New York State Academy of Family Physicians

The New York State Chapter of the American Academy of Family Physicians (the Academy) represents more than 4,300 family physicians and medical students throughout the State. As one of the New York Health Foundation’s Diabetes Campaign clinical nodes, the Academy provides its members with technical assistance to improve the care and outcomes of their patients with diabetes as measured by the National Committee for Quality Assurance (NCQA) Diabetes Physician Recognition Program.

In order to achieve NCQA diabetes recognition, physicians and practices must meet high standards of diabetes control and provide 12 months of continuous data to show that they have met the standards for that period. Because the recognition standards are rigorous, the majority of physicians will have to improve their practices and redesign their care delivery systems before they can apply.

The Academy accomplished the following in year one of this project: recruited 300 internists to the project; assisted 50 internists who currently meet NCQA Diabetes Physician Recognition Program standards to begin the documentation and/or recognition process; disseminated 2,000 ACP Diabetes Care Manuals to family medicine physicians across the State; and assisted 200 physicians with submitting continuing medical education credits based on use of the manual.