Home Forums Discussions Problems FLAMING "STRONG MEDICINE"

The AAFP just sent me an email telling me that I must have actual electronic prescribing by 1/1/2009. This is impossible in our state where the Board of Pharmacy will approve only a handful of the requests for electronic presciption connectivity.

What is really infuriating is after doing their survey, the AAFP is stating that Amazingcharts is not capable to two way transmission of electronic Rx.... AND THEY GIVE A LIST OF "SOLUTIONS" of other EMR VENDORS.

The AAFP has linked up with the SURESCRIPTS and they have a list of recommended vendors.

I'm thinking about writing a letter to the AAFP that my 15 years of membership is about to be terminated as they are becoming part of the PROBLEM and not a SOLUTION with regards to protecting physician practices.

Roy,
Please give us all a little bit more detail here. In terms of them telling you that you need to be or must be able to do such by New Years next year; is this just for your state or is this some federal thing that as always nobody bothered to keep us all in the loop about, nor did any of the organizations like AAFP do their proper job in representing our interests by standing against such things?

Any idea about states like NY where all controlled substances "MUST" be on NYS specific and supplied Rx paper? We were one of the main offices riding Jon to make sure that his interface for such options would be ready in time for the NYS roll out. Unbeleivable. I gather that the list they sent you was comprised of all the wonderful programs that we and Al rail against. Those wonderful, "enterprise" style programs. Hey did you see the link to the most expensive EMR, wasn't that a hoot? Al should add their stuff to his presentation.

Lastly, I suggest you send what ever they sent you to Jon, as he is our vendor and AC should know about this CCHIT. I believe Jon is fairly heavily involved in AAFP. I would love to hear his take on all of this. Please keep us in the loop and thanks...

Good Night and Good Luck,
Paul

What do you mean "must." Is the AAFP going to revoke your membership if you don't? Or you license? How can they "must" you anything?

Well like I asked is this some form of a state of federal mandate coming down the pike??? Tell us all what you know so far Roy. Thanks

Here's the background. This is the copy of the e-mail I recieved. I'll try to find the link to their survey. Take the survey and see what you think about this. I am thinking that this is AAFP trying to push us to buy expensive CCHIT compliant software.

Dear Dr Roy:

Are you aware of changes to the Medicare Modernization Act (MMA) Part D regulations that may impact the way you prescribe?

If your practice currently prepares and submits prescriptions to pharmacies using an Electronic Medical Record (EMR), it is likely your EMR is generating faxes that arrive on paper at the pharmacy's fax machine. If so, you won't be in compliance with new regulations effective January 1, 2009 that require prescriptions for Medicare Part D be transmitted electronically and not by computer-generated fax.

Find out whether your EMR is capable of establishing an e-prescribing connection with pharmacies with a free E-Prescribing Readiness Assessment. This web site is provided by the AAFP in collaboration with leading medical societies. The site will also help you request pharmacy connectivity from your EMR vendor, and understand the benefits of e-prescribing if you haven't yet invested in an EMR.

Sincerely,
Steven Waldren, MD
Director, AAFP Center for Health Information Technology

Here's the link: http://www.getrxconnected.com/AAFP/site.aspx

I was unaware of this ruling and have to wonder what were they thinking?

Between this and the proposed cuts for Medicare, do "they" really think that providers are going to jump at the chance to see Medicare patients?

There is a local retirement/rural practice that sees 85-90% medicare/medicaid. He is talking about closing his practice. How many more will close with the increasing amount of regulations and reimbursement cutbacks that are taking place?

I don't know, but here in our location we don't have to see Medicare patients. We do it as a public service. But we'll drop it like a hot potato if this is required.

About a third of our practice in Medicare. Many young people have fled the rust belt and don't return after college while their parents are haning on where their houses are paid off. We have a whole lot of elderly here. This is just insane. Funny how when this law was being put together no less passed, that none of the "societies", boards or the AMA that are supposed to be watching out for our tails and interests caught this, flagged it or brought it to the forefront.

But still they want about $1K a year for us to all join as they have better cushier jobs than we all do. That's it, now that I have learned so much about the business side of medicine, I'm going to go down to Washington and get a job working inside for one of the major speciality societies like AAFP or one of the many others. My wife can retire, I'll get a nice benefits package with health and retirement, and we can finally have the upper middle class life we were supposedly promised so long ago when we started this journey called Med School and Residency, after all these years of sacrific and doing without.

