News
DOH to End Masking Mandate in Health Care Facilities on April 3
The Washington State Department of Health has announced that its masking directive for health care, long-term care, and adult correctional facilities for people ages 5 and up will end April 3. DOH will continue to recommend masking, though local or tribal governments, facilities, or clinicians may choose to continue requiring masks. The State of Oregon…
Read MoreWAFP Survey Participants Sought for Practice Patterns of Pediatric Primary Care Providers in Management of Undescended Testes
Do you provide pediatric primary care? Please complete a brief 2-minute survey to share your experience with the management of undescended testicles. This survey is completely anonymous. On completion of the survey, you will be provided with links to the most up to date information on managing undescended testicles. Additional resources can be found here. For…
Read MoreApply Today to Represent WAFP at the Nat’l Conference of Constituency Leaders
If you are a WAFP member who qualifies in one of the five AAFP-defined special constituencies, we invite you to apply today. This award pays for travel expenses and registration fees for the recipients. The deadline to apply is March 12. Read more about the conference here. NCCL special constituencies are as follows:
Read MoreThe X-Waiver Is No More
Among the bills appropriations bills signed by President Joe Biden on Dec. 29 was legislation to officially eliminate the X-waiver for physicians and other providers who treat patients with substance use disorder. That means any member of the care team with a Drug Enforcement Agency registration that includes Schedule III medications may now prescribe buprenorphine.…
Read MoreState WIC Program to Drop Temporary Formula Approvals in February
In response to the voluntary recall of Abbott infant formula, the Washington State Department of Health temporarily added 93 formulas to its approved list. The additional formulas were added thanks in part to a waiver from the US Department of Agriculture. Those waivers, however, will begin to expire on Feb. 28. Because of this, WIC…
Read MoreCMS Investigating Data Breach Which May Involve Personal Information
The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services is investigating a data breach at one of its subcontractors. The data breach may affect as many as 245,000 Medicare beneficiaries, and both personally identifiable information and protected health information may have been compromised. Although it is unclear where the affected patients may reside, CMS is asking physicians…
Read MoreLocal Health Officers and Health Care Leaders Recommend Wearing Masks Indoors
WAFP President Mark Johnson, MD, and more than 35 other health officers and health care leaders released a joint statement Friday urging the public to wear masks indoors to mitigate the surge in respiratory viruses. The full statement is below: Communities across our state and around the U.S. are experiencing an unprecedented surge in viral…
Read MoreClinicians Sought to Assist with Pediatric Surge at Yakima Memorial Hospital
The Northwest Healthcare Response Network, a coalition of public and private partners to help the health care community respond to emergencies, has asked WAFP to alert its membership to a dire need at the inpatient pediatric unit at Yakima Memorial Hospital. More information from NWHRN and the hospital below: Washington is experiencing the same pediatric…
Read MoreMark Your Calendar: Upcoming Bree Collaborative Events, Information
The Bree Collaborative, established by the state legislature in 2011 to bring together public and private stakeholders to identify improvements to health care quality, outcomes, and affordability, is spotlighting two of its recommendations this month. On Wednesday, Dec. 7, at noon, the Collaborative will highlight its recommendation on opioid prescribing in older adults. During the…
Read MoreWAFP, WSMA, WCAAP Release Statement on Preventive Measures to Combat Surge in RSV Cases
WAFP, along the with the Washington State Medical Association and the Washington Chapter of the American Academy of Pediatrics, released a joint statement urging the public to take precautions as respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) spike throughout Washington. Hospital emergency departments are frequently at capacity, and the problem is even worse at pediatric hospitals. The statement…
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