This document provides guidance on individual physician advocacy. It discusses knowing your worth as an expert in family medicine and primary care. It offers tips on planning advocacy visits while maintaining clinical duties, such as using one-page briefs to quickly convey key messages and policy asks. The document advises on advocacy etiquette like being prepared, punctual, and following up. It also discusses balancing anecdotal stories with factual evidence and the importance of follow through to maintain relationships and influence. The overall aim is to encourage family physicians to advocate for policies that support primary care and address social determinants of health.

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Family Medicine Congressional Conference
Individual Physician Advocacy
Matthew Burke, MD
Faculty, Dept. of Family
Medicine
April 7th, 2014

2. Introduction
• As much a 80% of health comes
from social determinants
• Gains in quality and cost control must come from
policy that unites clinical expertise and public
resources
– Upstream vs. Downstream causation
• Primary care has a central role to play
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3. Objectives
• Know your worth
– You are the expert!
• Showcase efficient strategies for
– Planning your visit while keeping your day job
– Advocacy etiquette
– Follow up strategies
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4. Know your Worth!
• Changing healthcare landscape presents great
opportunities and challenges
• The ACA is largely an insurance vehicle, cost
and quality mechanisms are more opaque
• Centralizing primary care would best promote
positive changes
• Advocating for Family Medicine is advocating for
patients
• YOU are the expert!
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5. Time Constraints
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• We are all busy!
• Advocacy comes in many forms, some are not
labor intensive
• Organized resources are readily available
• Advocacy is about relationships, which take
time. This means no one contact is make or
break!
• Develop coalitions and friendships (colleagues,
state academies, paramedical organizations)

6. One Pagers
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• Reinforces the message
• Quick, to the point
• Has several key points
– Your contact
– Key message/problem
– Background of problem
– Policy ask/rationale
• Brief is good
• Liked as well as face to face interactions
• Graphs convey information quickly!

7. Advocacy Etiquette
• Be prepared to meet with legislative assistants, they’re
often as/more knowledgeable
• Punctuality and preparedness go far
• Always make introductions, remember the AAFP is
America’s largest single-specialty medical membership
organization (useful for state visits too)
• Avoid over politicizing conversations, make asks directly
and politely
• Be sure to follow up and close the loop
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8. Anecdote vs. Fact
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“There are lies,
damned lies, and
statistics.”
• Stories are powerful
– (e.g., Shep Glazer in 1971)
• However, policy needs to be
evidentiary
• The trick is to select stories that
underpin what the evidence tells us
– Primary care controls cost/promotes
quality
– Social determinants drive health
inequality
– Access issues lead to poor outcomes
for our patients

9. Follow Through
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• Expresses commitment and professionalism
• Any format will do, however traditional norms still
play a role (letters over calls, calls over emails,
emails over tweets)
• Can create a door to pass through in future for
other asks

10. State Level Advocacy
• Many state chapters run lobby days
• Often issues sync with national issues
• Chance to influence legislation
• Barriers to regular communication are often
lessened
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11. Have a Great Time!
• Questions?
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