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TMA Young Physician Section Young at Heart Award - 06/03/2025

Read about the history and award winners of the TMA Young Physician Section Young at Heart Award.

Section News: Save the Date for Fall Conference - 05/05/2025

Informative business meetings, educational programming, and a fun All Sections Trivia Night Mixer. Mark your calendars to attend the Texas Medical Association’s Fall Conference, Sept. 16-17 for these and other TMA section events.

Use These Four Steps With Irate Patients - 03/19/2025

When faced with a highly emotional patient, your first task is to lower the emotional level of the patient so you can negotiate a reasonable solution. Use these four steps to accomplish that.

Appearance Isn't Everything ... - 03/18/2025

When it comes to the physical appearance of your practice, make sure your idea of acceptable doesn’t leave a “dumpy” impression on your patients.

Advancing Primary Care: Medicare Rolls Out New Payment Codes for Treating Chronic Conditions - 03/04/2025

Though the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) has introduced another acronym into the Medicare mix, some physicians express optimism this particular one could help practices stay viable.   For Greg Fuller,

Straight Shooter: Incoming TMA President Ray Callas, MD, Aims for Practice Protections, Membership Gains - 02/27/2025

Incoming Texas Medical Association President Ray Callas, MD, an anesthesiologist from Beaumont, cites as his top priorities preventing scope-of-practice creep, defending physician autonomy, and bolstering the TMA's membership.

TMA Young Physician Section GroupMe - 01/08/2025

Join the Group! This is an opportunity for TMA young physician section members to converse informally, collaborate, and exchange information.

Committee on Independent Physician Practice Announces Members - 06/21/2024

After recognizing the dire needs of private practice physicians, Texas Medical Association leaders have appointed the members of its inaugural Committee on Independent Physician Practice with broad representation.

TMA Presses Congress to Preserve Independent Practice Viability - 06/13/2024

Administrative hassle, cyberattacks, and other threats to physician practice viability have caught the attention of federal lawmakers, with the Texas Medical Association weighing in heavily on the attendant impacts on physician practices following a May 23 hearing, “The Collapse of Private Practice: Examining the Challenges Facing Independent Medicine.”

TMA House Prioritizes Noncompetes, Physician Payment Reform - 05/13/2024

The TMA House of Delegates adopted several policies intended to alleviate economic pressure on physician practices. Those include directing the association to advocate for more statutory limitations on noncompete agreements in employment contracts and protections from health plans’ problematic payment policies. Read more.

TMA Moment in Time: SGR Repeal - 04/09/2024

The historic victory has roots in TMA advocacy and may provide a playbook for future Medicare reform.

Fix Medicare Now: 2024 Fee Schedule Solidifies Cut, Heightens Calls for Reform - 03/05/2024

This latest cut stems from the 2024 Medicare physician fee schedule and Congressional inaction, both of which further erode physician payment, practice viability, and patient access to care.

Medicine’s MIPS Win: 2024 Medicare Physician Fee Schedule Stabilizes Program - 03/05/2024

The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services yielded to the Texas Medical Association’s concerns about its proposal and the impact of constant changes to MIPS on its participants.

“We Can Compete:” Direct Payment Models Present Opportunity for Independent Practices - 10/13/2023

Rising health care costs. Declining outcomes. Restricted patient access to care. Rampant consolidation. Incessant physician payment cuts. Excessive prior authorization. Creeping scope-of-practice attacks.

AMA Launches National Study of Physician Practice Expenses - 10/11/2023

With the backing of the Texas Medical Association and 172 other health care organizations, the American Medical Association recently launched a survey of U.S. physicians to better understand practice expenses and to support its advocacy for physician payment reform.

TMA Fights Another “Devastating” Medicare Physician Pay Cut Threat - 08/04/2023

Despite medicine’s calls for comprehensive reform, the recently proposed 2024 Medicare physician fee schedule would continue the worrying trends of deepening physician pay cuts and increased risk associated with the Merit-Based Incentive Payment System.

Congress Weighs Medicare Payment Reform During Health Care Consolidation Hearings - 07/25/2023

Federal lawmakers in both chambers recently took up the issue of increasing consolidation – and, with it, decreasing competition – in the health care industry. Surfaced as possible solutions were several of the Texas Medical Association’s legislative priorities, including Medicare physician payment reform.

TMA Offers Curriculum Toolbox to Inspire Future Physicians - 07/20/2023

The Texas Medical Association’s Subcommittee for Academic Physicians has produced a curriculum toolbox that medical schools and residency programs can use to develop electives on topics such as leadership, advocacy, and health policy.

Relief in Site: Physicians Say Setting Should Not Determine Medicare Payments - 06/07/2023

Physicians want to reform a Medicare policy that allows hospital-owned outpatient clinics to charge more than medical practices and ambulatory surgical centers for most medical procedures. This pay discrepancy pressures medical practices to merge in order to protect themselves from hospitals hot to acquire medical practices that, once bought, can collect much higher fees.

At Your Service: Practices focus on patient experience and convenience - 06/05/2023

Practices focus on patient experience and convenience to compete in an ever-changing medical landscape.

A Shelter From the Practice Viability Storm: TMA Braces Physicians Amid Economic Headwinds - 05/31/2023

TMA is here to help all practices – regardless of setting or payment model – thrive, remaining steady in its advocacy at the state and federal levels to protect physician autonomy and to defend against the corporate practice of medicine.

Mending Medicare: Federal Spending Law Reduces Physician Pay Cut Amid Reform Push - 04/12/2023

A massive federal spending law took effect in late 2022, delivering a smaller-than-scheduled Medicare physician pay cut in 2023, but the Texas Medical Association and others in organized medicine continue to push for comprehensive reform.

How to Automate Payment Processes, Avoid Patient Debt - 11/09/2022

Maximizing automation functions within a practice management system can have many hidden benefits to physician practices, not the least of which is saving on costs and time – and heading off payment delays.

How to Cut Operational Costs? TMA Experts Have Answers - 10/21/2022

The cost-conscious physician trying to cut expenses can start by looking around the office.

New TMA Committee Aims to Protect Private Practice - 10/18/2022

Private practices across Texas face the same threats as their larger counterparts: successive physician pay cuts, the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, and rising inflation. But they lack access to the same resources when dealing with them. The Texas Medical Association is dedicated to helping them keep their doors open, which led to the formation of a new Ad Hoc Committee on Independent Physician Practice.