Scope of Practice

Texas needs more physicians and other health care professionals working in all parts of the state, especially in rural and border Texas. But the real gains in improving access to and coordination of patient care will come largely from solidifying and expanding the use of physician-led teams. Team-based care capitalizes on the efficiencies of having the right professional providing the right services to the right patient at the right time … with overall direction and coordination in the hands of physicians.

In a scope-of-practice victory for medicine, the Supreme Court of Texas upheld the Third Court of Appeals' decision that the Texas State Board of Examiners of Marriage and Family Therapists' diagnostic assessment rule exceeds the scope of marriage and family therapy.

Patients who receive acupuncture treatment without results may simply choose never to go through it again. But if the acupuncture the patient originally received was the right treatment in the hands of the wrong professional — someone who isn't licensed in acupuncture — the patient's refusal to undergo acupuncture again can become a problem for the patient and the doctor, says C.M. Schade, MD. Suddenly, that treatment modality is not an option.

TMA is fighting the Texas State Board of Dental Examiners' (TSBDE's) proposed rule changes for dental treatment of obstructive sleep apnea. TMA supports the Texas Medical Board's (TMB's) Position Statement on the Practice of Sleep Medicine and Dentists, which clearly states "the diagnosis and treatment of sleep apnea are the practice of medicine." 

TMA has a number of tools to help physicians manage nonphysician practitioners (NPPs) properly.