And here we sit owning our own struggling family practice, while I competing on-line with 25 year olds, trying to buy a 10 year old Jeep for a few grand to replace our old one that is rusting out from years of long commuting during Residency and the like. These guys are looking for a duel purpose, daily driver that they can also beat on and wheel at the same time while I as the spouse of a doctor am simply looking for our next "new" car. Nancy and I have simply come full circle here. I'm back to driving 10-15 year old Dodge Darts that I must fix in the driveway myself because this is all we can afford!!! Simply Amazing.

Good Night and Good Luck,
Paul

Roy,
A few questions brought to mind. It seems to be saying that regular old computer generated faxes are going to be a no no after next New Year. But it seems to possibly leave open good old fashioned hardcopy faxing (print 'em and then fax 'em; not perfect but...) as it seems to be talking about docs with EMR's. Yeah, I know, punish us early adopters more, but it seems to avoid old fashioned paper charters completely which is probably still about 75% of the country presently.

Also, on the same idea, what about good old fashioned hand the patient a paper Rx at time of service? This too seems to be left out almost as if it was intentionally tip-toed around so as to make you the end user and consumer (they are hoping to rope you in I think) think that the only way to be compliant next year is with a full blown, hemi powered, USS Enterprise, CCHIT compliant EMR or some sort of extra Rx service.

Get where I'm going with this? Although not perfect, it seems that only computer generated faxes are covered here. Are they really saying that all docs, including the 75% who are still paper chart based, are going to have to violently throw themselves into the 21st century that fast? I'm not sure myself, but I think you should do some more digging seeing it was you who was contacted and let us all know what you find out. Obviously if anyone else here has the chance to talk to anyone in the know you too should be asking the intelligent questions and get back here and please share with the group.

Anyway, try not to let your BP get as high as mine usually is over such matters. We've got a long weekend ahead of ourselves with heavy wet snow and lots of tasks to attend to. Have a great weekend....
Paul

Paul,

There's been a lot of stupid rules that the government makes up and then has to change based on lack of participation. So, this law is not going anywhere quickly unless some unwitting do-gooders such as the AAFP steps up and try to promote these rules.
The beneficiary of this law is going to be the gorilla Exortator-like EMRs. This law was probably pushed by an evil consortium EMR vendors bent on ripping off the medical community.

Now I know why I was fascinated by the X-file. This whole CCHIT and EMR thing reminds me of the X-files. Remember the secret group of old men keeping the truth away from the general public? And Mulder's drive to uncover the conspiracy? The government was just a vehicle for the old men to keep their secret plot a secret.

Roy,
You're as bad as I am about all this CCHIT, now aren't you? I knew there was a reason we were so drawn to each other. But hey, you're not paranoid if they really are trying to get you. Be well and keep the faith my friend. We must fight the good fight. Be well,
Paul

Roy,

I'm upset on a few levels reading this news:

1) I'm an AAFP member and did not receive this.
2) That our professional organizations (AMA, AOA, AAFP, ACOFP) would allow this and not lobby on behalf of its members.
3) That we would be coerced into using only those specific EMR's that are e-Rx capable.
4) That Congress, certain EMR vendors, and E-Rx vendors appear to be in bed together.

If Medicare actually follows through on this (meaning the rule doesn't get reversed between now and 1/1/2009), then I'll consider opting out of Medicare.

The link you provided doesn't discuss either hand-written paper Rx's, or EMR generated paper Rx's. I suppose these will remain legal to prescribe?

This whole thing stinks to high Heaven.

I followed the link above, and took the "Readiness Quiz."

As the letter Roy posted suggests, this is really more than a "Quiz." This website has been carefully crafted to accomplish a number of separate functions, all geared towards mobilizing prescribers and vendors to use SureScri
pts:

• 
  1. To promote e-prescribing, obviously. The overall message of the site is that we all need to start using SureScripts:
  • Because we will get in trouble with the Government if we don't.
  • Because we are missing out on obvious financial benefits if we don't.
  • Because we are not realizing the full benefit of our EMR until we do.
• (All of these points are debatable).
  
  2. But also to gather demographic information on members and their practices, in a sneaky way, under the guise of obtaining data pertinent to determining our "Readiness". This will presumably be used to aid in future promotional efforts.
  
