The nation’s debate over healthcare reform was far from resolved, but Diane Beebe, MD, was encouraged in this much: That the conversation was even happening.

 

“We don’t yet know how it will turn out, but it’s long overdue that we have this discussion as a nation,” said Beebe, professor and chair of the Department of Family Medicine at the University of Mississippi Medical Center (UMMC).

 

It’s a theme she’s observed both in her work at UMMC and through her involvement in national boards and councils in her field. Whether it’s putting forth the merits of evidence-based healthcare or advocating for greater support of primary-care physicians, sometimes there’s value even in the discussion itself.

 

In the case of the former issue, Beebe has been involved in the discussion over the role quality measures should play in today’s healthcare field. The American Board of Family Medicine, on which she currently serves, has been among national groups taking an active role in the quality movement.

 

“The ABFM is incorporating many of the quality measures so that our family physicians will be even more effective,” Beebe said.

 

“There are different feelings about the reporting of quality measures to government entities for reimbursement, but I do believe the underlying reason is a good one: To push us to measure how our work is helping, and to change our practice based on findings of what’s working and what’s not.”

 

Beebe was elected in 2009 to a five-year term on the 15-member board of directors for the American Board of Family Medicine. In addition to overseeing the board-certification process for family-medicine practitioners, the ABFM was among the first to institute an ongoing maintenance certification process for its delegates.

 

“It provides more assurance that physicians are staying current and are participating in ongoing quality measurements,” Beebe said. “Our role today is about doing more than just testing diplomates’ written knowledge base at a given time.”

 

Beebe’s own role as part of the board includes work on three standing committees — for credentialing, for communications and publications, and for bylaws — as well as an ad hoc group which recently wrapped up its work on recommending new residency-program requirements to the American Council for Graduate Medical Education.

 

Between gathering for tri-annual meetings with the entire ABFM board and collaborating throughout the year with her committee members by e-mail and teleconference, her work on the national level is something Beebe must balance with her administrative and clinical duties at UMMC.

 

“You have to have a very supportive group of faculty and staff — as well as a supportive institution — all who recognize the importance of what you’re doing,” she said.

 

“I do think it’s important, because if you’re not involved in national education and all the things that go along with it, your program tends to stagnate. One of the things this does is keep me on the leading edge in at least some areas, so that I can bring a lot of this information back and make sure we’re at the forefront of a lot of these initiatives.”

 

In addition to her work with the ABFM, Beebe is also currently serving on the academic council for the National Institute for Program Director Development. Affiliated with the American Academy of Family Physicians, it offers a fellowship program for residency faculty who are new or aspiring program directors.

 

Beebe has learned over the years to limit her involvement to no more than two national groups at a time. In recent years, she’s also served as chair of the Accreditation Council for the Graduate Medical Education Residency Review Committee, through the American Academy of Family Physicians.

 

At UMMC, she continues to see patients in the clinic two half-days each week. Although she no longer shares inpatient rounds and call duties at the hospital, she schedules in visits with her own patients when they are hospitalized.

 

She’s also one step removed from working directly with residents and medical students, for whom family practice is a rarer choice than it was during her years of training at UMMC during the 1980s.

 

Back then, she said, 20 to 25 percent of a medical-school class would pursue family medicine, but today, that number is more like 10 percent.