NACHC is fortunate to work in tandem with other national organizations that are similarly committed to and passionate about ensuring excellent primary care for everyone in America. We encourage you to learn more about the good works of these like-minded partners.
The American Academy of Family Physicians is one of the largest national medical organizations, representing more than 94,600 family physicians, family medicine residents and medical students nationwide. Founded in 1947, its mission has been to preserve and promote the science and art of Family Medicine and to ensure high-quality, cost-effective health care for patients of all ages.
ACOFP works closely with the American Osteopathic Association (AOA) to promote its members’ views regarding their patients’ health priorities to federal and state policymakers. ACOFP specifically focuses on those issues of importance to osteopathic family physicians and their day-to-day practices.
At the state level, ACOFP lobbyists work to ensure that the basic tenets of osteopathic medicine, from educational programs to licensure, are recognized at all levels of state government. These legislative representatives select priority health care topics by following legislative and regulatory trends, and identifying health care issues of importance to the osteopathic family medicine profession and their patients’ needs.
The American Optometric Association represents approximately 36,000 doctors of optometry, optometry students and para-optometric assistants and technicians. Optometrists serve patients in nearly 6,500 communities across the country, and in 3,500 of those communities are the only eye doctors. Doctors of optometry provide two-thirds of all primary eye care in the United States.
Founded in 1898, the AOA is a federation of state, student and armed forces optometric associations. Through these affiliations, the AOA serves members consisting of optometrists, students of optometry, paraoptometric assistants and technicians.
Together, the AOA and its affiliates work to provide the public with quality vision and eye care. Through offices in St. Louis, Missouri, and metropolitan Washington, D.C., the AOA sets professional standards, helping its members conduct patient care efficiently and effectively; lobbies government and other organizations on behalf of the optometric profession; and provides research and education leadership.
In July 1997, the American Academy of Family Physicians (AAFP) Board of Directors approved the development of a "Center for Policy Studies in Family Practice and Primary Care" to be located in Washington, D.C. It was envisioned that the Center would be responsible for research and analysis to inform deliberations of the Academy in its public policy work and to provide a family medicine perspective to policy deliberations in Washington, D.C. The proposal for the Center stated:
"The Center would be focused on important policy questions related to family physician services and the general domain of primary care, and would seek to marshal arguments regarding the importance of such services, and prepare rebuttal analyses to proposals and initiatives which would appear to inhibit or limit the ability of clinicians in the primary care area to provide services effectively."
In 2000 the Center was renamed The Robert Graham Center: Policy Studies in Family Medicine and Primary Care in honor of the former Executive Vice President of the AAFP, Robert Graham, M.D., who had envisioned the formation of the Center nearly a decade earlier.
The Society was founded in 1967 to respond to the needs of family medicine educators. From a small beginning of 105 founding members, it has grown to a membership of more nearly 5,000 teachers of family medicine. These teachers include medical school professors, preceptors, residency program faculty, residency program directors and all involved in family medicine education.
