1. Member Sections

Search Content

 
  • iconYour TMA Profile and Account Setup - 7/10/2025 7:46:51 PM

    Page Menu: Create your TMA Account or Profile Update your TMA Account or Profile Membership Support from TMA Staff Create a TMA Account (For the TMA Website, the Education Center and the Career Center) Go to the TMA home page -...

  • iconTMA Moment in Time: Hurricane Harvey Response - 7/8/2025 3:49:42 PM

     For Beaumont plastic surgeon Benjamin Beckert, MD, Hurricane Harvey could have been a lot worse.    After the August 2017 storm dumped a record 60 inches of rain in four days on the Gulf Coast region, there was some flooding i...

  • iconDigital Dilemma: Health Information Technology Remains a Valuable Tool for Physicians - 6/30/2025 3:40:42 PM

    The exhausting flood of clicks and messages in electronic health records (EHRs). Rising cyberattacks. A patchwork of telemedicine policies. The rising use of artificial intelligence and large-scale regulatory influences like the 21st Century Cures Ac...

  • iconDivision of Advocacy - 5/21/2025 9:19:42 PM

    The Division of Advocacy directs the association's legislative and political programs, including seeking sponsors and obtaining support for bills to be enacted, working for the passage or defeat of state and federal legislation, and supporting s...

  • iconPatients, Portals, and PHRs - 5/21/2025 3:56:48 PM

    Electronic health records (EHRs) can help physicians communicate better with their colleagues on the health care team - and with their patients, too, to better involve them in their own health care. "Patient engagement" — improving patient...

  • iconBoards, Councils, Committees, and Sections - 5/19/2025 8:27:14 PM

    TMA Governance Structure Boards Councils Committees Sections   If you are interested in joining a council or committee, e-mail Connie Webster. To learn more about other leadership opportunities, please visit here. Many council...

  • iconMandated CME Requirements Shift Under TMB Rules Revamp - 5/12/2025 6:19:19 PM

    A recent reorganization of Texas Medical Board (TMB) rules has removed certain universal CME obligations. The removal of universal CME requirements could result in a lighter load for physicians but may make it more challenging to determine what ...

  • iconRecord Licensure Numbers Show Steady Workforce Progress - 4/23/2025 6:36:31 PM

    As Texas’ population continues to boom, so does its crop of newly licensed physicians, the Texas Medical Association’s annual Texas Physician Workforce Update reveals.   That report announces 7,609 medical licenses issued by the Texas Medi...

  • iconPhysicians Benevolent Fund Bolstered by Ongoing TMAIT Gift Pledge - 4/22/2025 10:36:29 PM

    In an effort to support physician well-being, TMA Insurance Trust (TMAIT) has made another donation of $15,000 to The Physicians Benevolent Fund (PBF), fulfilling the second of its three-year pledge to help provide crucial assistance to physicians an...

  • iconTexas Medicine Today - October 2023 - 4/17/2025 8:04:23 PM

    Oct. 31, 2023 CDC Grant Funds Drug Overdose Data Collection in Texas TMA Has Your Mandated CME – For Free  Smith County Podcast Sparks Alliance Connections Oct. 30, 2023 Feds Update HIPAA Security Risk Assessment Tool Proposition 8 A...

  • iconCoker Group - 4/15/2025 6:43:48 PM

      Free Technology Contract Review   Coker Group offers TMA physician members free technology contract review services. Coker’s contract evaluation will focus on terms and conditions that may be unfavorable to TMA members. After the contr...

  • iconTMA Calls for Increased Funding to Help TMB Address Workforce Issues - 4/9/2025 6:00:25 PM

    Citing the need for an “adequately staffed and resourced” Texas Medical Board (TMB) in bolstering the state’s physician workforce and subsequent access to care, Texas Medical Association President G. Ray Callas, MD, advocated for the Texas Legislatur...

  • iconTMA Member Sections’ Elections - 3/25/2025 7:44:00 PM

    We are proud to introduce incoming executive council members for each section. TMA Resident & Fellow Section (RFS) Executive Council Samuel Moore, DO – chair-elect; Victoria I. Gordon DO – secretary; James Bunch, MD, Cody Mark Eldridge, M...

