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UPDATE: TMB Continues to Clarify New Fingerprinting Requirement Ahead of License Renewals - 03/11/2024

As the first round of this year’s physician licensure renewals get under way, a new fingerprinting requirement affecting certain renewals has sparked confusion and concern among Texas physicians.


TMB to Start One-Time Fingerprinting Requirements for License Renewals - 11/15/2023

Approximately 75,000 Texas physicians seeking to renew their medical license soon will be required to submit their fingerprints, according to the Texas Medical Board.


Medical Board Renewed; Special Session Ends - 08/23/2023

The 85th Texas Legislature returned to Austin July 18 for its first called special session. Senate and House members, led by Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick and Speaker Joe Straus, have 30 days to address the 20 topics identified by Gov. Greg Abbott starting with the Texas Medical Board sunset bill and other sunset legislation.


Legislative Hotline March 4, 2021: TMA Opposes End-of-Life Care Bill That Poses Threat to “Do No Harm” - 07/17/2023

The Texas Medical Association is once again working to stop legislative attacks on a physician’s sacred creed to “do no harm,” which includes taking care of patients in their last days.


State Working to Clear Confusion with TxEVER - 07/17/2023

Although an official with the Department of State Health Services (DSHS) last week said the new TxEVER system should be operating smoothly, the agency on Friday acknowledged some of the difficulties physicians are experiencing.


TMB Won’t Penalize Physicians For Technical Problems With Vital Registry - 07/17/2023

The Texas Medical Board confirmed Saturday that it will not take action against physicians who experience technical issues with Texas’ new vital statistics registry, TxEVER.


Medicare Pays for End-of-Life Consults - 07/17/2023

As of January, Medicare pays physicians for advance care planning as a separate service, a long-sought victory that promotes educating patients and physicians on the issue. The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services created two new payment codes that cover it as a separate service in physician practices and facilities, including hospitals.


A Chance to Live Better: Integrating Palliative and Supportive Care - 05/16/2023

Commentary — December 2017 Tex Med. 2017 113(12) 13–14. By Gerard J. Voorhees, MD Let's face it When our patients are not responding to curative treatment or are nearing the end


Under Attack, MOC Boards Pledge Changes - 05/02/2023

Facing a revolt among their diplomates, the boards that run maintenance of certification programs have run up a white flag.


TMB Pulls Proposed Rule on Surprise Bills - 02/09/2023

The Texas Medical Board has withdrawn its proposed rules to implement pieces of the state’s new law introducing baseball-style arbitration on many out-of-network medical bills. At its meeting Friday, the board pulled down its rule proposal, saying in a statement that it “would not cover all providers under the statute.”


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.


Help, Not Discipline: TMB Program Guides Physicians Through Impairment - 11/01/2022

The Texas Physician Health Program helps physicians work through mental health crises and avoid discipline by the Texas Medical Board.


TMB Adopts New Requirements on Reporting Conviction Details, Negligence Suits - 07/08/2022

Physicians who are convicted of a felony and certain misdemeanors must now submit a “description” of their infraction to the Texas Medical Board (TMB) within 30 days after the courts wrap up their case. The same requirement now applies to physicians who must pay damages in a medical negligence claim.


Voice of Reason: TMA’s Board of Councilors Tackles Ethical Policymaking - 06/08/2022

Established in 1903, the Board of Councilors renders and updates opinions on matters of medical ethics, from abortion and medical use of cannabis to physician-assisted suicide and restrictive covenants, among other responsibilities.


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.


Hospital Asks for Expedited Trial in Fort Worth Life-Sustaining Treatment Case - 04/30/2021

Believing that court-mandated, life-sustaining treatment is causing harm to a child in its care, Cook Children’s Medical Center in Fort Worth is attempting to resolve a highly publicized court case as quickly as possible.


House Passes Measure to Prevent Medical Billing Tax - 04/07/2021

Thanks to tireless work from a physician-legislator, the house of medicine took a huge step Tuesday toward preventing a planned tax on medical billing services that would take money out of patients’ and physicians’ pockets.


Stay Vigilant When Considering COVID-19 Treatments, TMB Says - 03/05/2021

The Texas Medical Board (TMB) and Texas Medical Association remind physicians to continue to use strong medical judgment when considering drugs and therapies to treat COVID-19 and to take all appropriate steps when making any treatment decision.


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.


Defend Patient Decisions at the End of Life - 02/11/2021

Perhaps no decision we make is more personal, difficult, or profound as choosing how we wish to spend our final days, and it’s one physicians encourage patients to make long before the need arises.


TMB Expands Telemedicine, Opportunities for Retired Physicians Because of COVID-19 - 05/19/2020

In response to Gov. Greg Abbott’s COVID-19 “state of disaster” declaration Friday, the Texas Medical Board has taken several steps to help Texas physicians safely and effectively care for patients. On Thursday, the TMB issued a waiver that allows telephone refills of valid prescriptions for treatment of chronic pain by a physician with an established chronic pain patient.


TMA White Paper Explains Minimum Safe-Practice Standards Rule - 05/13/2020

The Texas Medical Board’s new rule requiring practices follow minimum safe-practice standards has caused a lot of questions and headaches for physicians throughout the state. To help ease any pain, the Texas Medical Association has published a white paper on the rule, which went into effect May 1.


TMA to TMB: Let Docs Decide Whether In-Person Visit Needed For Subsequent Opioid Scrips - 03/06/2020

The Texas Medical Association has some suggestions for the Texas Medical Board on how to implement the state’s new 10-day limit on opioid prescriptions for acute pain. A letter to the board says it should be up to the physician’s judgment whether a non-initial 10-day prescription for acute pain requires seeing a patient in-person.


TMB Transitions to Electronic Licenses in September - 09/18/2019

Beginning Sept. 1, the Texas Medical Board (TMB) will no longer issue paper licenses for physicians or physician assistants. Instead, new and renewed licenses will be available via the My TMB online portal.


Setting the Record Straight: Supreme Court Curtails TMB for Over-Sanctioning Physician - 08/02/2019

Eight years ago, when he experienced a rare patient death, McAllen family physician Ruben Aleman, MD, signed the death certificate the way Texas physicians had been doing it for years, and the only way he knew how: using pen and paper. That resulted in the Texas Medical Board (TMB) not only coming after him, but accusing him of “unprofessional or dishonorable conduct that is likely to deceive or defraud the public” – words found in the state Medical Practice Act. The Texas Supreme Court recently decided that was an overreach for a physician who simply hadn’t signed up on the state’s electronic death registration system, which at the time was relatively new.