Related Stories

Survey: Small, Private Practices Now Less Common - 06/10/2025

Physician practices are increasingly tied to hospitals and private equity entities, and they’re also getting larger. Those are among the key findings of the latest nationwide study conducted by the American Medical Association.

I Never Knew TMA: Offered Practice-Specific Help - 12/10/2024

Whether you’re a physician in solo or small group practice in a rural area, employed by a large group or system in an urban market, or somewhere in between, TMA’s Practice Services team can assist with resources necessary to manage your practice.

Health Insurance Market Increasingly Consolidated, Federal Report Details - 12/03/2024

Market consolidation in health insurance increased from 2011 to 2022, per a recently released federal report, with the potential to impact payment and access to care.

Patient Care Protected: Physician Autonomy/Corporate Practice Protections - 11/18/2024

Despite an onslaught of attempts by state government and corporate entities to undermine the patient-physician relationship, the Texas Medical Association successfully prevented any new measures criminalizing patient care this legislative session

Scoping Out the Best Care: TMA Defends Team-Based Care Model - 11/18/2024

As expected, scores of scope expansion attempts have again crept their way into the hundreds of bills TMA is tracking; it's an issue that affects all physicians and patients, regardless of specialty or geography.

'Fighting Our Best': TMA Efforts Help Improve End-of-Life Care Bill - 11/11/2024

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

Planning That Pays: Physicians Can Receive Payment for Helping Patients Prepare for End-of-Life - 11/04/2024

Physicians can receive Medicare payment for helping patients prepare for end-of-life medical decisions.

Capital Gains: Attracting Investors Without Losing Independence - 09/19/2024

Can physicians line up venture capital without letting go of their independence? It’s not so easy.

Learn About the Public Service Loan Forgiveness Program - 09/13/2023

Now that new federal Public Service Loan Forgiveness Program rules expand eligibility for California and Texas physicians, take advantage of an upcoming webinar hosted by the California Medical Association, California Hospital Association, Texas Medical Association, and Texas Hospital Association to learn about how to qualify.

Help Patients Make Wise Choices About Treatment Options - 07/20/2023

Tools are emerging to help physicians overcome the time constraints that can preempt discussions with patients.

Quality Improvement: Practice Awards and Free Webinars - 07/20/2023

TMA, the Texas Osteopathic Medical Association (TOMA), and the TMF Health Quality Institute are collaborating again to provide the Physician Practice Quality Improvement Award program. The award formally recognizes physician practices for their dedication and commitment to providing high-quality patient care and improving outcomes.

Driving the Quality Train: TMA Physicians Lead the Way, From Measures to Standardization - 07/10/2023

In a proactive effort to resolve physician complaints, TMA and its members are deeply involved in quality issues, from participating in the development of new measures to pushing payers for standardized quality programs and supporting physicians who are curious about value-based care.

Texas Physicians Push to Improve Health Care for LGBTQ Patients - 06/28/2023

Lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, or queer/questioning (LGBTQ) patients face unique barriers that put them at greater risk for mental and physical health problems. Often, their health disparities result from a lack of family support, public prejudice, and fear of the health care system. Texas physicians have launched a new workgroup and are adapting their practices to treat this underserved population.

Physician-Led Results: Corporate Practice of Medicine Protections - 06/28/2023

Despite an onslaught of attempts by state government and corporate entities to undermine the patient-physician relationship, TMA successfully prevented any new measures criminalizing patient care this legislative session. Medicine also laid the foundation for a balanced solution to the use of noncompete clauses.

TMA House Prioritizes Practice Viability, Prior Authorization Reform - 05/25/2023

Texas physicians continue to face increasing industry consolidation and worsening administrative burdens, both of which threaten practice viability – and, with it, patients’ access to care.

TMF Offers Resources to Navigate CMS Requirements - 05/16/2023

TMF has launched three physician-focused networks designed to save time, improve patient care, and reduce costs associated with meeting these requirements. These programs, focused on immunizations, behavioral health and value-based improvements, are designed to help physicians benefit from—and not be penalized by—these mandates.

Legislative Priority #6: Physician Autonomy, Corporate Practice Protections - 03/14/2023

During the 2023 state legislative session, the Texas Medical Association aims to protect physicians from being criminalized for the practice of medicine and to keep nonmedical entities from interfering with patient care.

OIG: Physicians Incorrectly Billing for End-of-Life Care Planning - 01/05/2023

Advance care planning (ACP) services were meant to give patients the opportunity to choose the care that is right for them at the end of their lives or during medical crises that could render them unable to make personal health decisions.

Use Medication Reconciliation to Prevent Errors - 10/07/2022

Medication reconciliation helps avoid medication errors such as omissions, duplications, dosing errors, or drug interactions.

Biden Administration to Launch Specialty Payment Model - 07/27/2022

A new, voluntary Medicare payment model option focused on cancer care opens the value-based care door wider for specialists at a time when such models have been limited.

CMS Proposes Delay of New Value-Based Payment Model - 05/18/2022

As Medicare once again prepares to delay a new payment model several years in the making, Houston radiation oncologist Andrew Farach, MD, is applauding that decision, saying its current version doesn’t give small and rural practices a fair shake.

Advance Directives Act: Directive to Physicians - 03/22/2022

The Texas Health and Safety Code authorizes the use of a written Directive to Physicians in accordance with these guidelines.

Wrong Directive: Legal Shifts on End-of-Life Care Concern Physicians - 02/27/2021

Challenges to Texas laws governing end-of-life care, whether through legislative rewrites or judicial override, are nothing new. The recent success of those challenges is. In particular, two recent erosions have physicians like Houston palliative care specialist Mark Casanova, MD, chagrined and concerned about the future of doctors’ role in end-of-life treatment.

The Customer Is Always Right? Patient-Reported Outcome Measures Have Fans and Detractors - 01/26/2021

For too long, some doctors say measures of a physician’s quality of care have been about process: the average length of a patient stay, for example, or a patient’s readmission rate. The bottom line is results, and that’s why a shift to patient-reported outcome (PRO) measures is necessary. However, even proponents of PRO measures note that collecting the information from patients for those metrics places burdens on physicians, and some remain skeptical of bonuses and penalties tied to a measure that derives from a subjective factor: what patients think.

Troubling Trend: Texas’ 2018 QPP Data Contains More Bad Signs - 01/05/2021

As the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services continues to churn out glowing data annually on its Quality Payment Program (QPP), a full picture of the program’s impact eludes the agency’s reporting. According to the Texas Medical Association’s analysis of state-level data in the 2018 QPP Experience Report, it’s clear that small practices continue to feel most of the program’s punitive pressures.