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Texas Medicine Magazine - 4/1/2024 7:33:15 PM

A Publication of the Texas Medical Association Texas Medicine is available to TMA members and presents timely information on public health, medicolegal issues, medical economics, science, medical education, and legislative affairs affecting Texas ...
Table of Contents: April 2024 - 4/1/2024 7:30:26 PM

The Leadership Issue Straight Shooter: Incoming TMA President Ray Callas, MD's 26 years of experience as a member have prepared him to lead the association at a time when Texas physicians face economic challenges and when the state simultaneously fac...
Data-Driven Interventions: TMA Zeroes in on Quality Opioid Care - 4/1/2024 5:35:34 PM

Data that reflect a patient’s true risk of substance use disorder or overdose. Technology that alerts physicians of an overdose history. Immediate and affordable access to overdose-reversing medication. Resources that support early intervention. ...
Find Other CME - 2/29/2024 9:36:00 PM

CME from Other Organizations AHRQ Safety Program for Telemedicine: Improving Antibiotic Use Learn how to improve patient safety and reduce harm associated with antibiotics in a free 18-month AHRQ program that starts in June 2024. Virtual Program...
Did You Receive an Email Requiring Registration to the State’s PMP? - 2/28/2024 9:18:58 PM

Update June 19: Initially, all Texas prescribers had until Sept. 1 to set up a PMP Aware account. However, thanks to TMA advocacy, lawmakers recently passed a bill that pushed back that deadline to March 1, 2020. House Bill 3284 – by Rep. J.D. Sheff...
You Write Scripts? You Better Sign Up With the PMP - 2/28/2024 9:18:13 PM

Update June 19: Initially, all Texas prescribers had until Sept. 1 to set up a PMP Aware account. However, thanks to TMA advocacy, lawmakers recently passed a bill that pushed back that deadline to March 1, 2020. House Bill 3284 – by Rep. J.D. Sheff...
Division of Medical Economics - 2/16/2024 8:13:03 PM

The Division of Medical Economics represents and advocates for TMA in state and federal regulatory, socioeconomic, and health policy through support and guidance to public, private, and legislative entities, and through development of association pol...
TexMed 2024 CME Submissions Are Open - 1/11/2024 5:58:55 PM

Have an educational topic in mind to be considered for TexMed 2024, taking place at the Omni Dallas, May 2-4, 2024? The process is now open online and proposals will be accepted until Jan. 31, 2024. To submit a topic, visit the applicati...
Table of Contents: November 2023 - 1/5/2024 7:24:24 PM

Volume 119, Number 9 - November 2023 The Medicaid Issue14 First Steps: TMA helped secure the first Medicaid physician rate increases in decades in hopes it will build momentum for future gains. By Emma Freer20 On the Mend: Twelve months of postpartum...
Physicians’ DEA Registration Now Requires Training on Substance Use Disorder - 1/3/2024 8:36:02 PM

Physicians who must register or renew their registration for a Drug Enforcement Administration license will face a new requirement as of June 27: To register, they will have attest to taking a one-time, eight-hour training on how to treat patien...
No Prior Auth Required for Generic Asthma Meds Following Medicaid Formulary Change - 12/19/2023 7:13:18 PM

As of Dec. 15, physicians can prescribe generic asthma medications previously listed as non-preferred on the Medicaid preferred drug list without needing prior authorization.    Per the Texas Health and Human Services Commission (HHSC), the ch...
HIT Advocacy - 12/6/2023 6:20:31 PM

What has TMA done to advocate for physicians when it comes to health information technology and the Quality Payment Program (QPP)? TMA Comment Letter to The Sequoia Project’s Data Usability Workgroup Re: Its Implementation Guide (Oct. 1...
EHR Incentive Program Attestation Begins - 12/6/2023 6:16:12 PM

Attestation for the Medicare electronic health record (EHR) incentive program has now opened on the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) website for physicians who have completed 90 days of "meaningful use." Attestation for Medica...
Texas Medicine Today - November 2023 - 11/29/2023 11:08:45 PM

Nov. 30, 2023 CMS Strengthens Price Transparency for Hospitals Medicare Premiums, Deductibles to Increase in 2024 Nov. 29, 2023 Deadline: Apply for 2023 MIPS Hardship Exemption by Jan. 2 Feds Extend Telemedicine Prescribing Flexibilities T...
Feds Extend Telemedicine Prescribing Flexibilities Through 2024 - 11/10/2023 9:45:07 PM

With permanent telehealth prescribing policies still under consideration, the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) again has extended temporary pandemic-era telehealth flexibilities to allow physicians to virtually prescribe certain controlled ...
Reintegration: NarxCare and Pharmacy Management Systems Free for Physicians - 11/7/2023 11:18:52 PM

Austin internist and Texas Medical Association Board of Trustees member Tony Aventa, MD, was shocked when the 2021 Texas Legislature rescinded state funding for integration of the Texas prescription monitoring program (PMP) into electronic he...
Prescription Pitfalls: Vendor Drug Program Restricts Physicians to Prescribing Certain Medications - 11/5/2023 5:04:54 PM

