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TOA
President's Update
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By
David Teuscher, MD
President, Texas Orthopaedic Association
It has
been a great honor to serve as your President of the Texas
Orthopaedic Association. I want to personally request your
presence and active participation
at the 2007 TOA Annual Meeting and Scientific Session
to be held on May 10th – 13th at the
Four Seasons Hotel in Austin, Texas. |
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Activities begin Thursday afternoon with a Billing and Collections
Course titled
Get Paid Now!
‘Collect From Insurance Companies & Patients’
presented by Jerry Bridge, founder and president of
Bridge Practice
Management Group, Inc.
This course is open to orthopaedic surgeons and office staff.
On
Friday morning we will visit our elected leaders in the Texas Capitol
to discuss the many
issues affecting our practice and our patients. If you
have not
been on Texas Capitol visits before, or if you want a “refresher
course”, we will have a primer session Friday morning before heading
up to the Texas Capitol. Everyone in a leadership role in Texas
orthopaedics will be there so can be assured that you will be paired
up with some seasoned colleagues.
The
Capitol visits will be followed with a luncheon with an Open
Microphone session at the Four Season Hotel. Friday afternoon we will
offer members and their staff a choice of a Workers’ Compensation
Seminar or the Clinician-Patient Communication Course. The
Communications Course will get you 4.5 hours of CME and a 3% discount
on your liability premium if you are insured by TMLT.
The
Friday evening reception will feature
Col. James
R.
Ficke, MD,
Chief of Orthopaedic Surgery at Brooke Army Medical Center
presenting
From
Iraq - Back to Iraq: Modern Combat Orthopaedic Care.
This
presentation will specifically concentrate on war injuries and their
current treatment by our Texas military colleagues. We plan to invite
legislators and their staff to this social and informational event.
The
Program Committee has put together an incredible display of
educational offerings during our Saturday sessions including
scientific papers, poster presentations and exhibitors that highlight
the cutting edge of Texas orthopaedic care.
Our 2007 Keynote Speaker, Bernard F. Morrey, MD, Chairman of
Orthopaedic Surgery, Mayo Clinic, will present "The Elbow" on Saturday
afternoon. Immediately after that, the 5th
Annual Resident Quiz Bowl will feature teams of two
residents from each of Texas’ orthopaedic training programs competing
for the highly coveted traveling trophy, title, and bragging rights.
Dr. Mark Brinker’s orthopaedic brain-teasers challenge the contestants
and delight orthopaedists and spouses alike.
We have scheduled activities throughout the meeting the entire
family can enjoy, so plan to bring your spouse and family to this
exciting event. The Four Seasons Hotel
is conveniently located near Town Lake, the Austin Children's Museum,
Barton Springs, Botanical
Gardens, the Bob Bullock Texas State History Museum and Zilker Park.
We want you to make a special note of our
Sunday, May 13th
event; the renowned Four Seasons Mother’s Day Brunch in the fabulous
San Jacinto Room. This will be a great way to show your favorite
Mothers how much you care.
As always, your
association provides complimentary registration for the annual meeting
as one of the many benefits of TOA membership. All Texas orthopaedic
interns, residents, and fellows are welcome to attend as our guest.
Mark your calendar and register for this important and historic event
today. I look forward to seeing you in Austin in May.
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Texas
District by District:
Garnet Coleman
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Garnet F. Coleman has served the people of District 147 in
the Texas House of Representatives continuously since 1991.
Throughout his years of service, Rep. Coleman has earned a
reputation as a diligent leader in the areas of health care,
economic development and education.
Representative Coleman's legislative efforts have been
recognized in numerous ways including being named to the
prestigious Texas Monthly Ten Best Legislators List on two
occasions. Most recently he received the 2005 Reintegration
Award presented by Eli Lilly, a national award |
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given
in acknowledgment of efforts to increase services and
decrease the stigma associated with mental illness.
Representative Coleman has also been recognized by the Congressional Black Caucus as he was
named Outstanding Black Caucus Chair for 2004. Citing his
advocacy for the voting rights of people of color Rep.
Coleman was selected for the honor out of 32 state black
caucus chairs across the country.
Representative Coleman has served as the Chair of the
Legislative Study Group, a non-partisan house caucus
dedicated to the development of sound public policy on
behalf of all Texas families, since 2003 when he was elected
to the position by more than 40 of his colleagues. In
addition, Rep. Coleman has the honor of being the
immediate-past chair of the Texas Legislative Black Caucus.
As Chairman, Rep. Coleman coordinated efforts among members
of the Caucus to help preserve the Top Ten Percent Rule,
which assists historically-underrepresented students in
gaining admission to Texas' top institutions of higher
learning.
As a member of the House Committee on Public Health and the
House Committee on County Affairs, Representative Coleman is
able to focus on many of the most important issues facing
Texas today. Some of his most significant legislative
accomplishments include joint authoring legislation that
simplified access to children's Medicaid for more than
600,000 children in Texas who were eligible for the program
but were not enrolled because of bureaucratic barriers. He
also helped secure an increase of $161.5 million for at-risk
child care services and joint authored legislation that
created the Children's Health Insurance Program (CHIP),
which makes low-cost health insurance available to more than
400,00 children in working families.
Striving to increase economic development in Texas, Rep.
Coleman has been instrumental in passing legislation
fostering urban redevelopment. He authored and passed
legislation that created the Greater Southeast Management
District, the Downtown Management District and the Fourth
Ward and East Montrose Improvement Districts. Additionally,
he passed legislation creating Houston's convention center
hotel and expanding the convention center itself. Rep.