  3. To increase pressure on EMR vendors to electronically connect to pharmacy through the Pharmacy Health Information Exchange, operated by SureScripts.
  • This is being accomplished primarily via e-mails automatically generated through the site from individuals to their EMR vendor.
  • It will be accomplished secondarily through data collected through this site, as the data collected here will be used in other venues to support the push for e-prescribing.

Excellent point, Paul. When I took the quiz, there was some fine print when I got my "rating," as follows:

Doesn't sound quite so bleak now, does it? There does appear to be some effort here, on the part of the AAFP, to spread Confusion, Fear and Dread. Somebody needs to call them on it.

Mind you, that the AAFP is on this new kick, about this "STRONG MEDICINE."

They claim that they heard our message and they are gonna fight for the family physicians in the trenches.

They even changed their logo to something that look like the Olympic torch.

I'm sending an e-mail and a formal letter to each board member of the AAFP as well as a letter to my chapter with the following points.

1. A more apt phrase whould be "STRONG ARM MEDICINE" where the AAFP is trying to strong-arm us into using a particular EMR and Surescript. This will further affect our practice viability and coerce the few remaining private practitioners into hospital and FQHC employees.
2. Extinguish the FLAME on their logo. A noose would be a more appropriate symbol--for hanging their members out to dry.
3. After over 15 years as a paying member to their organization, I'm thinking of cutting them out in favor of an organization that would help private practice family physicians who should more appropriately be on the endangered species act.
4. How much more corrupt can you get? As BCMD suggests, this is more than an innocent mistake. There needs to be an investigation regarding who is on the take from Surescripts and their evil consortium.

I'm disgusted by this, absolutely disgusted. Someone in the AAFP is "on the take" or maybe the whole AAFP is subsidized by "donations" from Surescripts. I don't think its right that the AAFP is promoting a specific product and trying to sell it to us under the guise of e-Rx preparedness.

As a D.O., I'm board certified on the osteopathic side (American Osteopathic Board of Family Physicians), and belong to its corresponding college (American College of Osteopathic Family Physicians). I also belong to AAFP, mainly to get the subscriptions to American Family Physician and Family Practice Management.

Roy, I'll join you if you resign your membership. This "Strong Arm" tactice is NOT acceptible. The AAFP needs to know it.

Roy, would you mind supplying us the link to get the AAFP Board members' addresses, or could you post the addresses here?

SureScripts does not market e-prescribing software. They operate a dedicated network for e-prescribing, like the network that ATMs use. I am not sure how SureScripts gets reimbursed for transactions yet. I'm still reading about it.

SureScripts also acts as a certifying body, like CCHIT, that approves e-prescribers. For example, Amazing Charts provides e-prescribing via NewCrop, "a SureScripts Certified Solution."

From the SureScripts website:

One of the problems with e-prescribing is that certification costs money, and the cost is passed on to the EMR consumer, whether we use it or not.

However, it seems that Amazing Charts has absorbed this cost, since they have a relationship with NewCrop. We must all already be paying the cost of certification, despite the fact that few of us (I suspect) use the interface.

If we activate our interface with NewCrop, it costs an additional $420/year for each full time prescriber.

I have never been tempted to use this. My understanding is that it is slower than the present prescribing feature of Amazing Charts, and this time loss is a hidden cost. I have no desire to pay an extra $420/yr for a "feature" that makes me less productive.

Can anyone here testify about their experiences with e-prescribing? I would especially like to hear from people who have used the e-prescribing feature of Amazing Charts.

Adam,

I know some of these folks personally. I wonder if they are aware of what their HIT department is doing by steering physicians to certain EMRs?

Jim King, M.D., FAAFP, President
1 Prime Care Dr. Selmer, TN 38375-1864
(731) 645-4318 (731) 645-5195
jking@pcmedctr.com

Ted D. Epperly, M.D., FAAFP, President-elect
777 N. Raymond Boise, ID 83704
(208) 367-6042 (208) 947-1761
ted.epperly@fmridaho.org

Rick Kellerman, M.D., FAAFP, Chair
Dept. of Family Medicine
1010 N. Kansas St. Wichita, KS 67214-3124
(316) 293-2607 (316) 293-2696
rkellerm@kumc.edu

David W. Avery, M.D., FAAFP, Director
418 Grand Park Dr. Vienna, WV 26105
(304) 485-8002 (304) 422-7893
drdaveavery@verizon.net

