2011 TCMS Awards Nominations

New Member Benefit - TCMS Healthcare Staffing

TCMS Foundation Lecture Series - 10/4

The Blood & Tissue Center - Therapeutic-Apheresis Survey

DPS Backlog - Controlled Substance Certificates

Spanish Meducation

Hard Hats for Little Heads

Networking Social - 08/11

Networking Social - 08/23

Membership Applicants

Atlantic Health Partners - Lower Vaccine Costs

Nominate a colleague in one of three TCMS award categories.

Each year, the TCMS Physician of the Year Award is presented to a physician who has been a TCMS member for 20 years or more and is considered and admired by their colleagues as a model physician.

This year, two new physician awards have been established – the Ruth M. Bain Young Physician Award which recognizes a physician member of the Society who is 40 years or younger or who has been in practice 8 years or less and is considered and admired by their colleagues as a model physician; and the Physician Humanitarian Award which recognizes a member who provides exceptional volunteer service to others, beyond the normal scope of practice.

The Society is currently taking nominations for all three awards. The awardees will be recognized at the Annual Business Meeting on Thursday, December 1, 2011 at the Austin Country Club.

If you would like to nominate a colleague for one of these awards, complete the appropriate nomination form and return it to the Society by September 15, 2011.

Additional information, nomination forms, and lists of eligible members can be downloaded from the TCMS website or contact the Society at 512-206-1249.

The Travis County Medical Society is pleased to announce the launch of TCMS Healthcare Staffing to provide quality, cost-effective staffing resources to physician practices and healthcare facilities in Central Texas. TCMS Healthcare Staffing services are offered in partnership with Temps, Inc. DBA BrightMed, a national provider of supplemental healthcare professionals.

This service will provide a resource pool of qualified professional staff that can step in on short notice to assist you in maintaining a consistent level of quality service. If you need office staff, healthcare professionals, or physicians to fill short-term needs or full-time openings, TCMS Healthcare Staffing can assist. TCMS members will receive preferential pricing and a portion of any profits will go to further the Society’s mission.

BrightMed is certified by the Joint Commission (JCAHO) and partners with healthcare practices and institutions to solve staffing issues by placing employees on per diem, temp-to-hire, travel, and permanent assignments.  To take advantage of this new resource, contact Sarah Sullivan at 512-231-8100 or sarah@brightmed.com and mention that you are a member of TCMS.

Physicians train for years and accumulate a lifetime of experience in practice to become experts on the human body. But what about becoming experts on the human condition – our relationships with loved ones and ourselves outside of our professional lives?

On Tuesday, October 4 at the Bob Bullock Texas History Museum, the Travis County Medical Society Foundation will present Beyond the White Coat: Physicians and Their Loved Ones, a CME lecture. Cocktail reception begins at 6:00 pm and the lecture begins at 7:00 pm. Bring your spouse/significant other to this program about life and relationships outside of medicine featuring Wayne Sotile, PhD and Mary Sotile, MA.

The Sotiles are nationally recognized physician counselors, hospital and practice consultants, public speakers, and authors of numerous books including The Resilient Physician and The Medical Marriage.

This CME activity will help physicians and their families understand the link between their level of professional fulfillment and their ethical behaviors in the practice environment. Strategies will be discussed as to how to balance medicine and family life, thus enhancing clinical and ethical responsibilities. At the conclusion of the lecture, participants should be able to describe aspects of daily work that undermine and enhance personal and professional fulfillment. In addition, you will be able to devise strategies to deal with these experiences.

To RSVP, contact the Society at 512-206-1146 or tcms@tcms.com. TCMS members and guests - $10 each; TCMS resident members – no charge; non-TCMS members and guests - $20 each.

This activity has been planned and implemented in accordance with the Essential Areas and policies of the Accreditation Council for Continuing Medical Education through joint sponsorship of the Texas Medical Association and the Travis County Medical Society Foundation. The Texas Medical Association is accredited by the ACCME to provide continuing medical education for physicians.

The Texas Medical Association designates this live activity for a maximum of 1.5 AMA PRA Category 1 Credits™. Physicians should claim only the credit commensurate with the extent of their participation in the activity. This activity has been designated as ethics and/or professional responsibility education.

This event is sponsored by the Medical Service Bureau.

The Blood and Tissue Center of Central Texas, a not-for-profit affiliate of the Travis County Medical Society, is asking for a couple of minutes of your time for an online survey to help The Blood Center assess local need for plasma exchange and other therapeutic apheresis services.

Therapeutic apheresis has been successfully used to treat many neurologic, hematologic, renal, rheumatic, and metabolic disorders. There are many types of therapeutic apheresis treatment options available based on the condition being treated and the desired treatment outcome.

