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CMS Postpones 2019 MIPS Reporting Deadline to April 30 - 03/23/2020

With a key deadline for clinicians in the Merit-Based Incentive Payment System approaching fast amid the COVID-19 pandemic, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services is giving those clinicians a month of extra time to submit their data.

TPHC Praises Bill to Make State College Campuses and Offices Tobacco-Free - 02/20/2020

Statement by Eduardo Sanchez, MD, chair of the Texas Public Health Coalition and former Texas commissioner of health, in support of legislation filed to make Texas state college campuses and state agencies tobacco-free.

John Zerwas, MD, Honored for Service as Texas Lawmaker - 02/12/2020

The American Medical Association on Tuesday awarded former Texas State Rep. John Zerwas, MD, its Dr. Nathan Award for Outstanding Government Service.

AMA House Punts on Texas Plan to Fix QPP - 11/20/2019

A decision on whether the American Medical Association (AMA) will join the Texas Medical Association’s call for major changes to Medicare’s Quality Payment Program (QPP) will have to wait a few more months, the AMA House of Delegates decided at its annual meeting in Chicago last week. The QPP overhaul was just one of 11 resolutions the Texas delegation to the AMA took to the five-day meeting. Most of the other 10 received a very warm welcome.

AMA House Rejects MIPS Plan - 11/20/2019

Led by the Texas delegation, the American Medical Association House of Delegates on Tuesday rejected as inadequate a plan to improve Medicare’s Quality Payment Program (QPP) and its highly-flawed Merit-Based Incentive Payment System (MIPS) track.

Texas Students and Residents Nab AMA Posts - 11/18/2019

Ten residents and medical students from Texas won elections over the weekend at the 2019 interim meeting of the American Medical Association in San Diego.

File Your MIPS Targeted Review Request by Sept. 30 - 09/18/2019

Physicians have two weeks to file a targeted review request to appeal errors in their 2018 Merit-Based Incentive Payment System (MIPS) performance feedback and 2020 Medicare payment adjustment under the Quality Payment Program (QPP).

Improve Your Health Systems Science Curriculum - 08/23/2019

Do you have a significant responsibility for implementing a curriculum related to topics such as health care quality, population health, or team-based care at your institution? If so, you might benefit from the American Medical Association’s Health Systems Science Scholars Program.

Yes, You Do Have to Comply With a MIPS Audit Request - 08/14/2019

TMA finally received clarification from CMS: If you receive an Merit-based Incentive Payment System (MIPS) audit request for the 2017 and/or 2018 performance years, compliance is indeed mandatory, and there are possible punishments for noncompliance.

Retiring the R-Word: The Right Thing to Do - 07/03/2019

The AMA House of Delegates last month adopted policy that would put the first three phrases on the verboten list for physicians. Kudos to the delegates for recognizing that words, especially in the mouths and pens of powerful people like physicians, really do matter.

TMA to Congress: Undo Payment Freeze, Help Physicians With MACRA - 06/25/2019

Physicians participating in the Quality Payment Program’s Merit-Based Incentive Payment System and alternative payment models need help from Congress to succeed, and lawmakers need to undo an upcoming freeze on Medicare payments. That’s what the American Medical Association, the Texas Medical Association, and dozens of other medical societies told House of Representatives and Senate leaders in both parties in a letter sent last week.

Be On the Lookout for MIPS Audit Request - 06/25/2019

The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services has contracted with Guidehouse, a nationwide consulting firm, to audit physicians who participate in the Merit-Based Incentive Program, which is under the Quality Payment Program. If you submitted MIPS data for 2017 and/or 2018, you could receive a request for information via email or certified letter from Guidehouse.

Houston Physician Is AMA Board Chair-To-Be - 06/17/2019

In 2020, Texas physicians will hold the largest reins of power at the American Medical Association. The AMA Board of Trustees last week chose Russell W.H. Kridel, MD, a facial plastic surgeon from Houston, as its new chair-elect. Dr. Kridel has been a board member since 2014 and served as secretary of the board last year. He will become chair following the AMA’s annual meeting in June 2020.

