|
Connecting the orthopaedic community in Texas since 2005
|
|
|
August
23, 2010 |
 |
|
|
|
Back To School:
10 Tips for Excellence
in Young Athletes
|
|
 By
L. Edward Seade, MD
President, Texas Orthopaedic Association
Dr. Seade was interviewed by
KVUE TV in Austin, TX regarding injury prevention in young
athletes during their month long series of "Back To School"
topics to get parents and students ready for the fall
semester. Click
here to watch the video.
1. Footwear:
Make sure shoes fit well, are supportive and meet
the needs of the sport. Remember that substance is
more important than style. If possible, go to a good
running/athletic shoe store with a well-trained
staff, who are qualified to ensure a proper fit and
answer questions. Running shoes need to be replaced
every year or every 400 miles, whichever comes
first.
2. Nutrition:
Pre-event: eat complex carbohydrates
(like pasta) the night before an event. Don't eat
spicy foods or candy bars right before an event. A
candy bar can be helpful before a sprint, but the
resulting blood sugar spike and crash can decrease
performance. Post-event: Eat a high carbohydrate
meal or drink a sports drink after the event.
3. Sleeping:
Develop and stick to a regular sleeping schedule.
4. Be careful with nutritional
supplements:
If used properly, protein powders
will not hurt, but the body doesn't store protein.
Working out is what builds muscle and strength.
However, if an athlete has a protein-deficient diet
(vegetarian), these supplements may help. Prior to
using
nutritional
supplements, please consult your doctor.
5. Avoid the common pitfalls for
female athletes:
Young female athletes who over train
and/or under eat can fall into a dangerous pattern,
known as the female athletic triad. This includes
amenorrhea (missed or irregular menstrual periods);
disordered eating (over-restricting calories); and
possible stress fractures.
6. Prompt physicals:
Have a pre-participation physical at
least six to eight weeks before the start of the
season. This allows time for treatment of any
problems. Click
here for a Physical Evaluation Form.
7. Injury recognition:
There's no such thing as good pain. Pay attention
to, and treat early, signs of injury.
8. Avoid specialization:
Have fun, and mix it up with a variety of sports and
activities. This helps avoid burnout and overuse
injuries to growing joints and muscles.
9. Be careful with weight lifting:
Athletes under age 17 should not "max out" or lift
as much as they possibly can. Instead, they should
focus on building strength through repetition of
lifting a more moderate weight.
10. Hydration:
Stay hydrated. Thirty minutes before activity, young
athletes should drink until no longer thirsty, plus
another eight ounces. Athletes weighing less than 90
pounds should drink five ounces for every 20 minutes
of activity. Athletes weighing more than 90 pounds
should drink eight ounces every 20 minutes.
|
|
[top]
[back
to e-card archive page] |
|
|
The
Challenges Medical Societies Face Today
|
|
 By
Donna C. Parker
TOA Executive Vice President
The American Association of Medical Society
Executives (AAMSE) held their 2010 Annual
Conference in Seattle at the end of July.
The AAMSE Annual Conference is the nation's
premier meeting of medical society
executives and CEOs. This meeting provided
education and training sessions to help
medical society leadership develop
strategies during these challenging times.
The challenges health care reform has
brought about were clearly voiced by
executives of national, state and county
medical societies. The majority of the
society executives attending this meeting
served all physician specialties within a
region or state, but there were a few
specialty society executives within a
narrower, but certainly no less intense,
medical environment. Regardless of the
organization, all the executives attending
this conference were plainly committed and
ready to serve the changing needs of their
societies.
Sessions were dedicated to changes all
medical societies are experiencing - such as
providing leadership in anxious times, the
changing CME landscape with added emphasis
on quality improvement goals and outcome
measurement, the loss of industry and
commercial support for educational and
social programs, as well as demographic and
societal changes decreasing medical society
membership bases. Clearly new maintenance
of certification requirements will increase
need for continuing medical educational
program growth at the same time our
physician members need their associations to
address economic survival. The viability of
physicians being able to maintain a private
practice in the future versus being co-opted
by hospital systems or accountable care
organizations (ACO) was another thought
provoking topic.
Forecasting the needs and expectations of
TOA members during the health care reform
period will certainly be a challenge if we
don't ask the right questions of our
orthopaedic surgeons. In order for your
leadership - both physicians and executive
staff - to anticipate and respond to the
needs of TOA members, you must help us
discover, research and prioritize your
issues.
The TOA Board is meeting in September to
conduct an analysis of Association programs
such as orthopaedic continuing medical
education requirements, legislative and
regulatory advocacy, socioeconomic
education, along with patient education and
communication. Future collaborative efforts
with Texas Medical Association, American
Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons and other
orthopaedic allies will be considered during
this TOA Board meeting.
We can't stay one of the nation's top state
orthopaedic associations without your
support. Please become an active
participant in the TOA program of your
choice. Contact our President, Dr. Eddie
Seade and let him know if you want to join a
committee or if you have a special interest
in an issue such as workers' compensation,
scope of practice, industry relations,
continuing medical education, or legislative
advocacy at the state or national level.