Coleman also authored legislation allowing for the creation
of a commercial and industrial development zone in Harris
County, which is designed to promote economic development
along the transportation corridors that link Houston-area
transportation nodes.
Outside his legislative work, Rep. Coleman remains active
and involved in the Houston community. He serves on the
boards of the Mid-Town Redevelopment Authority, the National
Mental Health Association, and the Ensemble Theater. In
1991, Rep. Coleman founded S.M.A.R.T. Kids, a youth
development program that provides much-needed tutoring for
inner-city students. He also serves as president and CEO of
Apartments for America, Inc., a non-profit affordable
housing corporation.
Raised in Houston, Representative Coleman attended Howard
University in Washington, D.C. and in 1990 graduated from
the University of St. Thomas cum laude with a Bachelor of
Arts. He also completed the prestigious Harvard University
Senior Executive Program for State and Local Government.
Representative Coleman and his wife, Angelique, reside in
Houston's University Oaks neighborhood. They have two
children, Austin and Evan.
Email
Garnet Coleman to thank him for his work!
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This Week In Texas: Mignon
McGarry Memos
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By Mignon McGarry
TOA Legislative Advocate / Memos: Thu Mar. 8 & Tue
Mar. 6, 2007
TOA Online Version: All Memos
March 8, 2007, Thursday
After tomorrow’s bill filing deadline, the focus shifts to
where those bills are going to land. The referral of bills to
committees is a power
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conferred on the Speaker’s
office in the House and the Lt. Governor’s office in the Senate. Next
week there will be plenty of lobbying regarding which bill goes where.
Keep in mind that although most bills originate in one chamber and then
move to the other, sometimes the same bill is filed in both the House
and Senate. Eventually, the two become one.
One tidbit that is rather odd for Texas—both political parties
agreeing on an issue that imitates California. Yesterday, the
House Elections Committee considered a bill to move the Texas
primary elections up a month to the first Tuesday in February so
that Texans may have more of an impact on presidential
elections. Both the Republican and Democratic Party chairs
testified in favor of the switch. The California Assembly passed
a similar measure yesterday and several other states are
considering such a change. Seems everyone wants to be a player
in presidential races.
March 6, 2007, Tuesday
The big action in the House this week was the passage of
House Bill 8 relating to the prosecution of repeat sex offenders
and House Bill 2601 relating to the protection of social
security numbers in public documents. These bills now move to
the Senate for further debate. The budget also remains on the
minds of members of the Texas Legislature, especially as rumors
fly that the state’s potential liability in Frew v. Hawkins, the
Medicaid class action lawsuit, could be in the billions of
dollars. Stay tuned for future implications on the budget.
Between now and close of business Friday, the deadline for
filing bills, the floodgates are open. In the last regular
Legislative session over 2000 bills were filed in the week
before the deadline. We will be working furiously to sort
through all new bills and notify you if needed. However, if you
see a mention in the news over the weekend of a bill you didn’t
know about, do not panic. Many bills are filed to make a point
and will never get a committee hearing or see the light of day.
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TMLT To
Award $40,000 In Medical Student Scholarships
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As our partners in the medical
community, we wanted to share some important news with you.
TMLT is again offering medical student scholarships in 2007.
One student at each Texas
medical school will receive a $5,000 |
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scholarship thanks to the 2007
TMLT Memorial Scholarship program. Launched in 2005, the
program awards $40,000 in scholarships annually to Texas
medical students who are interested in finding creative and
effective ways to enhance patient safety.
Scholarship recipients will be chosen in a competitive process
that weighs each student's financial need and writing
assignment. Entries will be judged by the TMLT Board of
Governors, which is composed of 9 Texas physicians.
All application materials are available at
www.tmlt.org.
Deadline to apply for the scholarship is Monday, June 4, 2007.
Winners will be announced in September.
To be eligible for the scholarship, applicants must:
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Be entering their
third or fourth year of study at a Texas medical school in the fall of
2007;
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Be in good academic
standing;
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Be able to
demonstrate financial need;
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Be able to
communicate a commitment to patient safety and medical risk management
through an essay; and
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Be a current
student member of (or have a student application pending with) the
Texas Medical Association.
To apply, students should submit the
following:
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A completed
application (incomplete applications will not be considered);
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An official medical
school transcript; and
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A short essay (no
more than 500 words) describing the risk management considerations for
a closed claim study provided with the application.
If you have any questions or if you would
like to request scholarship materials to pass out to students at any of
your upcoming meetings, please contact Laura Brockway at
laura-brockway@tmlt.org or at 800-580-8658 ext. 5936.
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Study: THA Complications More
Common In Obese Patients
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A report
to be published in the March 2007 issue of the journal
Arthritis Care & Research
examines the effects of obesity on outcomes of total hip
arthroplasty. In a retrospective study of 2,495 hip
replacements performed at a single hospital from March 1996
to July 2005, 589 were on patients defined as obese (body
mass index equal to or greater than 30kg/m2), researchers
found that risk of complications, including infections and
dislocations, was substantially higher for women than
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men. Known
risk factors for obese patients such as longer operating time
and diabetes were not related to the women and do not explain
the difference in outcomes. The authors suggest counseling
female patients on the increased possibility of complications,
and encouraging participation in a weight-loss program prior
to surgery. For more information click
here.
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