Kenneth R. Bertka, M.D., FAAFP, Director
8533 Castle Oaks Pl. Holland, OH 43528-9231
(419) 251-3483 (419) 867-0588
bertka@mindspring.com

James Joseph Dearing, D.O., Director
750 East Thunderbird Rd. Ste. 1 Phoenix, AZ 85022
(602) 942-8512 (602) 942-1075
jdearingdo@aol.com

David Alan Ellington, M.D., FAAFP, Director
108 White St. Lexington, VA 24450-2356
(540) 463-3031 (540) 463-4218
daellington@gmail.com

Bradley J. Fedderly, M.D., FAAFP, Director
7901 N. Mohawk Rd. Fox Point, WI 53217
(414) 520-5806 (414) 228-0204
bjfedderly@sbcglobal.net

Roland A. Goertz, M.D., MBA, FAAFP, Director
1600 Providence Dr. Waco, TX 76707
(254) 750-8201 (254) 750-8326
goertzr@aol.com

Lori J. Heim, M.D., FAAFP, Director
250 Hollybrook Farm Lane Vass, NC 28394
(910) 245-7625 (910) 245-7625
lori@heim.us

Robert M. Pallay, M.D., FAAFP, Director
1107 E. 66th St. PO Box 23089 Savannah, GA 31404
(912) 350-8838 (912) 350-5118
pallaro1@memorialhealth.com

Glen Richard Stream, M.D., Director
1708 South Martin Spokane, WA 99203
(509) 533-1347 (509) 928-6025
grstream@aol.com

Thomas J. Weida, M.D., FAAFP, Speaker
1011 Handsome Pl. Lititz, PA 17543-9708
(717) 531-8181 (717) 531-3509
tweida@psu.edu

Leah Raye Mabry, M.D., FAAFP, Vice Speaker
339 S. Presa San Antonio, TX 78205
(210) 863-1022 (210) 226-5893
lrmabry@aol.com

Douglas E. Henley, M.D., FAAFP, Executive Vice President
11400 Tomahawk Creek Pkwy. Leawood, KS 66211-2672
(913) 906-6000 Ext. 6400 (913) 906-6093
dhenley@aafp.org

Jason E. Marker, M.D., New Physician Board Member
66642 SR 331 PO Box 90 Wyatt, IN 46595
(574) 633-4511 (574) 633-0281
smithtobie@hotmail.com

Tobie-Lynn Smith, M.D., M.ED, Resident Board Member
136 E. Craig Pl #1 San Antonio, TX 78212
(210) 704-2535
smithtobie@hotmail.com

Beth Lawson Loney, Student Board Member
610 E. 13th St. Eudora, KS 66025-9316
(785) 331-5114
bloney@kumc.edu

Roy,

You are awesome!

The more of us that write the better. I thank you personally for obtaining all of this information.

I hope many more of us will write in.

Roy,
You are one serious player! Your Rock Dude!!! Way to go. They are either gonna love us or hate us. Let's tell 'em about some of the other CCHIT that has us all in a spin as well. Roy, my friend you are the man!

Good Night and Good Luck,
Paul

I guess that I should chime in! I quit the ACP, the AMA, the local medical societies about 4 years ago and never looked back. They have done nothing to stem the tide of insurance cuts on our income and now, like the aafp, are advocating HIT in a way that will hurt physician practices throughout the USA.

What the letter that started this thread refers to is the formation of a site to supposedly "help" transition physicians into e-prescribing. This letter is an obfuscation of what is really going on in e-prescribing. There is still NO legislation forcing us to eprescribe now, or well into the future. Check out an article about this here.

The last I heard from Congress was this:

"In December 2007, Sen. John Kerry (D-Mass.) introduced a bill that would require Medicare physicians to adopt e-prescribing systems by Jan. 1, 2011. Despite bipartisan support, the bill is stalled at the committee level."

As you can see, Sen. "Jerk" Kerry is not our friend... I'm glad that he didn't become president in 2004. My donation to the PT boat guys that smeared him was well earned.



But other "enemies" include Bush, Gingrich, and Hillary Clinton who have spoken frequently on forcing us all to pay for these HIT measures that they hope will cure what ails Medicare. The one that I fear the most is Hillary- with her universal health care there will be nowhere to run (except to retire) since one insurance will cover everyone. In theory, we won't be able to even see cash patients!