If you potentially have patients who could benefit from therapeutic apheresis, please help us identify the most desired procedure types by completing a two-minute online survey.

The Blood Center appreciates your feedback in helping assess the needs of our medical community.

The Texas Department of Public Safety (DPS) is working to eliminate a backlog of physicians' applications to renew their Controlled Substance Certificates. Based on information received by the Texas Medical Association staff, there were at least 3,000 applications for renewal by the end of July and another 4,500 for August.

After inquiries by TMA to DPS and Gov. Rick Perry's office, DPS officials said the Controlled Substance Division staff worked last weekend and at night this week to process the backlog of applications, caused by the agency's new computer system not working as fast as expected. This will continue until the application processing is up to date.

You can check the status of your application online by entering your DPS number. If the expiration date is 2012, DPS has renewed your certificate. DPS updates the database nightly.

DPS will mail a renewal confirmation, but TMA suggests you print a copy of the registration page showing the new 2012 expiration date to prove you have a current DPS registration number. For more information from TMA click here.

If you need to fax a renewal form application, fax it to (512) 424-5373. Click here to email questions to DPS.

Spanish Meducation® is the practical medical Spanish program offered through the Travis County Medical Society since 1994. The 10-week program is designed for all health care professionals: physicians, pharmacists, nurses, therapists, social workers, technicians, emergency personnel, and their support staff.

The classes develop beginning, intermediate, and advanced conversational skills in general Spanish with a concentration on health care situations. Grammar takes a back seat. All handouts are included in the tuition cost; no textbook is required.

Registration is $250 for new students; $230 for continuing students; and $210 for QRO students. Register early for discounts – receive a $35 discount if you register by August 12 or a $20 discount if you register by September 9.

To register, contact Program Director, Jill Snyder, PhD at jld@prismnet.com

or 512-835-7612.

Classes meet once a week with most from 6:30-8:30 pm at the Travis County Medical Society, 4300 N Lamar. A daytime "brown bag" class is offered from
12:00-2:00 pm at 2100 Northland Drive. No classes the week of November 21 (Thanksgiving).

Level I - Beginning: Tuesdays, Oct. 4-Dec. 13 (free make-up
lessons provided)
Level II - Basic (Beginner-Plus): Mondays, Oct. 3-Dec. 12
Level III - High Basic: Wednesdays, 12:00-2:00 p.m.
("brown bag") Oct. 5- Dec. 14 at 2100 Northland Dr.
Level IV - Low Intermediate: Tuesdays, Oct. 4-Dec. 13
Level VI - High Intermediate: Wednesdays, Oct. 5-Dec. 14
Advanced Level- conversation, reading, and translation:
Mondays, Oct. 3-Dec. 12 (does not certify students for
professional translation services.)

If you are a true beginner, Level I is for you. Otherwise, contact Jill at 512-835-7612 to discover which level will best match your current Spanish language skills.

In celebration of fifty years of caring for Austin’s children, Capital Pediatric Group is hosting a “500 helmets for 50 years” event, giving out 500 bike helmets to Austin’s kids to thank the community and keep Austin children safe. The giveaway is in coordination with the Texas Medical Association’s Hard Hats for Little Heads program. The program was established in 1994 to encourage children to exercise safely by wearing a properly fitted helmet every time they bike, skate, skateboard, or ride a scooter.

The helmet giveaway will be held Saturday, August 13 from 11:00 am to 3:00 pm at Capital Pediatric Group, 1100 W 39 ½ St. Parking is available at Cardiothoracic and Vascular Surgeons parking garage, 1010 W 40th. Refreshments will be provided and other activities such as water safety games and face painting will be available.

TCMS members and their staff are encouraged to pass along the information to their patients. The giveaway is available to all children on a first come, first serve basis with 125 helmets distributed hourly.

For more information, contact 512-692-4915 ext 250 or admin@med-manage.com.

Atlantic Health Partners, the nation’s leading vaccine buying group, offers members the lowest prices for Sanofi and Merck vaccines. Now is the best time to join so you get the lowest prices for the back to school peak vaccine season!

TCMS members already enrolled with Atlantic report strong satisfaction with the program, most notably for the savings, customer support, and the ease of ordering directly from the manufacturers (as most of you do now).

Additional benefits offered by Atlantic:
• Lowest prices on Sanofi’s Fluzone and Medimmune’s Flumist
• Reimbursement support
• Medical supply discount program
• Office and business supply discounts
• Discounts for WellConnect patient recall program

Join your peers that are benefiting from Atlantic’s lower vaccine prices and membership with the nation’s leading vaccine buying group.

Contact Jeff Winokur or Cindy Berenson at 800-741-2044 or info@atlantichealthpartners.com for additional information and to join the nearly 10,000 physicians nationwide already benefiting from Atlantic’s savings and support. www.atlantichealthpartners.com