  • iconTexas Influences a Dozen AMA Policies - 3/6/2025 5:42:30 PM

    Texas made its presence known in Chicago when the Texas Delegation to the American Medical Association arrived to advocate for stronger action to fix physicians’ Medicare payments once and for all, health plan accountability, and vigilance on scope c...

  • iconCheck Eligibility for Medicare Bonus Following Annual HPSA Update - 1/28/2025 6:25:07 PM

    Following the annual update to a list of health professional shortage areas (HPSAs), physicians can now assess their eligibility for a 10% quarterly bonus from the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services. The bonus is earned by physicians...

  • iconDivision of Membership Experience and Business Intelligence - 1/22/2025 7:50:13 PM

    The Division of Membership Experience and Business Intelligence oversees membership recruitment and retention activities, development and delivery of business services to support physician practices, association strategic planning, conference and eve...

  • icon01.07.2025 Testimony Physicians Ask Lawmakers to Address Manipulative Social Media Practices that Harm Children - 1/6/2025 9:45:33 PM

  • iconTMA Ask the Expert: Delegate to Nonphysician Practitioners - 12/5/2024 1:23:13 AM

    Delegating prescriptive authority to nonphysician practitioners (NPPs), such as nurse practitioners and physician assistants, can help physicians manage their workloads and budgets. But doing so requires vigilance to comply with state scope-of-practi...

  • iconTexas Influences Policy at AMA House of Delegates - 12/5/2024 1:15:38 AM

    Physician representatives of the Texas Medical Association last week took their expertise to an American Medical Association House of Delegates meeting punctuated this year by passionate discussions on scope of practice, health plan practices, COVID-...

  • iconAbbott Signals Support for Opioid Crisis Interventions - 11/18/2024 9:06:51 PM

    Texas Gov. Greg Abbott recently listed the fentanyl crisis as one of seven “emergency” items this session, clearing a path toward passage of Texas Medical Association-backed legislation that aims to curb opioid-related deaths. TMA already is trackin...

  • iconEvening Out the Scale: TMA Gears Up for Another Legislative Battle Over Surprise Bills - 11/18/2024 9:04:26 PM

    Surprise medical bills are awfully persistent zombies.  The House of Medicine does what it can to address the factors that increase the odds of patients getting blindsided by unexpected, costly medical bills, and yet, the undead issue rises aga...

  • iconPatient Care Protected: Scope Creep/GME Funding - 11/18/2024 8:21:45 PM

    Related content: 2023 Legislative Wrap-Up: TMA Secured Big Wins With a New Strategy TMA Priority: Protect independent diagnosing and prescribing as the practice of medicine; address current workforce shortages in a way that ensures patients hav...

  • iconPhysician-Led Results: Scope-of-Practice Creep/GME Funding - 11/18/2024 8:21:03 PM

    TMA priority: Protect independent diagnosing and prescribing as the practice of medicine; address current workforce shortages in a way that ensures patients have access to the same standard of care, no matter where they live.    Session re...

  • iconPhysician Input Will Shape CME at TexMed 2025 - 11/12/2024 10:10:37 PM

    Do you have an educational topic in mind to be considered for TexMed 2025?   Submit it now through the application portal by the Dec. 31 deadline.   TMA’s education planning team will evaluate all proposals after Dec. 31. A...

  • icon'Fighting Our Best': TMA Efforts Help Improve End-of-Life Care Bill - 11/11/2024 4:18:00 PM

    Mark Casanova, MD, has a sign in his office reminding him of his team’s unconventional motto: “Stomp Out Suffering.” “A number of years ago, at the end of a team meeting, I just uttered the words as motivation,” the Dallas-based palliative care spec...

  • iconTMA Knowledge Center Improvements Expedite Member Solutions - 11/8/2024 5:45:49 PM

    The Texas Medical Association’s Knowledge Center – TMA’s comprehensive resource hub for answers to physicians’ questions about practicing medicine in Texas – is now live with system-wide improvements, including a new phone line enhanced with an inter...

