician’s Guide to COVID-19 and webinars on a variety of coronavirus-related topics, including an overview of standard personal protection equipment (PPE) and COVID-19 impact within nursing homes.