Or…you can call me at 512-370-1505 if you
wish discuss the options and the levels of
participation available to our TOA members.
We are looking forward to hearing from you.
Thank you. Donna |
|
[top]
[back
to e-card archive page] |
|
|
This Week In Texas: Mignon
McGarry's Memos
|
|
 By Mignon McGarry
TOA Legislative Advocate
TOA Online Version: All Memos
Wednesday, August 18, 2010
This week, we continue our focus
on frequently asked questions.
Are Twitter, Facebook and other
forms of social media being widely used by politicians in Texas?
For those of you who have been
hoping that the use of social media is a phase that you can
avoid, you better learn the lingo and join the fray.
Politicians across Texas, especially statewide officials and
members of the Texas Legislature, have jumped on the bandwagon.
The tweeting in Texas picked up
during the 81st Legislative Session in 2009. Governor Perry
tweets as does Lt. Governor David Dewhurst and Texas House
Speaker Joe Straus. Perry and Dewhurst are on Facebook as
well. Some politicians choose to have campaign related pages as
well as personal pages but most combine the two. Many state
legislators have their Facebook pages set up to automatically
accept friend requests so no potential voter feels left out.
State agencies have gotten into
the act, using social media to provide information to the
general public. Follow this link to
Texas.gov to
learn which agencies have a social media presence click
here.
During this interim, Lt. David
Dewhurst charged the Senate State Affairs Committee with
discussing how advances in technology and the emergence of
various forms of social media have affected communications by
and within governmental bodies. During a hearing on the issue
on May 11th, senators heard from various groups and individuals
who urged them to incorporate rules on the use of social media
into the Texas Public Information Act. |
|
[top]
[back
to e-card archive page] |
|
|
Comp
Commissioner Under Fire, Hires "Enforcer"
|
|
 By
Stephen Norwood, MD
Rod Bordelon, DWC
Commissioner, has been accused of "burying" cases
involving inappropriate or excessive medical care by
rogue health care providers. Several staff members
including Medical Advisor Howard Smith, MD, have
recently resigned, and some of the legal staff has
either quit or has been terminated. While the
investigations continue, a new Medical Advisor has
been appointed.
In mid-July Donald
Patrick, MD, JD took the control of a department in
disarray. Patrick has been in tougher spots
before. He served as Executive Director on the
Texas Medical Board for seven years, resigning in
mid 2008. Formerly, he practiced neurosurgery in
Austin from 1969 until 2001. Additionally, Dr.
Patrick earned a law degree from the University of
Texas in 1996. He has held several leadership
positions including; Chief of Staff at Brackenridge
Hospital, President of the Texas Association of
Neurological Surgeons and President of the
Pflugerville ISD Board of Trustees.
As the third DWC
Medical Advisor, Patrick will be in charge of an
office charged with the task of investigating and
sanctioning physicians and other health care
providers in the Texas Workers' Compensation
system. Patrick has apparently been asked by
division administrators not to discuss his new role
with the press amidst current investigations. Years
ago, during planning meetings to re-vamp the Medical
Quality Review Panel (MQRP) Patrick was greatly
concerned that the division simply lacked the
firepower and clout needed to deal with wayward
providers. He pointed out that the Texas Medical
Board had about twenty times the staff and budget
for due process and enforcement, compared to DWC.
The Texas Tribune has
reported in a series of articles, beginning in May,
that former employees "whistle-blowers" including
Assistant Medical Advisor Dr. Ken Ford and
enforcement attorney Cathy Lockhart has charged the
division with failing to sanction dozens of
unscrupulous doctors, at times bowing to political
pressure to stop investigations. Public airing of
the controversy first occurred in June during the
Sunset Commission hearings. Sunset staff had
advised that the role of the Medical Advisor be
significantly diminished, with some authority and
functions being turned over to non-medical staffers
at the Division. TMA and TOA strongly opposed these
changes, and after hearing more of the controversy,
the Sunset Commission supports the authority of the
Medical Advisor, MQRP, and Quality Assurance Panel (QAP).
They have questions about the power and authority of
the DWC Commissioner himself.
The crux of the
allegations is that Bordelon put a stop on further
enforcement, of a number of cases deemed by the
Medical Advisor's office, to warrant sanctions. In
one case, a state legislator had supposedly
contacted Bordelon in an effort to stop the
investigation of one of his physician constituents,
a major campaign contributor. Bordelon has
countered that the Medical Advisor's office had been
lax in its investigations, especially by targeting
certain providers in a non-random manner. As a
result, he believed that the cases would not hold up
under the scrutiny of a legal appeal.
Subsequently, state
auditors have discovered an alarming backlog of 661
pending investigations of providers, a number
continuing to escalate over a four year period. The
hang-up seems to be after the review process where
cases simply never get to enforcement. In fact,
since 2005, the Tribune reports that only five
doctors have been removed from the comp system.
However, nearly 70 cases found by independent review
panels with actions of over-medicating or
over-charging are still pending. Dr. Ford is not
alone in his criticism of the leadership at DWC.
