GME Momentum: Preserving Texas' Steady Progress in Building Residency Positions.

TMA fights state budget cuts to preserve Texas' steady progress in building residency positions.

Accelerating RPM: COVID-19 Speeds Adoption of Remote Patient Monitoring.

Before March 2020, remote patient monitoring (RPM) was a tool endocrinologist Thomas Blevins, MD, used to help patients with diabetes track and regulate blood sugar levels and report the results back to him. But when the COVID-19 pandemic forced many doctors to turn to telemedicine, Dr. Blevins and the nine other physicians on staff at Austin Diabetes and Endocrinology had to rev up their RPM use.

Talk to Patients About: Vaccines and Cancer.

Vaccines are one of medicine's best tools against cancer. The shots for human papillomavirus (HPV) and hepatitis B prevent a range of cancers and save thousands of lives each year. But anti-vaccine advocates have tried - incorrectly - to paint just the opposite picture in several ways.

Keeping Children Safe: Prevention a More Prevalent Approach to Address Child Abuse, Neglect.

Physicians, especially pediatricians and family doctors, are trained to recognize signs of abuse and neglect and are legally obligated to report them. That is a vital approach for combatting the problem. However, physicians and other child abuse experts are turning more and more toward prevention.

Routine Screen: Regular Testing Needed to End HIV Epidemic.

Testing is one of the best ways to combat HIV infection. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) recommends routine testing for patients between the ages of 13 to 64. Yet, fewer than 40% of eligible people have ever had an HIV test, according to a 2019 CDC study.

Another Great Match: Most Texas Medical Graduates Matched With Residency Positions.

Texas medical students have enjoyed some highly successful Match Weeks in recent years, but 2020 was the best since the Texas Medical Association Council of Medical School Deans began tracking match data in 2014.

Spotlight on Vaccines: Pandemic May Open Gateway to Improve Vaccination Rates in Texas.

The uneven rollout of COVID-19 vaccines in December created at least one bright spot for Texas physicians: It highlighted how the state could make vaccination more efficient.

Compact for Care: Texas Joins Interstate Agreement for Out-of-State Licensure.

The rise of telemedicine during the COVID-19 pandemic has spurred a change in state law that will not only help make certain telemedicine services permanent but also give out-of-state physicians an easier pathway to join the Texas workforce.

A Texas Trailblazer: May Owen, MD, a Medical Pioneer and TMA's First Female President.

On May 27, 1936, May Owen, MD, answered a scientific riddle in a speech before the Texas Medical Association, explaining research that would soon make her a statewide celebrity. Dr. Owen's pioneering work continued in the decades to come, making her the first female president of the Texas Society of Pathologists in 1946, the first female president of the Tarrant County Medical Society in 1947, and the first female president of TMA in 1960.

Saving Mothers' Lives: Texas Physicians Prioritize Fighting Maternal Mortality and Morbidity.

Texas has taken some big steps to combat maternal death and illness in recent years. That was highlighted by one of the Texas Medical Association's biggest wins in the 2021 regular session of the Texas Legislature, when medicine's longtime advocacy resulted in an extension of Medicaid coverage for postpartum maternal care from two to six months under House Bill 133. This partial victory is just one of many that shows promise in addressing a major public health priority for TMA and the state.

Making the Right Call: CPAN Helps Physicians Improve Behavioral Health.

IN THE 19 MONTHS since the Texas Child Psychiatry Access Network (CPAN) has been up and running, it's kept any number of minor problems from becoming major ones.

So Much Uncertainty: Struggle to Renew Medicaid 1115 Waiver Endangers Behavioral Health Care for Low-Income.

Uncertainty over the waiver's future has thrown confusion into many of the state's biggest behavioral health efforts.

Talk to Patients About: Breakthrough Infections.

The new mRNA vaccines for COVID-19 are highly effective at giving people immunity against the disease. But as with all other vaccines, that immunity is not 100% for everyone who receives them.

"Together We Stand": COVID-19 Prompted Partnership Among North Texas Medical Societies.

COVID-19 prompted a partnership among North Texas medical societies to serve their communities.

An Overworked Force: Texas Grapples With Medical Staffing Shortage Amid COVID-19 Surge.

Texas grapples with a medical staffing shortage amid a renewed COVID-19 surge.

Unfreezing GME: A Boost to Federal Funding for Residencies.

U.S. lawmakers may be ready to boost federal funding for residencies.

Training Up: COVID-19 Changed the Way Students, Residents Learn Medicine.

COVID-19 dramatically changed the way Texas' students and residents learn medicine.

Talk to Patients About: Vaccine Adverse Event Reporting System (VAERS).

The Vaccine Adverse Event Reporting System (VAERS) is the early warning system for vaccine safety in the U.S. While it's important for identifying vaccine side effects, the data it collects can be misunderstood.

Healthy Determination: Texas Physicians are Finding Better Ways to Address Their Patients' Social Determinants of Health.

Austin pediatrician Sandra Frasser, MD, learned early in her medical career that many of the biggest health problems patients face cannot be fixed by a trip to the doctor's office.

Opening Act: Patients Given Broad Access to Their EHRs.

Starting April 5, physicians must be ready to electronically share with patients more of the information generated during office visits. This change comes thanks to "information blocking" rules that are part of the 21st Century Cures Act, passed by Congress in 2016 and put into regulation in 2020 by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services' Office of the National Coordinator (ONC).