Just recently, I read on the fact that controlled substances still cannot be e-prescribed, a really big problem. Here's another reference to this:

"Meanwhile, many groups say that the Drug Enforcement Administration rules that prohibit the e-prescribing of controlled substances are hindering physician adoption of e-prescribing technology."

Now, the above 2 quotes came from this article from 1/14/2008.

The fact that the aafp is trying to force its members into the purchase of selected expensive CCHIT certified EMRs should unite all physicians to drop Medicare in tandem in an effort to control this institution once and for all.

On the upside, alot of this is hot air, since they need physicians to go along for the ride, and as you can read here, as well as in numerous studies (see my slideshow for 10/2007 outcomes from the CDC and the Medical Records Institute) the vast majority aren't biting.

As much as Secretary Leavitt predicts the positive future of HIT (see HHS Secretary Calls for E-Rx Mandate, Other Changes here), the reality is that big business is beginning to shy away from CCHIT and "enterprise" EMRs as our own Joseph posted here .

So in summary, these politicos have a lot of work ahead of them to get us on board. We're not dumb buffalo that will willingly go for our own slaughter!



An excellent whole index of e-prescribing articles can be found here .

I apologize for the graphics- it's Sunday, and I'm in the mood!

Thank you Al for that information.

I read Family Practice Management and Medical Economics, every issue. And there are more and more stories of physicians "opting out" of Medicare and billing the Medicare patients directly. Also, more and more physicians across the nation are dropping Medicare patients altogether.

I think there are too many interests at hand for Universal Healthcare to be passed into law anytime soon. However, we will be increasingly affected by Medicare changes in attempt to save this failing system. These changes have YET to save us time or improve efficiency. In fact the more they tweak the system, the more they reduce our efficiency in seeing Medicare patients and reduce physicians' willingness to accept Medicare patients.

Should we all band together and form our own lobby group? Probably. IF CMS continues to cut our payment (which they will according to current legislation), and IF they continue to mandate increasingly complex rules (which they haven't yet ceased to do), THEN we won't NEED to band together. Most physicians will drop Medicare out of pure necessity. Where will that leave CMS, Congress, AAFP, AARP, and the millions of aging U.S. adults? It's going to leave them all up CCHIT creek without a paddle.

I feel that this thing is so wrong that it'll be like what happened when Hillary Clinton tried to radically force socialized medicine onto the American public, all the while lining up those lobbying entities that will make the big bucks- first there was a lot of noise, then a lot of confusion, then the anger, followed by the reality leading to the eventual death of the proposed legislation. Currently although 75% of pharmacies are e-prescribing capable, only 2% of new prescriptions are handled using e-prescribing.

>>> Roy, I'll join you if you resign your membership.

I resigned my 23 years of membership in all of my societies in 2003 since I felt at that time that they were doing NOTHING for my bottom line- these included the AMA, the ACP, the Fairfax County Medical Society, and the Virginia Medical Society. Things have worsened since then. Why give out $2000 or more in joint fees to these and similar societies? You have to be nuts!

>>> SureScripts does not market e-prescribing software.

If you look at my slideshow, HIT_in_the_USA25.ppt , I explain e-prescribing in depth. The way SureScripts gets paid is that each pharmacy software vendor is charged a transaction fee. Each provider will eventually have to pay about $300 to $500 a year to their EHR software providers if e-prescribing is included. (So Brian's $460 price tag was right on target.)

Surescripts was formed in 2001 and is a pharmacy owned LLC ((( HIMSS vendor ))), and represents a network provider of electronic prescribing services with its stated mission being the "improvement of the prescribing process", but its real mission is to make a heck of a lot of money. Just like HIMSS is part of CCHIT, it is part of this process too.

Brian >>> SureScripts also acts as a certifying body, like CCHIT, that approves e-prescribers.

Yup, and in my personal discussion of Surescripts with Tom Galland, an EMR vendor who works nearby my office in Maryland, it is costly and rigorous, taking about 8 months to become certified.

As said earlier, you can still print out your prescriptions as well as use a manual prescription pad- you just can't FAX prescriptions. The reason for this no-FAX mandate is nebulous. Faxing is described in this article as some sort of "loophole" that needed to be closed- "CMS drops e-prescribing loophole", http://www.fiercehealthit.com/story/cms-drops-e-prescribing-loophole/2007-07-09 . Surescripts has the power to destroy Medicare as we know it. It's a shame; we are all doing what we can to take care of the old and the crippled. All CMS does is to spit on our efforts with stuff like this.

