be the year I could stand up as the first president of TMA in about 12 years and tell you that the SGR problem was done, but I cannot do that at this point.” He said the government shutdown blunted some of the momentum for passage of legislation to fix the SGR issue. However, Dr. Brotherton said, the ef- fort is not over, and organized medicine will continue to push for an SGR fix. “It’s going to take a lot of work at multiple levels, starting with the grassroots, to get this up and going. Keep your seat- belts fastened.” On a brighter note, he reminded the
audience that it has been 10 years since Texas passed medical liability reforms. Those reforms have reduced lawsuits against physicians, lowered physicians’ liability insurance premiums, brought more doctors to the state, and increased patients’ access to care. “There’s no place that has done it bet- ter than Texas,” he said. Dr. Brotherton cited the efforts of many physicians who helped TMA pass the reforms in 2003. They included TMA presidents Fred Merian, MD, Charles W. Bailey, MD, and Bohn D. Allen, MD; Spencer Berthelsen, MD, who was chair of the TMA Council on Legislation at the time; John Durand, MD, who chaired the Committee on Professional Liability; and Howard Marcus, MD, chair of the Texas Alliance for Patient Access. Dr. Brotherton asked the audience to
thank them and all of the other physi- cians who helped lobby the legislature for passage of tort reform. “I want you to just stop and think about what you owe to these people,” he said. “There’s a good chance you would not be practic- ing in this state if not for those folks.”
TMA previews Physician Services Organization
As the health care system moves toward accountable care, physician practices are in a unique position to meet increas- ing demands for high-quality and low- cost care, health care consultant John G. Nackel, PhD, told a roomful of phy-
December 2013 TEXAS MEDICINE 13
Steve Levine, TMA vice president for communications, right, talks to physicians and county medical society staff about how they can use social media like Twitter and Facebook in their practices and for advocacy.
Physicians gathered to hear about TMA’s new Physician Services Organization at the TMA Fall Conference, where TMA consultant John Nackel, PhD, center, explained the valuable role physicians play in the age of accountable care.
JIM LINCOLN
MARC SWENDER
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