Stories from Texas Medicine, December 2019

Addressing Autism: Giving Physicians Tools - 01/29/2020

Autism spectrum disorder is a fast-growing, serious developmental disability in the U.S., affecting an estimated one out of 59 children nationally, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. It is about four times more common in boys than girls. In recognition of its growing importance, TMA’s House of Delegates in 2019 approved a resolution encouraging physicians to expand and promote resources for families of people with autism.

Finally Settled: Hospitals Settle Physician's Anti-Competition Lawsuit - 01/08/2020

A Laredo oncologist confidentially settled a years-long lawsuit involving a pair of hospitals he alleged mischaracterized a past legal misfortune to terminate his privileges and eliminate his clinic from competing with the facilities.

Out of Physicians' Hands: TMA Challenges Unfair Quality Measures on Medication Adherence - 12/04/2019

Only patients can pick up their own prescriptions, and only patients can propel that medication into their own bodies. Physicians can educate, emphasize, and admonish – but at the end of the day, they can’t restrain and “pill” a squirming, uncooperative patient like a dog or cat. It’s up to patients to do the right thing for themselves. Yet, some health plans’ quality programs are putting that onus on physicians – through medication adherence metrics that determine whether physicians and accountable care organizations (ACOs) in value-based contracts receive bonus payments.

Screening Families of North Texans to Identify Persons with an Increased Risk for Cancer Due to Lynch Syndrome - 12/04/2019

In 2016, the UT Southwestern Medical Center’s Cancer Genetics Program was awarded a grant (PP160103) by the Cancer Prevention and Research Institute of Texas (CPRIT) to increase awareness of hereditary cancer syndromes, particularly Lynch syndrome (LS), and implement a population-based genetic screening program to identify those at high genetic risk for cancer.

Far-Reaching Implications: The Ripple Effects of Texas' Uninsured Rate - 12/04/2019

Data compiled by the Texas Medical Association and other organizations, as well as physicians’ own anecdotal experiences, show how 5 million uninsured patients in Texas become 5 million dominoes. As they fall, so do countless others representing the health of Texas: The economy and well-being of entire communities. The classmates and friends of uninsured children. And yes, the physicians who deal with the burdens of treating uninsured patients in emergency rooms and providing uncompensated care.

Q&A: Food Allergies in Children a Public Health Problem - 12/04/2019

Ask Austin allergist Allen Lieberman, MD, which public health issue hasn’t received the attention it deserves, and his answer shouldn’t be a surprise. “Eight percent of kids have a food allergy,” Dr. Lieberman, who founded Austin Family Allergy and Asthma in 2016, told Texas Medicine. “It’s literally a food-allergy epidemic right now.”

Extreme Medicine: Students Learn to Improvise in Unusual Situations - 12/04/2019

UTMB medical students take part in a two-week extreme medicine program offered in August through UTMB’s preventive medicine residency department. The main thrust of the class was to help aspiring physicians learn how to cope in austere settings where most or all of the tools of modern medicine are unavailable