March 3, 2008
 

 
TOA President's Update
  

By John T. Gill, MD
President, Texas Orthopaedic Association

The Texas Orthopaedic Association 2008 Annual Meeting and Scientific Sessions will be held at the Westin Riverwalk in San Antonio on May 22nd-24th. Sign your residents up today for the 6th Annual Resident Quiz Bowl! Quiz Bowl contestants will receive free accommodations for Friday evening, so they can bring their spouses and families.

Two residents from each of Texas’ orthopaedic training programs compete against their rival programs for the highly coveted traveling trophy and title. Dr. Mark Brinker’s orthopaedic brain-teasers challenge and delight the contestants and onlookers alike. A highlight of the scientific session for all attendees!

Click here to download the sign up form. Please return by e-mail to jeseka@toa.org or return by fax to 866-864-1568.

The TOA would like to thank UTMB, Scott & White/Texas A&M HSC, and University of Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio for signing up for the 2008 6th Annual Resident Quiz Bowl.

The 2007 Quiz Bowl Teams were: Brooke Army, John Peter Smith, UT San Antonio, UT Houston, William Beaumont and UTMB. The final quiz round came down to a heated match between UTHSC San Antonio and Brooke Army Medical Center contestants. Drs. Jason Lowe and Syed Ahmed of BAMC took home the Quiz Bowl trophy this year. Brooke Army residents have won three out of five Quiz Bowls. UTMB has won two out of five Quiz Bowls. We thank all the resident contestants for playing. Resident paper winners were UTMB's Dr. Matthew Mays in first place, JPS's Dr. Jason Tinley in second, and UTMB's Dr. Jay Rapley was awarded third place.

Please contact the TOA office if you have any questions at 512-370-1505.
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2008 AAOS National Orthopaedic Leadership Conference (NOLC)
     

National Orthopaedic Leadership Conference (NOLC), April 30 - May 3, 2008 - JW Marriott, Washington DC.

Join TOA leaders at the NOLC meeting in Washington. This important

meeting will include national issue briefing and Capitol Hill Visits. The NOLC now includes the State Societies Strategy Meeting on Wednesday which is perfect officer training for TOA new leaders. TOA delegates planning on attending the NOLC should schedule their arrival on Wednesday to participate in the Combined Meeting.

TOA usually has a delegation of fifteen orthopaedic surgeons attending this meeting. Ten of these delegates have official AAOS business to conduct and are reimbursed for travel expenses by the Academy. That leaves five slots for TOA members interested in socioeconomic and political issues on the national level. Please contact donna@toa.org if you are wish to attend this important meeting to visit your elected representatives at the nation's Capitol.
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This Week In Texas: Mignon McGarry Memos

By Mignon McGarry
TOA Legislative Advocate
TOA Online Version: All Memos

 

February 27th, Wednesday

Early voting totals have exploded this year. The Texas Secretary of State is tracking the 15 largest counties in Texas, measured by voter

registration. You political junkies can view those results online by going to the Secretary of State’s website by clicking here.

On Tuesday, a federal judge issued an injunction temporarily prohibiting the state from enforcing a law making outside influence on the speaker’s race a crime. The “speaker’s statute” was passed three decades ago as a way to prohibit third parties such as corporations from trying to influence the outcome of a speaker's race. The rationale behind the law was that the speaker should be elected solely by the House members themselves instead of lobbyists, political action committees, or advocacy groups. The judge’s order will be in place until a trial to determine whether the law is constitutional.

There are two new books of note for those interested in political figures from Texas. “Bob Bullock: God Bless Texas” by Dave McNeely and Jim Henderson is a biography of the infamous Texas political figure. Governor Rick Perry also has a new book on the shelves. "On My Honor: Why the American Values of the Boy Scouts Are Worth Fighting For" details Governor Perry’s belief in the values he learned through his experience in scouting.
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Federal Patient Safety and Quality Improvement Act Update
    

By Charlene K. MacDonald, MPP
Manager of State Legislative and Regulatory Affairs
Office of Government Relations
American Association of Orthopaedic Surgeons

Proposed regulations to implement the Federal Patient Safety and Quality Improvement Act of 2005 have been released by AHRQ and can be found by clicking here.

AHRQ is hosting an audio conference on Feb. 29th from 2:00-3:00 pm EST on the proposed Patient Safety regulations. It is open to the public-discussions during the forum will not be included in the official public comments. To register for the audio conference, log on here.

The AAOS is primarily focused on the proposals implications for creating a joint replacement registry. However, there will also be a lot of activity where information/data is collected via state initiatives which may be of interest to TOA members.
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Texas Orthopaedic Association Selected To Participate In The 2008 AAOS E-Advocacy Initiative
  

The Texas Orthopaedic Association has been selected to participate in the 2008 AAOS E-Advocacy Initiative. Among other features, The Soft Edge advocacy software program will enable TOA to boost our grassroots program. TOA members will be able to directly contact legislators while allowing us to track these communications. It is our hope that this program will significantly strengthen the TOA state advocacy program we already have in place. All though TOA has many

communication tools now, we look forward to being a trial participant of the E-Advocacy Initiative.

If the program is approved, TOA staff and leaders will work with The Soft Edge representatives directly to better execute email campaigns, action alerts, and TOA website posts. We will also be able to provide issue information and dates for legislative events and contacts. We hope to have The Soft Edge advocacy program tested, approved and offered through our TOA website by the 2009 Texas Legislative Session.

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