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Texas Medicine Back Issues - 11/13/2025

Back Issues

Touting Texas: David N. Henkes, MD, Championed the State’s Physicians in 25 Years on the AMA Delegation - 11/13/2025

David N. Henkes, MD, recalls his first American Medical Association meeting in San Francisco as a new member of the Texas Delegation to the AMA. The November 2001 conference was, in a word, “overwhelming.”

'The Canary in the Coal Mine': Wastewater Testing Advances Improve Readiness for Outbreaks - 11/13/2025

Houston is home to a Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) National Wastewater Surveillance System of Excellence.

The Essence of Outreach: TMA Health Beat Broadens Its Audience to Advocate More Effectively - 11/13/2025

Louise Bethea, MD, sometimes encounters resistance in persuading her patients with asthma to adhere to their daily medication regimen. It’s a problem she attributes, in part, to low health care literacy.

Read and Review: TMA Offers Insight into Common Physician Contracts - 11/13/2025

TMA offers tips, insight into common types of contracts physicians encounter across their careers.

Now Is the Time: Texas Delegates to AMA Make a Strong Push for Fixing What Ails Medicare - 11/13/2025

Texas Medical Association members made their voices heard at the American Medical Association’s three-day National Advocacy Conference (NAC), Feb. 10-12, 2025, calling for a long-term Medicare payment fix.

2025 Legislative Wrap-Up: Inside the Capitol – Lessons from the 89th Legislative Session - 11/13/2025

TMA Council on Legislation Chair Zeke Silva, MD, offers an inside look at what it was like to operate at the Capitol behind the scenes and on the stage during this year’s session.

Tailored Programming: Upcoming TMA Conferences Meet Physicians Where They Practice - 11/13/2025

Texas Medical Association offers two upcoming conferences that members can attend - Business of Medicine Conference in El Paso in September and Local Medicine Matters in Tyler in October.

2025 Legislative Wrap-Up: Erosions to Medical Liability Reforms Fail - 11/13/2025

Medicine’s work this session to preserve Texas’ landmark medical liability reforms started and ended like legislative sessions past with a perennial attempt to index the landmark 2003 noneconomic damages cap to inflation. But that story had a twist this session in that the vehicle to do so, House Bill 4036, was pushed by a pair of Republicans alongside its typical Democrat contingency.  

Contaminant Containment: Foodborne Illness Outbreaks Takes Physician Awareness - 11/13/2025

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention estimates each year some 48 million people get sick from a foodborne illness, more than 127,000 are hospitalized, and 3,000 die.

Alternate Paths: Will Limited Licenses Help Alleviate Texas’ Workforce Shortages? - 11/10/2025

House Bill 2038, known as the "Doctor Act," allows Texas to establish "limited" and "provisional" licenses for unmatched medical graduates and international medical graduates. 

Pivoting Toward the Future: Progress in the Physician Workforce Grows Apace With the State’s Population - 11/07/2025

TMA’s physician workforce keeps apace the Texas population growth, and progress is happening to build the workforce through licensure, new state programs, and other initiatives.

Reaching for the Stars: For Bernard A. Harris Jr., MD, NASA Was the Start of a Childhood Dream Fulfilled - 11/07/2025

Bernard A. Harris Jr., MD, an astronaut and physician who has done two spacewalks, will be the featured speaker at the opening general session of TexMed, the Texas Medical Association’s annual conference, convening April 16-18, 2026. He’s titled his speech “An Astronaut’s Perspective: The Future of Medicine and Beyond.”

Covering Distances: Physicians, Lawmakers, Med Schools Look to Improve Rural Patient Access to Care - 11/07/2025

Texas legislators are taking notice of the dearth of physician care in rural counties with solutions, medical schools are gaining ground with successful rural-specific training tracks, with TMA all the while pushing for further steps to assuage rural health care shortages in Texas.

Medicaid Mindfulness: New Texas Law Raises Certain Violations to Same Level as Intentional Fraud - 11/07/2025

Senate Bill 1038 provides a key state agency with a new array of penalties, signaling the state’s focus on safeguarding Medicaid spending. In the process, however, it has elevated potential penalties for unknowingly violating Medicaid program rules to the same level as those for intentional fraud. 

Texas Medicine Magazine - 11/02/2025

Texas Medicine Magazine

Enjoying Employment: Texas Physicians Trend Away from Independent Practice - 10/14/2025

As the share of Texas physicians trend away from independent practice, TMA members spell out the benefits of employment.

UPDATED: Closer to Home: TMA Reimagines its Event Strategy - 10/07/2025

TMA reimagines its event strategy to meet members where they are.

2025 Legislative Wrap-Up: TMA Defeats Concerning Vaccine Bills For Second Session in a Row - 10/02/2025

Two bills that did survive will took effect Sept. 1, one of which imposes a specific informed consent form on physicians.

2025 Legislative Wrap-Up: Amid Bad Insurance Bills Defeated, Gold Card Law Refinements Close Gaps - 09/12/2025

House Bill 3812 addresses some of the shortfalls and inconsistencies among payers in the intended implementation of Texas’ landmark prior authorization exemption law. The law took effect Sept. 1 but additional rulemaking by the Texas Department of Insurance is likely.    

Talk to Patients About: Vaccines During Pregnancy - 09/11/2025

Protecting moms and babies from certain diseases often starts with pregnant women. Child-bearing women may not realize they pass on disease-fighting antibodies to their babies, protecting them early in life. That protection improves greatly when women get certain vaccines before and during pregnancy. They also may not realize getting vaccinated right after pregnancy can stop the spread of illnesses.  

‘This Is the Teach One’: Physician-Led CME Is Rooted in Relevance and Firsthand Experience - 09/10/2025

CME developed and transmitted by TMA undergoes a rigorous vetting process informed by physician input and expertise.

Personalized Pursuit: Word-of-Mouth Recruitment Plays Vital Role in How TMA Grows Membership - 09/10/2025

TMA launches new pilot program that focuses on member physicians recruiting colleagues to join the association.

2025 Legislative Wrap-Up: Texas Medicaid Enrollment, Eligibility Systems Get Modernization Funding - 09/08/2025

The Texas legislature preserved Medicaid allotments that TMA advocated for in the 2023 session, while providing funding to support two important online systems.

Digital-Age Doctors: What the 21st Century Cures Act Has Done to Change Physician Practice - 09/08/2025

Texas physicians have become more cognizant of electronic health records and innovations in augmented intelligence since the passage of the 21st Century Cures Act.