Dr. Rick Kellerman
Who:
Dr. Rick Kellerman, president, American Academy of Family Physicians
Bio:
Kellerman, 53, of Wichita, is serving this year as the president of the American Academy of Family Physicians, an organization that represents more than 94,000 physicians and medical students nationwide.
Family physicians are an essential component of the health care system, Kellerman said, because the doctors see all of the major health care issues facing patients. At the same time, however, those physicians are working in a system that has “devalued” their primary care roles.
“I think the thing about family medicine is that we try to look at the whole patient in the context of the family and the community,” he said. “All of the preventative health care issues are in the domain of family medicine, which includes childhood obesity, cigarette smoking, use of seat belts, getting your vaccinations.
“But right now, the problem in the United States and in Kansas is that we have so tremendously devalued primary care that we are on the cusp of a real crisis of primary care in family medicine.”
Kellerman cites several contributing factors: Fewer residents choosing family medicine; distribution of doctors that tends towards urban and not rural areas; a greater emphasis on paying well for procedures and not for preventive care.
Businesses are now investing more in primary care than the government, Kellerman said. He has recently spoken with companies such as IBM, Intel and Lockheed Martin, along with the National Business Group on Health, which are all looking towards programs that allow employees to have access to primary care, preventing more serious
and more costly
health problems that could develop if untreated.
“I think we”re starting to have some real understanding in the business community that they can not keep doing business as usual
there needs to be fundamental change,” he said. “Family medicine is key to that change.”
A native of Hays, Kellerman graduated from Fort Hays State University and the University of Kansas Medical Center in Kansas City, Kan. He completed his residency at Wesley Medical Center in Wichita and was the program director of the Smoky Hill Family Practice Residency in Salina.
He will serve as the Academy”s president until September.
“To be able to meet with so many different people, you learn so much,” he said. “I”ve started to see some change in the thinking of decision-makers, whether they”re legislators or business leaders, or policy leaders. Who would think someone from Hays, Kan. would be in this position?”
Interconnects:
Kellerman has served on various committees at the national level, including the committees on Rural Health and Care of Children. At the state level, Kellerman has held all of the officer positions of the Kansas Academy of Family Physicians. The National Rural Health Association gave the Smoky Hill Family Practice residency program the Outstanding Rural Health Program in America Award in 1996 when Kellerman was the program”s director. He was the physician representative for the Kansas Hospital Association Board of Directors from 1999 to 2005.
Contact:
Telephone: 316-293-2607
Address: 1010 North Kansas
Wichita, KS 67214
E-mail:
rkellerm@kumc.edu