Letters
We shouldn’t bolster those entities by gracing them with a “seal of approval” from TMA.
Don’t promote ACOs
The Texas Medicine cover from July 2013 features a corporate logo (inappropriate) and a splash that claims ACOs in Texas are controlling costs while improving quality (unproven at best). You didn’t even bother to put a question mark at the end of the statement “Controlling Costs While Improving Quality.” If I want an advertisement for dubi- ous payment schemes designed to dis- advantage good doctors and their un- suspecting patients, I can listen to Mr. Obama or Kathleen Sebelius, or one of the hundreds of “experts” on health care who have never seen a patient, taken call, fought an insurance company, or tried to run a practice. ACOs are coming. TMA did not de- sign them. But to promote them on the cover of TMA’s official magazine is un- fortunate to say the least. I sent a similar letter 20 years ago when Texas Medicine had a nearly identical article on HMOs. How did those work out for us and our patients? I have to wonder if the edito- rial staff of Texas Medicine can place the implied blessing of every physician in Texas on the once-per-decade schemes designed to further degrade our profes- sion, our practices, and our ability to independently care for our patients. We are engaged in a war for those things,
not just for us but for future generations (the caretakers for us and our families when the time comes). ACOs are yet another thinly disguised weapon in the hands of hospitals/insur- ance companies/businessmen to take medical and financial control away from patients and doctors. We shouldn’t bol- ster those entities by gracing them with a “seal of approval” from TMA. I hope you really like that cover because it is going to be stock material for the offices and informational folder of every ACO in Texas and beyond.
Keith D. Fisher, MD Fort Worth
Physician Practice Opportunities
We have exciting opportunities for board certified/board eligible physicians to join Covenant Medical Group. The ideal candidate should have experience and a Texas license.
Endocrinologist - Lubbock, TX Family Medicine - Denver City, TX Family Medicine - Lubbock, TX Family Medicine Urgent Care - Lubbock, TX General Surgeon - Lubbock, TX Hospitalist - Lubbock, TX Internal Medicine - Lubbock, TX Internal Medicine - Plainview, TX Neurologist - Lubbock, TX OB/GYN - Plainview, TX Palliative Care Medicine - Lubbock, TX Pediatric Emergency Medicine - Lubbock, TX Pediatric Hematology/Oncology - Lubbock, TX Pediatric Intensivist - Lubbock, TX Pediatric Orthopedic Surgeon - Lubbock, TX Pediatric Surgeon - Lubbock, TX Pediatrician - Lubbock, TX Pediatrician - Plainview, TX Pediatrician Urgent Care - Lubbock, TX
Express your point of view in Texas Medi- cine. The mailing address is TMA, 401 W. 15th St., Austin, TX 78701. Letters may be submitted by e-mail to
larry.besaw@
texmed.org. Letters are published at the discretion of the editor and editorial advisors, and are subject to editing and abridgment. Letters represent the opin- ions of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the policies of the Texas Medical Association.
Covenant Medical Group (CMG) is affiliated with Covenant Health System in Lubbock, Texas. CMG is a multi-specialty group with more than 150 physicians across West Texas and Eastern New Mexico. We offer a competitive salary and excellent benefit package. CV should include salary requirements and can be forwarded to Covenant Medical Group, Attn: Kelly Fortney, 3420 22nd Place, Lubbock, TX 79410 or faxed to (806) 723-7476. For telephone inquiries, call (806) 725-7875.
E-mail:
kfortney@covhs.org September 2013 TEXAS MEDICINE 7
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