2010 TOA/TOF Socioeconomic Summit - January 30th!
   

By John Early, MD
President, Texas Orthopaedic Association

The TOA Socioeconomic Summit will be held Saturday, January 30th in Austin at the InterContinental Stephen F. Austin Hotel. One of our Summit speakers, David Lovett - AAOS Legislative Director, is scheduled to update us on national healthcare reform. He will be able to give us the latest information on how the Academy is responding to the crisis in Haiti, as well.

AAOS members are joining other medical relief groups responding to the earthquake crisis in Haiti. Orthopaedic surgeons and the orthopaedic industry are assisting in these efforts to send medical equipment and healthcare personnel to the devastated area. Find out how you can help by visiting this link. The need for orthopaedic services in Haiti and for earthquake victims being sent to hospitals in the states will continue over several months, so please contact AAOS if you can help.

2010 TOA/TOF Socioeconomic Summit Itinerary

2010 Texas Orthopaedic Association

Texas Orthopaedic Foundation

Socioeconomic Summit
(Sessions for All Attendees)

Shuttle to TMA
A shuttle will be provided for those doctors that would like to attend

the TMA Winter conference.

9:00 am – 12:00 pm - Assembly Room

Hot Buttons for Doctors: Liability Reduction Strategies for Physicians

Dan Ballard, JD

*TMLT will be offering a 3% discount for taking this course.

*1 AMA PRA Category 1 Credit - Ethics Hour

1:00 pm – 1:05 pm

Welcome and Introductions

John Early, MD, TOA President

1:05 pm – 2:00 pm

Washington Update, Healthcare Reform

David Lovett, JD, Director AAOS, Washington DC Office

2:00 pm – 2:30 pm

"Transition of Care" after Orthopaedic Surgery — Home Health, Skilled Nursing, Rehab

Hospital Alternatives

Stephen M. Norwood, MD

2:30 pm – 3:15 pm

CMS & Upcoming Issues with RAC's

Tim Schmidt, President and CEO, Med Recover

Break and Exhibit Visitation - Capitol Ballroom A

3:15 pm – 3:30 pm

3:30 pm – 4:00 pm

EMR/E-Billing: Are you Ready?

gloStream & Phoenix Ortho

4:00 pm – 4:30 pm

Workers' Compensation

Andrew Kant, MD, KSF Orthopaedic Center

4:30 pm – 5:00 pm

Legislative Update

David Teuscher, MD, Mignon McGarry, TOA Legislative Advocate

TOA/TOF Reception ~ Bring your family! - Café Julienne (next to front desk)

6:00 pm – 9:00 pm

2010 TOA/TOF Business of Orthopaedics
(Sessions for Residents)

Thank You Socioeconomic Sponsors!

Texas Medical Liability Trust - Platinum Sponsor
Austin Radiological Association - Platinum Sponsor, Leadership Dinner
Genzyme - Platinum Sponsor, Luncheon
Critical Connection - Gold Sponsor, Reception
Medical Protective - Continental Breakfast

American Physicians Insurance Company
Blue Cross Blue Shield of Texas
BrainLAB
BREG, Inc
Cooper Graci
gloStream
Hill Country Home Health
Medtronic, Inc.
Phoenix Ortho
Remington Medical Resorts
Sanofi-Aventis
Wright Medical Technology

Thank You To Our Sponsor: Flexrad

Click here to visit their website!

This Week In Texas: Mignon McGarry's Memos

Wednesday, January 20, 2010

In a surprise announcement a week after the filing deadline, Sen. Kip Averitt (R-Waco) said that he is suspending his re-election campaign due to health reasons.  According to the Texas Secretary of State's

office, it is too late for Averitt to take his name off the ballot. Republican Darren Yancy of Burleson is the only other candidate to file for the Republican primary.  No Democrats filed to run although there are two Libertarians competing for the Senate District 22 seat. If Yancy wins the primary, he'll be the only major party candidate in the race, and as such, would be the probable winner in November's election.  However, if Averitt wins the primary and then quits, the Republican and Democratic parties will each nominate a person for the general election ballot.

Sen. Florence Shapiro (R-Plano) no longer faces a contested Republican primary.  Her opponent David Hall was disqualified by the Republican Party of Texas because he had filed for county precinct chair prior to filing for the Senate District 8 race.  Hall becomes the second Republican disqualified from running for a legislative office due to a previous filing for precinct chair. Monte Mitchell was disqualified from running for the House District 95 seat currently held by Rep. Marc Veasey (D-Ft. Worth).

Governor Rick Perry along with Lt. Governor David Dewhurst and Speaker Joe Straus sent state agency heads a letter last Friday asking them to submit ideas to cut spending by five percent this year. 

