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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.

“It’s Real. It Happens.” Panel Discusses How Shifting Values Can Shift Physicians Away From Burnout - 01/31/2024

By tuning in to personal convictions and values, physicians can improve relationships with their medical team, patients, and themselves. Given the increasing pressures on physicians, that shift is necessary and possible, medical leadership experts shared at TMA’s Leadership Summit. Read more.

Putting Patient Care Before Paperwork: TMA Addresses Burnout - 01/05/2024

The Texas Medical Association offers practical tips to address administrative burdens driving burnout.

TMA to Feds: Some Proposed QPP Changes “Costly and Wasteful” - 08/23/2023

TMA letter praises the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services for its commitment to deregulation and outlining TMA's concerns about the proposed changes and recommendations for how to improve the QPP.

Medicare Gets It Wrong, Re-Calculates MIPS Scores and Changes 2019 Payment Adjustments - 08/21/2023

All Texas physicians should recheck their 2017 Merit-Based Incentive Payment System (MIPS) or Alternative Payment Model (APM) information to ensure the correct MIPS payment adjustment (bonus or penalty) was applied for 2019 Medicare payments.

Congress Conducts MACRA Check-Up - 07/25/2023

Federal lawmakers seem to be listening to calls for reform for the Medicare Access and CHIP Reauthorization Act (MACRA), as the House Energy & Commerce Committee’s Oversight & Investigations Subcommittee recently hosted a “MACRA Checkup” hearing to examine the law’s “successes and remaining challenges.”

Make a Penalty-Free Shift From Meaningful Use to MIPS - 07/25/2023

I’m confused about the overlap of dates between the meaningful use incentive program and the Advancing Care Information reporting requirements under the Merit-Based Incentive Payment System. Is there extra work for physicians who participate in both?

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.

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.

Will Health Quality Improve Under New Medicare? - 06/28/2023

Medicare is revolutionizing how physicians are evaluated and paid to provide care, and patients will see changes as a result, focusing in their care quality. As Texas doctors adapt to the new Medicare payment system, many are concerned about the changes, while others are optimistic the transition will result in healthier patients. The switch to the new Quality Payment Program under the Medicare Access and CHIP Reauthorization Act (MACRA) means physicians who care for Medicare patients must change how they run their practice – and care for their patients.

Congress Asks, TMA Delivers: 50 More Ways to Fix Medicare - 05/02/2023

TMA leaders presented lawmakers with 50 ways to increase physicians’ Medicare pay; reduce paperwork and hassles; measure “quality” with metrics that are meaningful to physicians and their patients; and push health information technology vendors to shoulder their fair share of the administrative burden.

Developing Medicine’s Leaders: TMA Arms Physicians to Advance Medicine - 03/07/2023

The Texas Medical Association's Leadership College and its other leadership development programs help physicians develop the nonclinical skills necessary to pursue leadership positions in their practices, in their communities, and within organized medicine.

Why the Physicians Benevolent Fund Is Important: A Conversation With TMA Vice Speaker John Flores, MD - 11/08/2022

WHEN PHYSICIANS AND their families encounter personal hardship – such as a widow left with a family to raise following her physician husband’s death, or an elderly couple struggling to make ends meet as their savings dwindle following a dementia diagnosis – the Texas Medical Association’s Physicians Benevolent Fund (PBF) is here to help.

By Popular Demand: Top Wellness CME Courses - 11/07/2022

Your wellness matters. That’s why TMA is committed to providing health and wellness CME courses to enhance your life journey, with many available for ethics credit. As a TMA member, you can access CME courses at no cost, thanks to

Notice to Patients on the Departure of a Physician - 10/07/2022

When a physician departs a group, the practice should consider the issue of continuity of care for patients. The Texas Medical Board (TMB), in an attempt to address this, adopted regulations that must be followed whenever a physician leaves a group. This applies to physicians who are partners, members, or employees of the group.

Retired? TMA Fund Provides Financial Ray of Hope If Golden Years Tarnish - 09/26/2022

Retirement can be filled with new experiences, family time, leisure, and more. Retirement also can bring challenges – chronic or new illnesses, a dementia diagnosis, or expensive medications that wipe out your hard-earned nest egg.

Plug In to Self-Care and Wellness With TMA Resources - 09/15/2022

The COVID-19 pandemic has highlighted and at times exacerbated mental health struggles for physicians and other health care professionals as well as patients. The Texas Medical Association’s Physician Health and Wellness (PHW) PlugIns provide resources to help you care for yourself while you’re caring for patients.

Physician Wellness the Focus of TMA Fall Conference - 09/07/2022

A pandemic, vaccine hesitancy, economic pressures. With a focus on physician wellness, the Texas Medical Association’s 2022 Fall Conference Sept. 16-17 aims to help doctors cope with the confluence of these and other factors that continue to bear down on them and their practices.

Improve Your Work-Life Balance with These Simple Steps - 08/16/2022

You’re a busy physician, so you might not always have time to take care of yourself as well as your patients. But taking care of yourself doesn’t just mean focusing on your physical well-being. Your mental, financial, and emotional fitness need to be looked after as well. The Texas Medical Association’s Committee on Physician Health and Wellness can help you assess your work-life balance and determine your core values.

New Unscored MIPS Measure Can Help You Refine Your EHR Use - 07/13/2022

Even though it won’t affect your score for 2022, a new piece of this year’s Merit-Based Incentive-Payment System (MIPS) might be worth undertaking just the same – because it can help practices make sure they’re using their electronic health record (EHR) systems safely.

Physicians Benevolent Fund Supports Physicians in Need - 06/07/2022

The Physicians Benevolent Fund helps support physicians and their immediate families who fall on desperate financial times or who are in treatment, perhaps as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic or because of other circumstances. TMA family members can support PBF in two ways.

Your Patients’ Health Depends on Your Overall Well-Being - 05/16/2022

Taking care of your patients is obviously your first priority. But while you’re working to improve the lives of people in your community, don’t forget to take care of yourself, too. After all, you can’t treat patients effectively if you’re not treating yourself well.

Improve Your Spiritual, Emotional, and Social Well-Being - 05/16/2022

The Texas Medical Association’s Committee on Physician Health and Wellness has developed CME courses that will help you stay positive, let go of angry thoughts, and relieve stress and burnout.

CMS Reweights MIPS Cost Category to Zero Due to the Pandemic - 05/04/2022

As a result of the ongoing public health emergency, physicians will find some much-needed, if temporary, relief from burdensome reporting requirements under Medicare’s Merit-Based Incentive Payment System.

MACRA: Fix or Folly? - 05/02/2022

The Texas Medical Association has made recommendations to improve the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services' proposed rule to implement the Medicare Access and CHIP Reauthorization Act (MACRA), which results in numerous compliance and administrative hassles.