Those fee cuts were scheduled to take effect at the end of February if Congress did not act to stop them. Dr. Carmel, however, said a potential solution is on the horizon. He said money that was earmarked for the wars in Iraq and Af- ghanistan that is no longer needed for that purpose could be reallocated to the SGR problem without Congress having to raise taxes or increase the nation’s debt.
Physicians embrace social media
Physicians who always wanted to take advantage of social media tools but nev- er had the time to get started received a crash course at the TMA Winter Confer- ence. TMA hosted two media labs on Fri- day, Jan. 27, on using LinkedIn, YouTube, and Twitter, and convened a session on Facebook the next morning. Cypress psychiatrist Debra Osterman, MD, attended the Facebook lab to learn how to establish professional and per- sonal accounts and to establish her pri- vacy settings. “Facebook will allow me to network
professionally and to get the word out regarding any information that’s medi- cally of interest,” she said.
TMA staff members, medical students, and other physicians instructed physi- cians in setting up a Facebook account, reviewing and choosing privacy settings, posting status updates, making connec- tions, and using Facebook on mobile phones and smartphones. During the Saturday morning session,
Dr. Osterman connected with an Ameri- can Medical Association contact and received instruction from a TMA staff member on how to access Facebook on her smartphone. Charles Dale Mitchell, MD, a Dallas
orthopedic surgeon, received guidance from Lenore DePagter, DO, chair of the TMA Young Physician Section, on setting up a Facebook page for his practice. “Physicians need to embrace technolo-
gy, and Facebook provides us with a way to communicate accurate information to our patients,” he said. Elizabeth Torres, MD, a Sugar Land
Mark Clanton, MD, medical director of the American Cancer Society, said the Cancer Prevention Study-3 data will help researchers examine the link between cancer and lifestyle. He said the two previous studies helped establish the link between cancer and smoking and cancer and obesity.
March 2012 TEXAS MEDICINE 11
internal medicine physician and member of the TMA Council on Science and Pub- lic Health, decided to attend the Face- book lab after hearing Jason Terk, MD, a Keller pediatrician and chair of the Council on Science and Public Health, promote physician involvement in social media.
“I see the value in physician use of
Facebook. I also want to contribute to TMA’s new blog, MeAndMyDoctor, and share my posts on Facebook,” Dr. Torres said. “Facebook and the blog provide channels for physicians to communi- cate with patients about changes in the health care system.” Dr. Torres set up a professional prac-
tice Facebook page and says she hopes her presence on the social networking site will help her reach more patients, especially young patients. “Young people are really engaged in social media, and physicians need to be, too,” she said.
She adds that physician participation in social media gives medicine a plat- form for accurate communication. “As trusted leaders, physicians want to
maintain their integrity by ensuring pa- tients and the public receive information that’s true. We can advocate for the best interests of patients via social media,” Dr. Torres said.
TMA, ACS join cancer study
TMA and the American Cancer Society (ACS) teamed up in a landmark study aimed at reducing the impact of can- cer. The goal of the Cancer Prevention Study-3 (CPS-3) is to enroll men and women from various racial and ethnic backgrounds from across the United States in an effort to help researchers better understand the lifestyle, environ- mental, and genetic factors that cause or prevent cancer, and to save lives. The study involves patients between ages 30 and 65 who have never been di- agnosed with cancer. There is no charge to participate. Patients can enroll by following these simple steps:
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