Others over the past few years, including former
Medical Advisor Bill Nemeth, have reportedly
resigned over the same failure of enforcement.
There is concern about not only poor patient care,
but also the expense of the medical review process,
with lack of results in cases recommended for
sanction.
Dr. Patrick will
certainly have his hands full. Potentially, he can
re-structure the medical review process to be more
robust like that of the Texas Medical Board.
However, unless he is given the tools and budget, as
well as the support of the Commissioner, who has
final authority, then little is likely to change. |
|
[top]
[back
to e-card archive page] |
|
|
OREF And TOA Enter Partnership
|
|
The Texas Orthopaedic Foundation (TOF) and the
Orthopaedic Research and Education Foundation (OREF)
have entered a new and promising partnership. This
valuable partnership seeks to foster funding for
important research and education projects within
Texas.
Donors can now contribute to Texas Orthopaedic
Foundation through the OREF Annual Campaign by
designating a portion of their annual contributions
of $1,000 or more to the Texas Orthopaedic
Foundation (TOF).
Through 2009, OREF has raised more than $28 million
for its partner organizations and has funded,
through OREF-directed contributions, $72 million in
research and education to advance the science and
practice of orthopaedics. TOF is excited to become
officially one of OREF's partner organizations.
Donors can make secure online contributions to TOF
and OREF at
www.oref.org/tof. All gifts of $1,000 or more
to the OREF Annual Campaign earn Order of Merit
recognition from OREF and the opportunity to direct
a portion of the gift to the TOF. All donors will
also be recognized by TOF.
The Texas Orthopaedic Foundation
(TOF) is a publicly supported
and registered 501(c)(3) charitable nonprofit
organization dedicated to research and education
within the orthopaedic community of Texas.
Besides providing sustainable orthopaedic CME in
collaboration with the Texas Orthopaedic
Association, it is TOF's mission to
-
Create
public awareness of the importance of
musculoskeletal health in the State of Texas.
-
Encourage scientific, educational, and
charitable endeavors which will promote and
advance the science and art of orthopaedic
surgery.
-
Support
research and education on diseases and injuries
of bones, joints, nerves, and muscles.
-
Enhance
clinical care, leading to improved health,
increased activity, and a better quality of life
for patients in Texas.
Our Foundation is the
primary funding source for the Get Active!
Texas public health campaign, which promotes
a healthy lifestyle, bone health and obesity
prevention for all ages.
###
To
donate directly to the Texas Orthopaedic Foundation,
please click
here. |
|
[top]
[back
to e-card archive page] |
|
|
TOA Member Comments On The
Podiatrists Announcement
|
TMA
Action Announces: Podiatrists not permitted
to expand scope to ankle.
It's final. The Texas State Board of
Podiatric Medical Examiners cannot go beyond
its statutory authority and the will of the
Texas Legislature. The Third Court of
Appeals said so in May 2008, and the
podiatrists' appeal to the Texas Supreme
Court was denied in June. On July 30, the
Supreme Court denied a request from the
Texas Podiatric Medical Association that it
reconsider its June order.
That denial thus ended the eight-year-long
legal battle TMA and the Texas Orthopaedic
Association initiated when the podiatry
board adopted a rule expanding the
definition of the foot to include the bones
in the ankle.
"The Supreme Court decision is not just a
victory for physicians, but a victory for
patients, as well," said TMA President Susan
Rudd Bailey, MD. "There is no question that
patients are better off in the hands of
highly trained physicians. TMA has always
been and will always be committed to
ensuring the safety of patients. The Supreme
Court's ruling in this case helps us
maintain that commitment."
The October issue of Texas Medicine will
have more information on the dispute.
Action,
Aug. 16, 2010
A Member Comments: "Don't give up the fight,
TOA"
"As you all know, there were and still are
many facets to this far too long drawn out
dilemma...and diligence must not wane when
protecting patients from misinformation. As
my dad (retired podiatrist) said: "What's
wrong with being a good podiatrist?" The
public good of this Texas Supreme Court
decision far outweighs the desires of a few.
Training and expertise don't come easy.
Last month we had an incident where a
podiatrist who is also the nephew of a local
MD wound care center owner, was flown in to
care for a diabetic lady with a Charcot
foot. The DPM applied an external fixator
and also some inadequate internal fixation
and flew back to his city...follow-up was to
be with his physiatrist uncle. Well, the
patient fractured her tibia through one of
the pin holes. The DPM came back and
realized what the problem was and then
claimed the x-ray machine he had wouldn't go
high enough to see this fracture. The
physiatrist uncle called my partner to see
this lady, and not only was the tibia
fractured but she had osteo in the pin site!
Needless to say this guy will not be coming
back to our town. He was in waaaaay over his
head, and hopefully this law will be
followed.
There are many limited license providers out
there, all claiming a level of expertise and
training equal to orthopaedic surgeons.
Don't give up the fight".
Recently sent to us by a
TOA Member
|
|
[top]
[back
to e-card archive page] |
|
|
You have subscribed to this newsletter. If your
contact information has changed, please update
your account. Thank you!
|
|
