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Ad Directory


Alfredo L. Viteri, MD, PA .........................52 Athenahealth ................................................8 Avita Pharmacy ..........................................33 Baylor Healthcare........................................6 Capital Farm Credit ..................................27 Covenant Medical Group ........................35 DSHS HIV/STD Program .........................36 Frost Bank ....................................................52 Humana .......................................................IBC Kindred ............................................................ 5 Leichter Law................................................29 Looper Reed & McGraw ..........................42 Mayo Clinic...................................................25 McDonald’s ...................................................12 McKesson Corporation ...........................40 Med-Enterprises, LLC ..............................47 nVenio Analytics ........................................28 REC — North Texas ...................................22 Rose Walker LLP ........................................13 Rx Security .................................................40 Sharp & Cobos, P.C. Attorneys at Law ........................................................36


Texas Chapter of the ACP .......................41 Texas Medical Association Academic Medicine Award ................48 Bank of America ....................................47 Medicare 2014 Seminar ......................... 3 Practice Consulting .............................. 30 Tech Tuesday ...........................................53 TexMed 2014 ............................................53 TEXPAC .....................................................48


Texas Medical Association Insurance Trust ..........................................................IBC


Texas Medical Liability Trust ............... IFC West, Webb, Allbritton and Gentry, PC ................................................45 Westat ...........................................................34


These services are:


• Hospitalization, • Emergency, • Laboratory, • Maternity/newborn, • Mental health and substance use dis- orders (including behavioral health),


• Prescription drugs, • Rehabilitative/habilitative, • Preventive/wellness and chronic disease,


• Ambulatory care, and • Pediatric (including oral and vision care).


Advertise for as little as $25! TMA’s website experiences nearly 320,000 visitor sessions each month. With this kind of activity, can you afford not to advertise in TMA’s online classifieds? Place and purchase your classified ad now at http://classifieds.texmed.org.


Recognizing the impact Several major changes will affect provid- ers financially. Some of the charity care you may have provided in the past will become compensated care. This change will allow those low-income patients to be better able to contribute to their care in the future. As Medicaid programs and providers prepare to cover more patients, ACA will require states to pay primary care physicians (who apply for Medi- care parity) no less than 100 percent of Medicare payment rates on primary care services provided to Medicaid patients in 2013 and 2014. Search for “Medicaid fee increase” on the TMA website (www.tex med.org) to learn more. There will be a notable difference in the number of patients seeking primary care physicians. Currently, more than 6 million Texans are uninsured. As these people gain health insurance coverage, they will become much more likely to schedule appointments with you. This is an opportunity for you to increase your patient pool and grow your prac- tice. These patients may have avoided or delayed their medical services, which means they may require more of your medical attention. They may also be good candidates for disease/care man- agement services available through their insurer.


Educating others I come from a background of serving patients in the emergency department. From this clinical standpoint, I look forward to knowing that more individ- uals will have access to insurance and


56 TEXAS MEDICINE October 2013


therefore be able to obtain the appropri- ate follow-up care after they leave the emergency department or hospital. I know many of you share my same desire to see that everyone receives continua- tion of care and maintenance of health problems. As you prepare for the changes ahead, it’s equally important to prepare your pa- tients on this complex topic. According to a health tracking poll conducted by Kaiser Family Foundation in April, only 11 percent of people had received health care reform information from their doc- tor in the preceding month. I challenge you to increase this per- centage by proactively communicating with your patients. You will be one of their most trusted sources for informa- tion. Information is available through various sources, including a grassroots educational initiative called “Be Covered Texas” funded by my employer, Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Texas. By part- nering with community organizations in the communities we serve, the Be Cov- ered Texas campaign is working to reach and inform the state’s uninsured popula- tion about the changes coming through ACA. The campaign’s educational mate- rials, available in both English and Span- ish, can help people learn how the new health care law impacts them and what steps to take to get access to individual health insurance.


I invite you to visit http://becovered


texas.org and consider directing your uninsured and underinsured patients to this nonbranded, educational resource. As physicians, we have an opportunity and an obligation to take a leadership role with our patients. Let’s take on this challenge and make the most of this op- portunity to improve health care access for all Texans. n


Dr. López is president of the San Antonio Region for Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Texas. He is board certi- fied in internal medicine and pediatrics and has prac- ticed in various emergency departments in San Antonio and South Texas.


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