ESPN sportscaster and Collin County businessman Craig James has joined the board of the Texas Public Policy Foundation.  James has said that he is considering a run for Kay Bailey Hutchison's Senate seat when it becomes vacant.

The controversy over the proposed addition to the Texas Governor's Mansion seems to be over for the time being.  The plan to build an addition onto the north side of the historic building has been withdrawn from further consideration.

A Call For Orthopaedic Hardware For Haiti

CLIMAX, N.C., Jan. 20 /PRNewswire/

Knowledge Ventures has put out a plea to all orthopaedic professionals to assist in the effort to get much needed orthopaedic hardware to the victims of the earthquake in Haiti. It has arranged in partnership with ORTHOWORLD Inc. to open a public thread at www.orthoworld.com in order to connect the world to the effort.

"In terms of orthopaedic treatment, the worst is not over in Haiti. People are literally dying on the lawn of the hospital," says John Engelhardt, Managing Member of Knowledge Ventures. "While there are teams of orthopaedic surgeons down there, there is desperate need for plates and screws, nails and ex fix, as well as drills and saws. We are calling on all orthopaedic professionals to identify any sources of hardware, and have arranged a public thread so that anyone can contact the appropriate agencies to get it delivered."

To donate money or hardware, go to www.sign-post.org or visit www.orthoworld.com.

For more information contact:

John Engelhardt
336-685-5449
john@kvllc.net

SOURCE Knowledge Ventures, LLC

RELATED LINKS
http://www.orthoworld.com

Thank You To Our Sponsor: Austin Radiological Association
   

Please click here to visit their website!

Texas Medical Board (TMB): A Few Insights From A New Member
   

By Wynne M. Snoots, MD

When I started thinking about what it meant to be a member of the Texas Medical Board I realized that the perspective change - from interacting with individual patients and physicians to the more global "population" view - was going to be a major challenge. I would like to ask you to read this and to try to consider the multiple perspectives - patient, physician, other professional and institutional providers,

payers, organizations, employers, and "government" - that are influenced by Board actions.

First there is a body of law, enacted by the legislature, codified by statute, amplified by rules and regulations that provide a framework for the Board's actions. It is an overwhelming mass of data, not easily read or understood without a lot of study. I still have much to do in that arena. 

Board actions are broadly broken down into "licensure and discipline"

The licensure aspects are more mechanical than the disciplinary, but still can involve an amazing number of judgmental interactions between individuals and institutions. I will expand on this with another piece later. I would like to concentrate on the disciplinary side for now.

The disciplinary function is most likely to involve TOA members.  A succinct view of the process starts when someone contacts the TMB with a complaint. The complainant could be almost anyone, but most are patients or patient's family members. The identity of all complainants is kept confidential in an attempt to protect the complainant from retaliation. If the TMB has jurisdiction over the complaint and the complaint deals with a potential violation of the standard of care, the complaint is reviewed by a physician investigator at the TMB. The physician investigator notifies the physician in question and asks the physician to respond the allegation. On review of the physician's response, about 50% of the complaints are dismissed without opening a formal investigation.

If a formal investigation is opened on a complaint that deals with standard of care, the law requires the TMB to have the case reviewed by a minimum of two Expert Panelists. The Expert Panelists must fulfill several qualifications. For example, the Expert Panelists must be Board certified, licensed to practice in Texas, engaged in the active practice of medicine, and practice in the same or similar area as the physician being investigated.

Currently, the TMB is in need of additional board certified orthopedic surgeon expert panelists. Due to the fact that orthopedic surgeons are typically very busy, a relatively few physicians have offered to serve as expert panelists for the TMB. As you can imagine, the TMB receives multiple complaints against orthopedic surgeons every year. As a result of the discrepancy between the number of complaints received and the number of expert panelists available to review cases, some investigations take several months to complete. We can all appreciate the anxiety and frustration felt by our fellow orthopedic surgeons who are the subject of an inordinately lengthy investigation.

You are in a position to help solve this problem by volunteering to serve as an expert panelist for the TMB. The TMB recognizes the time and effort it takes to perform these reviews as an expert panelist. As a result, the TMB adopted a rule change last year that allows our experts to earn up to 6 hours of Category I CME each year for the time they spend serving as an expert panelist. Our experts are also compensated $100 per hour for their time.

As a member of the Board, I urge you to accept this opportunity to serve both the orthopedic community and our patients. If you are willing to serve as an expert panelist, please contact the Medical Director of the TMB, Dr. Alan T. Moore. Dr. Moore's e-mail address is alan.moore@tmb.state.tx.us.

Thank you for your consideration.

Wynne M. Snoots M.D.

411 N. Washington

Suite 7300

Dallas, Texas 75246