I'm excited and honored to join the Family Practice Management team in the position of medical editor. In my opinion, FPM is a unique medical journal. Historically it has offered its readers nuts and bolts advice on how to manage a practice, along with innovative ideas about how to provide more effective and efficient care for patients. The articles have been real, practical, and timely.

This is FPM's 20th year of publication. FPM owes much of its long history of excellence to Robert Edsall, FPM's recently retired editor-in-chief. I hope to continue and build upon Bob's fine work.

From my perspective, FPM should help its readers in three ways. The first way is to help you provide better patient care. That means delivering care that is safer as well as more effective, efficient, and service-oriented. The second is to help you achieve better financial performance. That means maximizing revenue while reducing costs with the end result of better compensation. The third is to help you do one and two without losing your sanity. That means learning skills like delegation, teamwork, and prioritization.

Times have changed. More family physicians are employed by hospitals and health systems than ever before, yet many physicians remain in private practice. How do we meet everyone's needs? We recognize that some of our articles may interest all readers, while others may appeal to only a subset.

As you well know, the face of health care delivery is rapidly changing. Today the buzz is about an ever-expanding array of acronyms such as PCMH (patient-centered medical home), EHR (electronic health record), PHR (personal health record), ACO (accountable care organization), and ACA (Affordable Care Act). More acronyms and newer ideas will surely come as our nation grapples with the dual challenge of providing increased access to care while trying to control and even reduce costs.

Where does FPM fit in? We want to help you understand the changes and challenges that lie ahead. We want to provide tools to help you lead your patients and your communities to better health. And we would love to see you fulfilled and satisfied while you do it.

I need your help to achieve these aims. More than ever we need your feedback. How can we best serve your needs? How can we do better? What topics interest you most? Please send your thoughts to fpmedit@aafp.org.

Also please send us your articles. We favor articles based on real-life experience, on ideas that have been battle tested and that have broad applicability.

I look forward to hearing from you!