Prepare for Disasters with TMA’s Help
By David Doolittle

Tropical Depression Imelda deluged parts of Southeast Texas late last week, serving as an all-too-real reminder of the devastation that natural disasters can cause.

As of Sunday, five people had died as a result of the storm, and tens of thousands of homes and businesses from Houston to the Louisiana border were damaged, reports say.

Whether you or your practice have been directly affected by the storm, or if you are caring for patients who have been, look to the Texas Medical Association’s Disaster Preparedness and Response Resource Center for up-to-date information and tools, including:

• A TMA Whitepaper (log-in required) on a new law that expands civil liability protection to health professionals who volunteer their services during disasters and sponsoring health care facilities that provide care, assistance, or advice during disasters. Also find a video and story on the law: Senate Bill 752.
• Health insurance claims information, including details about claims filing and deadlines; and ICD-10-CM coding advice.
• Information on accessing medical information for displaced Texans.
• A look back at Hurricane Harvey in 2017.

And be sure to check out TMA’s Disaster Planning Toolkit: Preparing for the Unexpected. The CME handbook provides tips on how to train your staff for many common emergencies in Texas and help with developing strategies for resuming functions after an emergency occurs. As part of your TMA membership, hundreds of CME and ethics hours are now available at no cost to you, compliments of TMA Insurance Trust.

As always, contact TMA’s Knowledge Center at (800) 880-7955 or via email with any questions about how to protect yourself, your practice, or Texas patients from disasters.

Photo: Creative Commons