AMA Taps Texas Physician As Next President - 06/10/2019

Susan Rudd Bailey, MD, an allergist from Fort Worth, was unanimously elected today by the American Medical Association House of Delegates to be the next AMA president. “Challenging times remain for our health care system,” she told the delegates

Texas Doctors Seek to Help Trafficking Victims, Protect New Mothers - 06/07/2019

Texas doctors hope policy proposals put forth now can help stop human trafficking and protect women having a baby by extending their health insurance coverage. The American Medical Association (AMA) House of Delegates policymaking body will take up these and other resolutions this weekend and in the coming week during the national medical association’s annual meeting, in Chicago.

Milestone Shows How Far Women Have Come in Medicine - 06/07/2019

After 151 years of all-male leadership at the nation’s largest physician organization, a family physician from Texas broke through the glass ceiling at the American Medical Association on June 17, 1998. Twenty-one years later, another Texas physician is poised to become the AMA’s sixth woman president – and its third in a row.

Texans Invite AMA to Join Crusade to Fix QPP - 06/04/2019

Don’t be surprised if the members of the American Medical Association (AMA) House of Delegates leave their annual meeting next week talking with a Texas drawl. Not only is Fort Worth allergist Sue Bailey, MD, likely to be picked as the next AMA president; not only are Texans represented at almost every level of AMA leadership; not only is there a special reception honoring Louis J. Goodman, PhD, who is retiring as CEO of the Texas Medical Association; there’s also this little matter of 11 policy proposals the Texas delegation has submitted for the AMA house to consider.

Deadline to Submit 2018 MIPS Data is April 2 - 03/27/2019

If you plan to participate in the Merit-Based Incentive Payment System, submitting your data for 2018 on time is not something to fool around with. That’s why the Texas Medical Association reminds you that the deadline to submit data for the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services’2018 Quality Payment Program is April 2 – the day after April Fool’s Day.

National Specialty Societies With MACRA Information - 03/27/2019

To help you get the best information possible, TMA has identified direct links to MACRA news, resource centers, education, and advocacy from national specialty societies. Visit your specialty society online for information specific to your specialty, setting, and practice.

How to Avoid MIPS Penalty with Minimal Reporting by April 2 - 03/25/2019

For 2018 reporting, your 2020 Medicare payments will be cut even more – by 5 percent – if you are required to participate in MIPS but choose not to submit data. So if you’d rather get paid in full next year (or – even better – receive a payment bonus), there’s still time to submit 2018 data. But you should act fast. The deadline is April 2.

Free MIPS Help from TMF Health Quality Institute - 03/22/2019

The Texas Medical Association has heard from physicians who do not know if they are required to participate in Medicare’s Merit-Based Incentive Payment System (MIPS) as well as those who know they need to participate – and know they need help.

CMS Working to Correct MIPS Payment Errors - 03/05/2019

The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services says it has become aware of an error in MIPS payment adjustments applied to Medicare Part B drugs, and is working to resolve the issue.

New Options for Medicare’s 2019 Quality Payment Program - 01/08/2019

Just when you thought no one could make the Quality Payment Program any more complicated, the agency that runs the program has done just that. Beginning in 2019, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services will split the QPP’s advanced alternative payment model (APM) track into two options: the original Medicare Option, and the new All-Payer Combination Option.

Learn To Be An Effective Politician at AMA Workshop - 01/07/2019

If you’re now thinking about getting involved in politics, but you’re not sure how, start by attending the 2019 AMPAC Candidate Workshop in March.

MIPS Training and Assistance - 12/12/2018

TMA's practice management consultants can conduct a MACRA readiness assessment of your practice and provide customized on-site assistance to help you with your practice's specific needs. The assessment will focus on clinical processes, electronic health record optimization, and workflow improvement opportunities to help increase your MIPS scoring.