Al,
Unfortunately, I'm not too sure Roy is frequenting the board lately. He was pretty down on things and recently shut off accepting PM's. Personally, I miss him and his to the point insightful input and comments. Heck look at this thread for all you need to know about how important and worthwhile Roy is around here.... Roy where are you???

Anyway, if I'm not mistaken and I don't mean to doubt you are not old fashioned faxed Rx's still OK? If not, I think like so many other things around here, be it CHITT or P4P and at least half a dozen others, I think we need to resist. When tons of old folks have to make a special trip or send some family member around just to pick up there scripts for the next renew for their stupid mail order pharmacy, then the talking heads (A-holes?) will get the message. For those that are truly homebound, I guess we'll pop 'em in the mail. But any halfway abled body is going to have to swing by and get 'em. And when they ask why, I'll be glad to give 'em an earful....

Just like Vinny and Nancy are sending lots of kids to the health dept to get their shots. Want to add a lot of hastle and expense to our business and practice without one red cent of funding to at least off set the expenses, then we push back and resist. RESIST, RESIST, RESIST! Sorry for flaming but flaming has it's time and our time is now.

So if we all understand you correctly, E-Scripts is to perscribing as is CCHIT to charting... In bed to be self important and making lots of money by pretending to do something meaningful and beneficial. Juat gotta love it.

And who doesn't believe my signature down below.... Seriously folks, Insurance carriers, Big Pharma, Enterprise software vendors, GE and Welch-Allyn, and so many others. It is just a big food chain for all these guys, our practices are but a conduit to their money. Vultures all of them with me too drugs and devices and software that doesn't work.

"Beware of the Medical Industrial Complex" It's true, It's true!

Good Night and Good Luck,
Paul

Oh, I hope that Roy does come back! Things are pretty gloomy now; it seems that we are all out in the cold without any help from our medical societies, our government representatives, or others that are supposed to help keep medicine in the USA running smoothly and to keep costs down.

We have a lot going for us, though. Folks all over the 'net are fighting against P4P, CCHIT, and e-Prescribing. Docs on the whole are 90% AGAINST investments in CCHIT-certified "EHR" products. I'm sure that Congressmen are getting an earfull from their personal physicians about how bad this legislation is. If P4P, forced EHR use, and e-prescribing pass, you'll see that Medicare will begin to dwindle in power, and may mark the beginning of its downfall and the resurgence of our practices not captive any more to these hard-sell tactics.

We must all try to stay sane through all of this, and must refocus and enjoy our family lives and friendships (s.a. with those on this forum, BTW!). What will I be doing when they are voting on this legislation? I'll be touring Italy and Greece. What was I doing when last December I got kicked out of emrupdate due to politics and Congress was voting on repealing the pay cut? I was on a beach in Panama getting a tan. I just wish that the AC get-together was scheduled AFTER the Congressional vote (and so that I could attend).

The thing to do right now is fight like hell right up to the moment of truth, then detach. If things go badly, then adapt. If they go well, rejoice and get the energy for the next fight!


(Image: Thomas Cole, "The Voyage of Life - Manhood", 1840)

<shakes head at the AAFP>
Well I gave up on them a years ago, when they came out strongly supporting Hillary-care. I sent them a long, letter detailing my objections and indicating I would not continue to support an organization that was lobbying against my interests and the interests of other physicians - especially in light of the way the original implementation would have divided "primary care" from "specialists" in a "divide and conquer" strategy.

Needless to say the next I heard from AAFP was my dues renewal notice. I sent a copy of the letter with my dues notice. Sometime later I get another dues renewal stamped SECOND NOTICE.
I printed a new copy of my letter with SECOND NOTICE printed at top. This was repeated by THIRD NOTICE exchanges from them and myself. And then, finally, they sent a form letter expressing regret at my not renewing my membership, and touting how much I would be missed, and the benefits I was denying myself....

Have never regretted and instant my resignation, save that I cannot do it again when they do OTHER stupid things.

J.A.Aurand, MD former (diplomate of AAFP)

I also opted out of all professional societies over 10 years ago...never saw a thing they did to help me. One of my good friends was long-time president of the local county society which I also turned my back on. I explained as kindly as possible I saw no benefit to paying their dues and going to meetings where the only things done were a few hands of gin (cards) and whining about golf scores.

Leslie