Elation Health Makes Waves at AAFP’s FMX 2023 Conference!
FMX (short for the “Family Medicine Experience”) is the American Academy of Family Physicians’ annual conference, and it is my favorite event every year. It is the largest annual gathering of family physicians and industry leaders in the world. Thousands of family physicians come together to share best practices, tell primary care stories, make new friends, and learn about the latest breakthroughs impacting our specialty. This year, the event was held in Chicago, IL in late October, and Elation brought a great team to support these family doctors hailing from all over the country.
In addition to our top-notch sales professionals John Chronopoulos and Katelyn Gagliardi supporting the Elation booth in the exhibit hall, we brought Katie Kelly from our marketing team, Gabriella Marquez, our director of DPC, and Nick Dealtry, our senior director of network growth.
John Chronopoulos, Dr. Sara Pastoor, Gabriella Marquez, Katelyn Gagliardi, and Katie Kelly
I brought a special guest: Dr. David Pastoor, my father, also a family physician (now retired). “The other Dr. Pastoor” was treated like royalty and an emeritus family medicine elder, regaling new acquaintances with his stories of many years in rural practice.
Dr. Sara Pastoor and Dr. David Pastoor
Our booth in the exhibit hall kept our sales team very busy, where family physicians came to learn what it might be like to use an EHR built for physicians like them in practices like theirs. Seeing their faces when they realize how much better the EHR experience could be never gets old, and we were delighted to share the news of our new Elation Billing solution, which has been a popular request in our market for years.
John Chronopoulos and Katelyn Gagliardi at a busy Elation Health booth
The AAFP invited me to speak at this year’s FMX about Direct Primary Care, which I was thrilled to do. A common argument against the DPC model is that it is only affordable for wealthier patients. This is a myth, which I addressed in my topic “The Direct Primary Care Value/Affordability Equation”, starting with some facts about how much healthcare really costs in the U.S.
Dr. Pastoor addressing DPC Affordability
I also had the opportunity to introduce an Elation customer, Dr Scott Miscovich, who owns a thriving multidisciplinary primary care practice in Hawaii. During a fireside chat in the Office of the Future area of the expo hall, Dr. Miscovich shared his incredible journey as an early pioneer in developing value-based payment arrangements with commercial plans. Today, 80% of his practice is covered under value-based contracts, which has enabled him to deliver proactive, team-based care, focused on the PCP-patient relationship. He participated in Elation’s recent collaborative study with the AAFP, exploring physicians’ experiences of stress and burnout in value-based payment models, which the AAFP unveiled at FMX. Representing the independent physician-owned practice contingent, Dr. Miscovich was also showcased as part of the Value-Based Care Bright Spots panel, geared towards providing family physician testimonials from a variety of value-based practice models. We are very grateful for Dr. Miscovich’s participation in these activities and inspired by his many accomplishments in advancing high-value primary care.
Dr. Pastoor’s interview with Elation customer Dr. Scott Miscovich
A big highlight of FMX was the mainstage appearance by Dr Wendy Dean, co-author of this year’s blockbuster book about moral injury in medicine, “If I Betray These Words”. Dr Dean’s message of moral injury resonated deeply with the audience as we all reflected on the terrible cost of practicing medicine in a healthcare system that devalues primary care and isn’t designed to put patients first. Her message of hope and activism at the conclusion gave us all some inspiration to take home.
On behalf of Elation, we are grateful to our friends and colleagues at the AAFP for inviting us to participate in rich and rewarding ways at FMX each year. It is our mission to serve primary care clinicians and their teams striving to improve the health and wellbeing of their communities, and we believe in the power of working together to create a better healthcare system for all Americans. Join us next year at FMX 2024 in Phoenix, AZ September 24 - 28 - we’ll see you there!
