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The TCMS Membership Committee invites you to an exclusive viewing of the exhibit, OUR BODY – The Universe Within at the H.J. Lutcher Stark Center on Thursday, June 24.
The evening will begin with a reception at 6:30 pm followed by a private viewing of the exhibit at 7:30 pm. Tickets are $11 each; limited to 2 per TCMS member; and must be purchased in advance.
The Stark Center is located on the 5th floor in the North End Zone of the Darryl K. Royal-Texas Memorial Stadium on the UT campus.
For more information or to purchase tickets, call the Society at 206-1146.
This event sponsored in part by these Friends of the Society: MSB; TMAIT; TMLT; Austin Radiological Association; and Broadway Bank.
Medicare Fee Cut Effective June 1 Update Your Disaster Contact Information Retired Physicians' Organization Travis County Medical Alliance Scholarships Available for Medical School Students Spanish Meducation Summer Immersion Program
Congress takes another holiday and the 21% physician fee cut is once again in effect. While the House voted 245 to 171 to approve a $23 billion plan to postpone the Medicare fee cut until 2012, the Senate recessed and will not resume work until June 7. The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services is instructing Medicare carriers, including TrailBlazer Health Enterprises in Texas, to hold Medicare physician claims for 10 business days effective June 1.
Hugh M. Barton, a health care attorney in Austin will present Legal Issues for Medical Offices on Thursday, June 10, from 7:30-8:30 am at the Cedar Park Regional Medical Center (1401 Medical Parkway, Cedar Park).
The operation of a physician’s office has become highly regulated, perhaps more than many realize. This presentation will address some of the many important issues facing office managers, including formation and termination of the physician-patient relationship, consent for treatment of minors, office signage rules, dealing with the Texas Medical Board, and the top ten myths regarding medical records.
For more information or to RSVP, contact the Society at (512) 206-1146 or tcms@tcms.com.
This event sponsored in part by these Friends of the Society: Medical Service Bureau; Texas Medical Association Insurance Trust; Texas Medical Liability Trust; and Cedar Park Regional Medical Center.
TCMS needs accurate, up-to-date contact information of physicians for disaster notification purposes. Depending on the nature of the event, the most effective method of notification will be via text message to a cell phone or email. To send a text message, we must know the cell phone carrier (e.g. Sprint, Verizon, etc.).
A letter asking for updated information was recently sent to many TCMS members recently. If you have not returned the form (even if the information is correct) please do so. If we do not have current contact information on file, please provide the following information:
Cell phone: _________________________________
Carrier: ____________________________________ Email: _____________________________________
Email contact information to tcms@tcms.com or fax to 450-1326.
The next meeting of the TCMS Retired Physicians’ Organization (RPO) will be Tuesday, May 18 at Tarrytown Methodist Church, 2601 Exposition at 11:30 am. Thomas Kirksey, MD will be the guest speaker. All retired physicians or those who are contemplating retirement are invited to attend.
For more information or to RSVP, contact Ann Jeansonne at (512) 206-1249 or ajeansonne@tcms.com.
Texas law requires all cause-of-death information and medical certifications to the Texas Department of State Health Services (DSHS) to be submitted electronically through the state’s online death registration system, the Texas Electronic Registrar (TER).
Physicians must register with DSHS to participate in the online death registration. The recommended computer
system requirements include:
DSHS offers a free online training course on how to complete an electronic death certificate.
The Texas Medical Board (TMB) reportedly has received complaints and is investigating physicians for not using the electronic death registration system. Penalties for noncompliance start at $500. If you are cited, you should consider contacting your own retained counsel for legal advice and representation for your situation, because a response to TMB will be time sensitive.
If you have questions, e-mail help-TER@dshs.state.tx.us or go to the www.dshs.state.tx.us and search “TER.”
For the third time, the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) has delayed the implementation of their “red flags rule.” Scheduled to become effective June 1, the new compliance deadline is now December 31, 2010.
Physician groups from around the country filed suit in federal court to prevent the FTC from extending identity theft regulations to physicians. Led by the American Medical Association, the complaint alleges that the FTC’s application of its “red flags rule” to physicians is “arbitrary, capricious and contrary to the law.” The rule says physicians who regularly bill their patients for services (including billing for copayments and coinsurance) are creditors and must develop and implement written identity theft prevention programs for their practices. The programs must identify and respond to patterns, practices, or specific activities - known as “red flags” - that could indicate identity theft. The Litigation Center of the AMA and State Medical Societies developed and approved the filing of this case. TMA is a founding member of the Litigation Center, and TMA General Counsel Rocky Wilcox is chair of the executive committee.
The Texas Medical Association Leadership College (TMALC) is an intensive leadership program designed to identify, orient, and train young TMA members for future leadership positions at the county and state levels. The TMA mission is to ensure strong and sustainable leadership and promote the role of physicians as trusted leaders in their local communities. This program combines the elements of organizational education, skills training, mentoring, and guided experiences that cover the three “Ps” of leadership: philosophy, principles, and practice.
Applicants must be active TMA physician members, under the age of 40 or in the first eight years of practice. For additional requirements and information, visit www.texmed.org/Template.aspx?id=8435.
Deadline to apply is June 15.
TCMS physicians and their spouses are invited to join the Travis County Medical Alliance. The Alliance provides opportunities to advocate for medicine and support medical families through general membership meetings, philanthropic events, social events, and legislative activities.
To join, visit www.traviscountymedicalalliance.com or contact VP Membership, Mari Josey at mari.josey@gmail.com.
Texas medical students who graduated from a Travis County high school are invited to apply for the Travis County Medical Society Foundation Evans/Swann Scholarship which was established by the Evans Swann Memorial Trust. Applicants are judged on character and ability; financial need is considered, but not mandatory; and scholarships are renewable annually if students demonstrate progress and ability in their medical studies.
Download an application from the TCMS Web site: www.tcms.com/member/evansswann.html.
For more information contact the Medical Society office at (512) 206-1270.
The following physicians have applied for TCMS membership. Under the provisions of the Bylaws, names of applicants are
presented to the membership for review. Written objections to the applicant’s membership must be directed to the
TCMS Board of Ethics within 30 days of publication. Click here to view Applicant PDF
The FDA is alerting health care professionals not to use certain intravenous (IV) bags of metronidazole, ondansetron, and ciprofloxacin because of potential contaminiation.
Background, symptoms, recommendations, and other information are available.
Click here for Advisory Statement
The next one-week medical Spanish immersion program is scheduled for August 7-15 in the beautiful interior colonial city of Querétaro. Since 2001, Spanish Meducation® has joined with the Centro Intercultural de Querétaro to provide an immersion program that features daily classes in general and medical Spanish, homestay with local families, workshops in Mexican cooking and salsa dancing, cultural events, guided tours of local medical facilities, side trips to San Miguel de Allende and Guanajuato, and much more. The program cost (not including round-trip fare) is $915 per adult and $815 per child. The due date to register with deposit is June 4 and with full payment July 1. The orientation meeting is set for mid-July.
For questions and forms, please contact Jill at jld@io.com or (512) 835-7612.
Show off your membership in style with a TCMS logo shirt and/or t-shirt. Port Authority Easy Care shirts are a 55/45 cotton/poly blend. Eco friendly t-shirts are a 50/38/12 poly/rinspun cotton/rayon blend. Click on the links below for styles, sizes, and colors.
4300 N Lamar, PO Box 4679, Austin, Texas 78765 (512) 206-1249
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