Sugar Land internist Cynthia Peacock, MD, treats Medicaid children and young adults who often rely on a steady regimen of medications to treat chronic illnesses or disabilities. But lately, she’s been forced to alter long-standing treatment plans to...
Texas Medicine Today - October 2023 - 10/31/2023 1:42:55 AM

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 Medicare Premiums, De...
CDC Grant Funds Drug Overdose Data Collection in Texas - 10/30/2023 5:10:11 PM

A nearly $4 million grant from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) could give Texas physicians new tools to handle national opioid and mental health crises, which have made it difficult to identify patients at risk for substance use ...
Help Promote National Drug Prescription Take Back Day on Oct. 28 - 10/19/2023 7:11:53 PM

Help put a dent in the prescription drug misuse in Texas and around the country by reminding your patients to dispose of unused medications safely and anonymously on Oct. 28, National Prescription Drug Take Back Day. As the state grapples with a sha...
PMP Integration Free to Physicians - 9/18/2023 5:49:41 PM

As of Sept. 1, the Texas State Board of Pharmacy offers statewide integration of the Texas Prescription Monitoring Program (PMP) and NarxCare into electronic health records (EHR) and pharmacy management systems for two years at no cost to physicians....
10 More Ways to Save Money in Your Practice - 8/30/2023 5:26:55 PM

Past editions of TMA Practice E-Tips have suggested ways practices can save money and time in daily activities. Here are more tips … for TMA members only. These programs and services are free for TMA members, and can save practices thousands of ...
TMA Connects Medicine with the Media Through Outstanding Health Reporting Award - 8/25/2023 4:24:02 PM

In yet another successful year of connecting medicine with the media, the Texas Medical Association’s Council on Health Promotion honored two Texas health care reporters with the 2023 Texas Health Journalist of the Year award in the 66th Anson Jones,...
Patient Care Protected: Scope Creep/GME Funding - 8/7/2023 2:30:26 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...
Physician-Led Results: Scope-of-Practice Creep/GME Funding - 8/7/2023 2:29:03 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. Sessi...
Patient Care Protected: E-Cigarette Regulation and Taxation - 8/4/2023 11:49:52 PM

Related content: 2023 Legislative Wrap-Up: TMA Secured Big Wins With a New Strategy TMA Priority: Increase funding for vaping prevention and cessation programs and create an excise tax to deter youth from buying e-cigarettes. Physician-Led Results:...
Patient Care Protected: Vaccines, ImmTrac2 Modernization - 8/4/2023 11:47:51 PM

Related content: 2023 Legislative Wrap-Up: TMA Secured Big Wins With a New Strategy TMA Priority: Protect current vaccine laws and upgrade the state’s vaccine registry system to make it more user-friendly for practices. Physician-Led Results: Texas...
Patient Care Protected: Medicaid Coverage for Women and Children - 8/4/2023 11:43:50 PM

Related content: 2023 Legislative Wrap-Up: TMA Secured Big Wins With a New Strategy TMA Priority: Pursue more comprehensive coverage of and secure additional funding and resources for maternal and behavioral health care for women and children. Phys...
Opioids: Resources for Prescribing and Addiction Treatment - 7/20/2023 10:31:52 PM

Get access to information about medication-assisted treatment (MAT) for opioid use disorder. The Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) has identified MAT as one of three priority ways to solve the current opioid ove...
COVID-19: Telemedicine - 7/20/2023 8:36:06 PM

Go to the COVID-19 Resource Center. FAQs and "How-to's" Telemedicine: What You Need To Know for COVID-19 and Beyond Telemedicine: Getting Started – TMA “how-to” guide Legal Texas Laws and Regulations Relating to Tele...
Physicians Will Lead Legislature’s Controlled Substances Committee - 7/17/2023 9:56:10 PM

When a special joint committee of the Texas Legislature tackles issues with controlled substances this year, physician-lawmakers will take the lead. House Speaker Joe Straus announced last week via Twitter that Rep. J.D. Sheffield, DO (R-Gatesville)...
TMA to Fight for Health Coverage Expansion, Scope of Practice During 2021 Legislature - 7/17/2023 9:37:25 PM

Although the details about how the 2021 Texas Legislature will operate beginning in January are still unclear, the topics lawmakers will vigorously debate will have a familiar refrain. At the 2020 Texas Medical Association Advocacy Retreat on Saturd...
New Laws Reshape Texas Health Care Landscape - 6/29/2023 12:19:29 AM

August 5, 2019 The Bottom Line: Beginning Sept. 1 new state health care laws will go into effect. The 86th session of the Texas Legislature produced wins and losses for patients and physicians; but overall, doctors who fought for the legislatio...
Physician-Led Results: E-Cigarette Regulation - 6/20/2023 10:12:37 PM

