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PAs and APRNs: How Do These Midlevels Differ? - 08/30/2023

Physicians interested in hiring a midlevel practitioner for their practice sometimes wonder whether they should hire a physician assistant or an advanced practice registered nurse. Here’s the basic difference between the two.

TMA Opposes Attempts to Expand Audiologists’ Scope - 07/17/2023

Proposed federal laws that would give audiologists unlimited access to Medicare patients without a physician referral could lead to lasting, and expensive, harm to patients, medicine once again told U.S. Senate and House leadership this week.

Proposal Would Maintain Unauthorized Scope for Chiropractors - 07/17/2023

The Texas Medical Association strongly opposes proposed new state rules that would continue to allow chiropractors to practice acupuncture and to perform other procedures and services outside the scope of practice for chiropractic.

Removing Texas Physicians From the Health Care Team Would be Harmful, Costly - 05/04/2023

Op-ed by Texas Medical Association (TMA) President Gary W. Floyd, MD, and Board of Trustees Chair G. Ray Callas, MD, about legislation proposing to give advanced practice registered nurses and other providers independent practice authority without physician supervision.

Help TMA Fight Independent Practice For APRNs - 05/02/2023

Please contact your state lawmakers today through the new TMA Grassroots Action Center. Let them know you support physician-led, team-based care. Tell them how much you learned in your years of medical school, residency, and beyond. Tell them why APRNs are NOT the answer to Texas’ physician shortage. Ask them to say “No” to the APRNs and to help the Texas Medical Association stop them.

Medicine Blasts Scope Attacks at the Texas Legislature - 04/24/2023

Nonphysician practitioners (NPPs) are redoubling their efforts on behalf of scope-of-practice expansion this session, including a pair of bills that seek full independent practice authority for advanced practice registered nurses (APRNs). But the Texas Medical Association is pushing back with equal force, armed with a growing body of research that shows removing physician oversight of the health care team undermines patient safety and health care cost containment.

TMA Decries Scope Bills That Would Allow Nurses to Practice Independently - 04/24/2023

Just three days before the bill-filing deadline, state lawmakers filed a pair of bills that would allow advanced practice registered nurses to practice independently.

TMA’s “Battle This Session” Begins: Fighting Scope Creep - 03/16/2023

As expected, several scope-of-practice expansion attempts have crept their way into the more than 800 bills the Texas Medical Association is already tracking so far this legislative session, underscoring why fighting scope creep is medicine’s top priority.

Delegation of Duties - 01/17/2023

Use these resources to learn more about delegation of duties. 

Legislative Priority #1: Scope of Practice Encroachments, Graduate Medical Education Funding - 01/06/2023

Goal Protect independent medical diagnosing, treatment, and prescribing as the practice of medicine address workforce shortages in a way that ensures all patients have access to the same standard of care and keeps pace with Texas’ outsized population

TMA Joins Fight Against Scope Creep in “Sweeping” Federal Legislation - 11/21/2022

Organized medicine is banding together to oppose a piece of federal legislation that advocates say would expand the scope of practice for nonphysician practitioners (NPPs) like nurse practitioners and physician assistants at the expense of Medicare and Medicaid patients.

Protocols and Prescriptive Authority Agreements - 06/29/2022

In managing physician assistants and advanced practice registered nurses, what is the difference between a prescriptive authority agreement and a protocol? Do I need to have both?

Study: Nonphysician Practitioners “Should Not Function Independently” - 04/21/2022

The recent experience of a Mississippi clinic adds another piece of evidence to support one of TMA’s enduring philosophies: Health care teams should be physician-led. The clinic analyzed how both physicians and nonphysician practitioners performed in a primary care role.  

TMA Opposes Proposed Title Change for Physician Assistants - 03/08/2022

The American Academy of PAs (AAPA) passed new policy last week changing the profession’s official title to “physician associate” rather than the traditional “physician assistant” (PA).

May Nonphysician Practitioners Order DME? - 10/28/2021

Under what conditions may my physician assistant order durable medical equipment (DME)?

Employing Nonphysician Practitioners: Online Resources - 10/27/2021

The Texas Medical Association has a number of tools to help physicians manage nonphysician practitioners properly.

New Patient Visit Not “Incident-to” - 08/17/2021

If a new Medicare patient comes into the office and sees the physician assistant (PA) only, can we bill Medicare for the PA’s services as “incident to” the physician?

Commentary: Hey Texas, Time to Stop Using the Word Provider! - 08/02/2021

The growing unwillingness to highlight the differences in training, education, and expertise between physicians and other health care professionals constitutes an increasing danger to not only our profession but also to patients, our health care system, and society as a whole. Patients deserve to know who is rendering their care. It is our hope that every physician reading this article will think and act in some way to speak up against the “provider” label and help reclaim the rightful title. Our profession is thousands of years old, so let’s not be the generation that destroys its own name. For the sake of those who follow in our footsteps, let’s take a stand together today.

Survey: Physicians’ Office Favored Over Retail Clinics, Urgent Care Centers - 06/23/2021

Retail clinics and urgent care centers may be as ubiquitous as Whataburger or Subway these days, but physicians’ offices “remain the public’s favored site of care,” according to a recent survey by Morning Consult.

Bad Scope Bills Defeated - 06/11/2021

Among other ill-advised proposals put forth during this year’s session, the House of Medicine stopped every troublesome attempt by nonmedical professionals to creep into the practice of medicine during this session.

The Graveyard: Scope Bills That Are No Longer a Threat, Thanks to TMA - 05/17/2021

There are still 13 days left until the House of Medicine can officially breathe easy on lawmakers’ most misguided ideas. But thanks to the Texas Medical Association’s diligence at the Capitol, many of the most dangerous state bills of 2021 have officially gone to the Texas Legislature’s graveyard.

As Scope Defenses Continue, TMA Opposes Treatment Expansion for Midwives - 05/04/2021

Throughout the 2021 session, troublesome bills to expand nonphysicians’ scope of practice have collectively been a sleeping monster – kept dormant by the House of Medicine’s dogged advocacy efforts, but in constant need of monitoring should the beast awaken.

Legislative Hotline: Independent Prescribing for APRNs: A Bad Idea - 03/24/2021

The house of medicine sent a handful of its advocates into the ring to stop this year’s effort to give advanced practice registered nurses (APRNs) more authority to perform medical acts without physician supervision.

A Busy Tuesday for Medicine: Dangerous Eye Surgeries, Extended Postpartum Coverage, Prior Authorization - 03/23/2021

Organized medicine sent an army of physicians – including TMA President Diana Fite, MD – to tell senators why a bill giving therapeutic optometrists the authority to perform a lengthy list of surgical procedures is a short-sighted idea.

Scope Expansion Bills Moving Forward. Help TMA Protect Health Care - 03/22/2021

Scope of practice will take center stage this week as the Texas Medical Association keeps its eye on and fights bad legislation that would give non-medical professionals the authority to practice medicine.