The Texas Medical Association encourages members to participate in a survey regarding practice acquisition in order to aid medicine’s advocacy efforts.
“The survey will allow us to get a better idea of what people actually are thinking, to get a good, strong hold of stressors for those who are in private practice who want to stay in private practice,” said Gary J. Sheppard, MD, chair of TMA’s Council on Socioeconomics. “We want to get this information to be able to help our members.”
Working with the American Medical Association and several other states, the survey focuses on the pressures that corporate entities are placing on some physicians.
Take the survey here, which Dr. Sheppard confirmed takes eight to nine minutes to complete; for those who operate practices, the survey asks more questions, adding an estimated two minutes.
“The American Medical Association is excited to collaborate with the Texas Medical Association on our survey to gain better insight into the challenges you may face from outside entities such as insurers, benefit managers, hospitals, or private equity groups,” AMA told Texas Medicine Today.
“We encourage you to share your experiences, as it will inform the TMA’s and AMA’s resources and advocacy to promote an environment where physicians are better protected from third-party pressures and have choice in how they practice medicine.”
That information will also help TMA to learn more about what individual physicians are experiencing, building on efforts like last year’s Listening Tour to learn what most concerns members.
Amy Townsend, MD, vice chair of TMA’s Committee on Independent Physician Practice, welcomes the survey for bringing focus on what she terms “the complexity that has been injected into the practice of medicine.”
“They're hitting on topics that physicians have been discussing amongst themselves for several years now,” the Bridge City family physician said. “It will be a very positive thing to get numbers and data behind some of the things that we feel have been problems for years.”
The survey, conducted during the first quarter of 2025, will incorporate feedback from Texas physicians, as well as physicians in other states, so far including Arizona, California, Colorado, Indiana, Missouri, New York, and Washington. Topics include physicians’ interactions with commercial insurers as well as adaptation to the increased presence of corporate entities in the market.
Visit the advocacy section of TMA’s website to learn more about the association’s state and federal efforts on medicine’s behalf, and see how the Texas Delegation to the AMA is working for you.
Phil West
Associate Editor
(512) 370-1394
phil.west[at]texmed[dot]org
Phil West is a writer and editor whose publications include the Los Angeles Times, Seattle Times, Austin American-Statesman, and San Antonio Express-News. He earned a BA in journalism from the University of Washington and an MFA from the University of Texas at Austin’s James A. Michener Center for Writers. He lives in Austin with his wife, children, and a trio of free-spirited dogs.