  • iconUpdate Your Digital Contact Info for Electronic Hospital Notices on Your Patients - 11/7/2024 3:46:10 PM

    Hospitals are required to let you know when they’ve seen your patient via an admit, discharge, or transfer (ADT) notice. To ensure that happens, physicians are required to make sure their digital contact information in a federal database is up to dat...

  • iconInbox Overload: How to Tackle Time-Consuming Electronic Messages - 11/4/2024 5:42:46 PM

    League City family physician Renny Varghese, MD, is often forced to find creative ways to manage his overflowing electronic health record (EHR) inbox.   From allocating specific time in between patient appointments for in-box messages to drafti...

  • iconMedicine, Feds Still Urge Conservation Amid IV Fluid Shortage - 10/22/2024 3:33:51 PM

    Without a clear resolution on the horizon, the Texas Medical Association and American Medical Association continue to urge conservation in response to a nationwide shortage of IV fluids stemming from Hurricane Helene-related damage to the country’s m...

  • iconBCBSTX to Require E/M Codes for Consultation Services - 9/3/2024 3:39:41 PM

    Starting Nov. 18, Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Texas (BCBSTX) will no longer pay physicians for outpatient or inpatient consultations when they report those services with Current Procedural Terminology (CPT) codes 99242 – 99245 and 99252 – 9925...

  • iconBusiness of Medicine Conference Bolsters Physicians in Turbulent Market - 8/23/2024 8:06:00 PM

    Taxes, staffing, personal finances, long-term business planning. Physician practices face no shortage of economic and logistical challenges outside the exam room. To help members navigate those problems with practical, tangible advice, the Texas Medi...

  • icon50-Year Club: Member Essay Project - 8/15/2024 8:34:28 PM

    In February 2007, TMA asked 50-Year Club members to write essays about their personal insights into the medical profession.  Our 50-Year Club members' collective wisdom and knowledge are valuable assets to the association. These essays man...

  • iconStanding Tall for Independence: TMA Advocates for Private Practice - 8/11/2024 8:37:41 PM

    Bridge City family physician Amy Townsend, MD, transitioned from hospital-based care to direct primary care in 2020 after “contemplating leaving medicine altogether.”  She felt the weight of financial strain, a heavy administrative workload, an...

  • iconGrants to 2024 Programs - 7/18/2024 2:37:16 PM

    TMA GRANTS - In support of TMA’s population health, science, and quality of care priorities Vaccines Defend What Matters (VDWM): VDWM is TMA’s integrated, multimedia education and advocacy effort to overcome vaccine hesitancy and increase ...

  • iconMeeting High Standards: Reinvigorated Approach to Events Drives Association Growth - 7/10/2024 8:28:29 PM

    As the space epic’s sci-fi theme song boomed out of the IMAX-like speakers, the Star Wars themed opening movie crawl trumpeted the arrival of 2024 TexMed. The words on the conference hall’s 100-foot-wide screen indicated this year’s annual Texas Me...

  • iconReady to Practice: Texas Looks to IMGs to Address Workforce Shortages - 7/10/2024 6:49:12 PM

    San Antonio radiologist Rajeev Suri, MD, immigrated to the U.S. over two decades ago to further specialize in interventional radiology after completing a residency program in India. Despite receiving what he considered an “exceptional education” fr...

  • iconCMS Advises: Check Medical Records Requests for Phishing - 7/1/2024 2:55:42 PM

    The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) warns physicians to be aware of common phishing scams for medical records, such as fraudulent medical records requests faxed to practices.  CMS recommends physicians review any re...

  • iconHow to Whitelist TMA - 6/27/2024 3:16:07 PM

    Please help us ensure TMA emails arrive in your inbox and not in your spam folder.  See below for steps to follow to ensure Texas Medical Association emails are whitelisted at your organization/institution.  Steps to follow:  ...

