Health Information Technology

HHS Establishes Information-Blocking Disincentives for Clinicians - 05/01/2025

The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services released a final rule that aims to hold health care professionals, including physicians, accountable for information blocking as determined by the HHS Office of Inspector General.

Top Technology Recommendations Align with TMA Policy, Education - 04/29/2025

TMA technology staff attended a regional meeting of a nationwide cybersecurity coalition comprised of 450 other health care organizations, including the American Medical Association, to learn about emerging technology trends in medicine and how to reduce harm to physician practices.

I Never Knew TMA: Had AI Experts on its HIT Committee - 03/31/2025

TMA’s HIT Committee stands among nine councils and 18 standing committees that channel physician expertise to influence policy and programs that support Texas patients and physicians and provide solutions to the challenges they encounter.

Proposed Cybersecurity Rule Changes Create Undue Burden, TMA Warns Feds - 03/18/2025

The proposal recommends sweeping, significant revisions to established standards for patient health information, but may overstep its reach and create financial pressure physicians can’t afford.

20 Everyday HIPAA Tips - 03/17/2025

 The goal of HIPAA is to make sure the protected health information you are responsible for or come into contact with remains confidential, secure, and available when you need it. Here are basic steps every practice can take to help make this happen.  

TMA’s Top Legislative Priorities: Expand Access to Care with Telemedicine Payment Parity - 12/31/2024

TMA supports improving access to high-quality, physician-led telemedicine care that is covered at the same rate as in-person visits.

Ask “Dr. ChatGPT”: What Physicians Should Know About AI - 12/20/2024

Health care adviser Harvey Castro, MD, details what physicians should know about artificial intelligence.

TMA Develops New AI Education - 12/20/2024

Responding to significant interest from members after a 2023 standing-room-only TexMed event, the Texas Medical Association has developed a free webinar for members to learn how to integrate augmented or artificial intelligence technology, including ChatGPT, into patient care.

Executive Order Requires Safe, Secure Use of AI in Health Care - 12/20/2024

President Joe Biden signed an executive order Oct. 30 establishing new standards for the safe and secure use of artificial intelligence via federal oversight across different sectors, including health care.

Feds Require AI Transparency, Define Info-Blocking Exceptions - 12/20/2024

First-of-their-kind transparency regulations established by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services aim to help physicians determine the safety of artificial intelligence technology. The new rule also established a new information blocking exception and implemented a 21st Century Cures Act requirement for health IT developers. Read more.

FTC Mandates Vendors Notify Patients of Breaches in Health Information - 11/07/2024

The Federal Trade Commission has amended its Health Breach Notification Rule to require vendors of personal health records and related entities not covered by HIPAA to notify individuals, the FTC, and, at times, the media, when a breach in protected health information occurs. The change will take effect July 29.

CMS Adds Cyberattack Option to MIPS Hardship Exemption - 11/07/2024

The option has been added to the Extreme and Uncontrollable Circumstances application. That portal is now open, and physicians have until Dec. 31 to file a hardship application and avoid a 2026 negative payment adjustment in the Merit-based Incentive Payment System. Read more.

How to Renew Your Electronic Prescribing Hardship Waiver - 11/07/2024

Physicians and other prescribers in Texas must now electronically prescribe controlled substances (EPCS). However, prescribers who demonstrate financial or technical hardships, or other exceptional circumstances, are eligible for a waiver from the Texas Medical Board (TMB) that, if approved, grants a one-year delay. If the hardship persists, prescribers must renew that waiver annually.

TMA Presses Feds to Ensure Medical Database Is Peer-Reviewed, Evidence-Based - 08/08/2024

As the federal government tries to hone the future of its “actionable medical knowledge” database, the Texas Medical Association is urging officials to ensure the tool offers meaningful, evidence-based information to physicians, including with the evolution of artificial intelligence.

Physicians Can Delegate Breach Notifications to Change Healthcare Following Cyberattack - 06/26/2024

The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services’ Office of Civil Rights announced  May 31 that covered entities – such as health plans, health care clearinghouses, and physicians – affected by privacy breaches stemming from the February cyberattack on Change Healthcare and its parent corporation UnitedHealth Group may delegate breach notifications to both companies.

Wanted: AI Experts for TMA Committee - 06/05/2024

As augmented and artificial intelligence dominate headlines, the Texas Medical Association is looking to ensure physicians’ interests are represented and protected.

Virtual Vigilance: Robust Cybersecurity Can Safeguard Practices - 06/04/2024

System blackouts. Ransom notes. Lost revenue. Compromised patient care. Once straight from physicians’ nightmares, these threats are now reality for their practices as cyberattacks infiltrate health care. The more medical practices and health care organizations fall victim to ransomware cyberattacks, the more important it becomes to prevent them.

ChatGPT Adviser Harvey Castro, MD, Shares AI Insights at TexMed - 05/09/2024

As a Dallas emergency physician, Harvey Castro, MD, began experimenting with ChatGPT – an artificial intelligence chatbot trained on data from the internet to generate human-like responses to text prompts – in November 2022 after asking himself what he’d “want from AI in a hospital setting.”

UPDATE: Cyberattack Disrupts Payment and Revenue Cycle Management - 03/12/2024

Physicians using Change Healthcare – a health care technology company that is part of Optum and owned by UnitedHealth Group – may experience claims disruptions after the company experienced a cyberattack on Feb. 21.

CMS Announces Flexibilities Following Cyberattack - 03/12/2024

The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services announced several flexibilities that aim to help physicians in the wake of the cyberattack against Change Healthcare, which upset payment and revenue cycle management operations in pharmacies and health systems across the country.

CMS Lifts Ban on Texting Patient Care Orders - 02/28/2024

Clinicians in hospitals and critical access hospitals may now securely text patient information and orders to other members of the health care team if using a compliant platform, thanks to advocacy by the Texas Medical Association.

Virtual Scribes Enhanced Relationships Between Patients and Physicians - 02/13/2024

At a time when physicians face burnout often due to administrative stress, two new studies from Boston’s Brigham and Women’s Hospital and Massachusetts General Hospital found virtual scribes cut physician burden by 16% and enhanced relationships between patients and 60% of physicians.

Information-Blocking Disincentives Unfairly Penalize Practices, TMA Tells Feds - 01/16/2024

The Texas Medical Association and others in organized medicine are pushing back on proposed federal information-blocking rules to establish “disincentives,” financial and otherwise, that could discourage Medicare participation and compromise sensitive patient-physician discussions, among other concerns.

Added Security: Free Tool Helps Practices Comply with the HIPAA Security Rule - 01/05/2024

Federal officials updated a free tool to help small and medium-sized practices comply with the HIPAA Security Rule.

EHR Systems Must Give Practices Export Functionality - 12/13/2023

Practices and patients will be able to export electronic health information more easily thanks to a 21st Century Cures Act requirement that all certified electronic health records systems provide such functionality by Dec. 31.