TMA Priority: Increase funding for vaping prevention and cessation programs and create an excise tax to deter youth buying e-cigarettes. Recap: State lawmakers gave tobacco-control advocates – including Texas physicians – a big victo...
Physician-Led Results: Vaccine Protections - 6/20/2023 4:04:20 PM

TMA Priority: Protect current vaccine laws and upgrade the state’s vaccine registry system to make it more user-friendly for practices. Recap: Texas physicians started this year’s legislative session with a simple strategy on vaccine...
Physician-Led Results: Medicaid Coverage for Women and Children - 6/13/2023 6:06:37 PM

TMA priority: Pursue more comprehensive coverage of and secure additional funding and resources for maternal and behavioral health care for women and children. Session recap: The culmination of multi-session efforts, the Texas Medical Association –...
Welcome MAT: Physicians Debunk Skepticism of Medication-Assisted Treatment - 6/5/2023 5:15:43 AM

Austin addiction specialist Ann Marie Case, MD, frequently fields questions from other physicians about medication-assisted treatment (MAT), the combined use of medicines and counseling to treat people with substance use disorder. ...
Table of Contents: April 2023 - 6/5/2023 1:26:53 AM

Volume 119, Number 3 - April 2023The Outreach IssueCover package:Community Connections (pages 8-11)TMA’s Council on Health Promotion helps physicians improve public health from within their own communities. By Sean PriceHard Hats for Little Heads (pa...
Texas Medicine Today - May 2023 - 5/31/2023 1:38:13 PM

May 31, 2023 Delegates Tackle Health Care Workforce Shortages New TMA Policy Recognizes People with Disabilities as Health Disparity Population Apply for a Grant to Help Promote Vaccines May 30, 2023 Virtual Election Voting Trial A...
TMA Delegates Recognize People with Disabilities as “Health Disparity Population” - 5/25/2023 7:12:15 PM

New Texas Medical Association policy recognizes people with disabilities as a “health disparity population” for the first time, a move designed to improve care for those who are often inadvertently overlooked or excluded in medical settings. I...
Key Issues - 5/12/2023 9:37:03 PM

At the heart of TMA's agenda for the 2023 Texas legislative session is protecting the practice of medicine and the patient-physician relationship. View TMA’s Top 10 Legislative Priorities Corporate Practice of MedicineEnsure Physicians and Patien...
DEA Extends Telemedicine Flexibilities for Prescription of Controlled Medications - 5/12/2023 7:16:54 PM

To avoid lapses in patient care now that the COVID-19 public health emergency (PHE) has ended, the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) and the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) issued a temporary extension of teleme...
TMA Community Outreach Program Grants Top Media Award for Opioid Crisis Coverage - 5/10/2023 5:26:17 PM

Addressing the opioid crisis has been a long-standing priority for the Texas Medical Association, and the topic garnered the kudos of the association’s community outreach program connecting medicine to the media. The Anson Jones, MD, Awards re...
Telemedicine Billing, Coverage to Change with PHE End: Here’s How - 5/9/2023 3:50:17 PM

*Editor's note: The Drug Enforcement Administration and the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration issued on May 9 a temporary rule extending PHE-related telehealth flexibilities for prescribing controlled medicines throu...
Texas Medicine Today - April 2023 - 4/27/2023 10:21:06 PM

April 28, 2023 MIPS Value Pathways Registration Now Open MIPS Hardship Exemption Offered Again in 2023 for COVID Bills Remove Physician Oversight of Health Care Team Congress Weighs Legislation Tying Medicare Physician Payments to Inflation ...
Medication-Assisted Treatment for Opioids, Alcohol, Tobacco: What You Should Know - 4/19/2023 3:23:10 PM

Concern about opioids – especially the growing threat of overdose posed by illicit fentanyl – has created heightened awareness about treatment options for people with substance use disorders. One of the oldest and most effective is medication-assiste...
UPDATE: Feds Declare Xylazine an Emerging National Threat in Opioid Crisis - 4/14/2023 6:51:13 PM

Physicians’ ability to diagnose and treat opioid-related overdoses may be complicated by the discovery of the animal tranquilizer xylazine mixed in illicit fentanyl-laced drugs, the Texas Department of State Health Services (DSHS) warned in a recent ...
Taking the Pain out of Prescribing Opioids: CDC Revises Guidelines - 4/14/2023 6:39:59 PM

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) recently issued guidelines to help physicians prescribe opioids safely, and one of the reasons, the agency freely admits, is to clear up confusion caused by its last set of guidelines, which were i...
Opioid Crisis: Illegally Manufactured Fentanyl Facts and Resources - 4/6/2023 6:39:29 PM

Although prescription opioid prescribing in Texas has decreased every year for the last 10 years, overdose deaths due to illegally manufactured fentanyl (IMF) continues to increase dramatically every year. Easing stringent regulations on pain manage...
Abbott Signals Support for Opioid Crisis Interventions: Federal Efforts Also Are Underway - 4/5/2023 12:39:46 AM

Texas Gov. Greg Abbott in February 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. Illicit...