  • iconVaccine Grants Improve Patient Access - 6/17/2024 4:50:08 PM

    One of many ways the Texas Medical Association fights to bridge gaps in care, the Vaccines Defend What Matters (VDWM) program has announced its first round of 2024 grantees, who address pressing immunization needs while reaching underserved communiti...

  • iconLiving Legacy: TMA Archive Preserves Medicine's Past - 6/4/2024 8:35:51 PM

    Steve Steffensen, MD, is a regular patron of the Texas Medical Association archive.  Each year, the associate professor of neurology and population health at The University of Texas at Austin Dell Medical School borrows items therein – an older do...

  • iconPhysicians Must Validate Email to Avoid Medicaid Disenrollment, Payment Delays - 5/29/2024 4:02:29 PM

    Texas physicians who care for Medicaid patients should confirm their email address is valid in the Texas Medicaid and Healthcare Partnership’s (TMHP’s) Provider Enrollment Management System (PEMS) to ensure effective communication and timely payments...

  • iconNew APM Committee Accepting Nominations - 5/22/2024 5:18:22 PM

    Recognizing the fast-moving shift to value-based care and the ensuing need for physician guidance, the Texas Medical Association House of Delegates approved a new standing Committee on Alternative Payment Models (APMs) and is now accepting nomination...

  • iconTMA Urges Framework for Innovative Coverage, Cancer Prevention to Senate Committee - 5/21/2024 5:39:55 PM

    Armed with interim charges, the Texas Senate Committee on Health and Human Services recently held its first hearing in the runup to the 2025 state legislative session. The Texas Medical Association was a key participant, offering recommendations...

  • iconDelegates Emphasize Women’s, Reproductive Health Ahead of Legislative Session - 5/15/2024 3:59:21 PM

    The Texas Medical Association, with its sights on the 2025 Texas legislative session, moved forward with policy in alignment with its past and future public health advocacy at TexMed, including a host of new goals for reproductive, women’s, and perin...

  • iconDrivers Ed: Texas Program Empowers Residents to Address Nonmedical Drivers of Health - 5/6/2024 5:44:26 PM

    In April 2020, aerial photos of a packed food bank parking lot in San Antonio made national news, highlighting the issue of food insecurity during the early months of the COVID-19 pandemic.  Nearby, Woodson “Scott” Jones, MD, a pediatrician a...

  • iconComing Up Short: TMA Workforce Report Underscores Access Challenges, Advocacy Wins - 5/6/2024 5:42:18 PM

    Odessa allergist and immunologist Vivek Rao, MD, is something of an outlier.  Well below retirement age at 49, he is younger than the average age of physicians in his specialty and in his region. Although Odessa is a metro area, it is surrounde...

  • iconTMA Resident and Fellow Section Leadership (TMA-RFS) - 4/5/2024 6:40:20 PM

    The Resident and Fellow Section (RFS) is an organized membership section of TMA that helps focus attention on issues unique to Texas’ resident physicians and provides a forum for residents and fellows to communicate with each other and the membership...

  • iconTMA to IRS: Direct Primary Care, Health Care-Sharing Ministries Aren’t Insurance - 4/5/2024 6:36:38 PM

    The Texas Medical Association is urging the IRS to reconsider a proposed rule that would classify direct primary care (DPC) arrangements and health care-sharing ministries (HSMs) as insurance. The IRS proposed rule was issued in June as a resul...

  • iconQuick Tips to Make a Difference in 2024 - 4/3/2024 10:13:05 PM

    Plan your charitable giving using TMA Foundation’s NEW and improved website, which is chock-full of tax-wise tips to help make the most of your vision of a healthier Texas. Here are some of the easiest ways to plan your giving for this year or into ...

  • iconMedicare Advantage – and Disadvantage: Program Enrollment Grows Amid Physician Concerns - 4/3/2024 3:26:38 PM

    Norman Chenven, MD, a family physician and founding CEO of Austin Regional Clinic (ARC), knows it’s not easy to design and operate an effective delivery system that is the optimal mix of quality, patient access, and lower overall costs.  “But i...