• Ensure boards have more than one pathway to assess competency of practicing physicians;
• Oppose the use of MOC exams for economic credentialing;
• Prevent ABMS-member boards from trying to restrict the legiti- mate scope of practice of board- certified physicians;
“I’ve taken three courses in ICD-10, and I still don’t get it.”
• Ensure that physicians are clearly informed of MOC timelines and due dates;
• Ask the Interstate Medical Licen- sure Compact commission to clar- ify that the intent of the compact’s model legislation requiring that a physician “holds” specialty certifi- cation refers only to initial certifi- cation and not to MOC.
On the related, and equally con-
troversial, issue of maintenance of licensure (MOL), the delegates set strict guidelines for any state MOL program, saying it must be physician- led, evidence-based, specialty-specific, simple, and flexible.
TEXANS, TEXAS IDEAS TRIUMPH With an uncontested race, the out- come was all but certain, but the cel- ebration was real. After a four-year stint in the No. 2
spot, Fort Worth allergist Sue Bai- ley, MD, won election as speaker of the AMA House of Delegates. She moved up one notch after the previ- ous speaker — Andrew Gurman, MD, of Pennsylvania — was chosen AMA president-elect. “I love this house, and I love this
organization,” Dr. Bailey, a former TMA president, said after the del- egates elected her by acclamation. “I look forward to continuing our robust work to improve the health of our na- tion together.” David Henkes, MD, of San Anto- nio, chair of the Texas Delegation to
+ 16 TEXAS MEDICINE August 2015
the AMA, placed Dr. Bailey’s name in nomination. “Sue Bailey is a good person, a nice person, a wise person, and a wonderful mentor,” Dr. Henkes said. “I guarantee you, the physicians of Texas would follow wherever she leads — and this house would be well- advised to do the same.” Meanwhile, three of the four pol-
icy proposals the Texas delegation brought to Chicago won approval from the house. They are:
• A statement that residents and fel- lows should not be financially re- sponsible for their training;
• A call for AMA to advocate real- time notification to physicians when patients on COBRA plans are within their 30- or 45-day grace periods; and
• A TMA Medical Student Section proposal that AMA back plans to promote “safe exits” from prostitu- tion rather than criminalization.
A fourth Texas resolution that
called for the elimination of penalties for noncompliance with Medicare’s meaningful use criteria for electronic health records (EHRs) was referred for further study, along with several other proposals to reduce EHR has- sles for physicians.
OTHER ISSUES MERIT ACTION Delegates addressed various other economic, legislative, and organiza- tional topics. The house:
• Welcomed Steven Stack, MD, a 43-year-old emergency medicine physician from Kentucky, as the association’s 170th — and youngest — president.
• Directed AMA to advocate to elim- inate the “three-day rule” — the three-day hospital inpatient re- quirement for Medicare coverage
Renew your controlled substances registration permit:
www.tmb.state.tx.us/page/licensing.
Page 1 |
Page 2 |
Page 3 |
Page 4 |
Page 5 |
Page 6 |
Page 7 |
Page 8 |
Page 9 |
Page 10 |
Page 11 |
Page 12 |
Page 13 |
Page 14 |
Page 15 |
Page 16 |
Page 17 |
Page 18 |
Page 19 |
Page 20 |
Page 21 |
Page 22 |
Page 23 |
Page 24 |
Page 25 |
Page 26 |
Page 27 |
Page 28 |
Page 29 |
Page 30 |
Page 31 |
Page 32 |
Page 33 |
Page 34 |
Page 35 |
Page 36 |
Page 37 |
Page 38 |
Page 39 |
Page 40 |
Page 41 |
Page 42 |
Page 43 |
Page 44 |
Page 45 |
Page 46 |
Page 47 |
Page 48 |
Page 49 |
Page 50 |
Page 51 |
Page 52 |
Page 53 |
Page 54 |
Page 55 |
Page 56 |
Page 57 |
Page 58 |
Page 59 |
Page 60 |
Page 61 |
Page 62 |
Page 63 |
Page 64 |
Page 65 |
Page 66 |
Page 67 |
Page 68 |
Page 69 |
Page 70 |
Page 71 |
Page 72 |
Page 73 |
Page 74 |
Page 75 |
Page 76