Summer 2015

 

TABLE OF CONTENTS

Mission Statement

The mission of the Texas Chapter of the American College of Physicians is to promote quality health care for all Texans by strengthening the practice of internal medicine.

President's Message


Alejandro Moreno, MBBS, MPH, JD, FACP, FCLM
TXACP President

Dear Texas ACP Members,

It has been a very successful year in terms of legislative achievements. The College played an important role in getting key legislation passed both at the national and state levels. I want to thank all Chapter members, residents, and students who attended ACP Leadership Day in Washington, visited the State Capitol in Austin, met with their representatives in their home districts, testified before the legislature, and wrote op-eds in newspapers in the past few years. These achievements would not have been possible without your efforts.

At the national level, the most important legislative milestone that the College championed was the permanent repeal of the Sustainable Growth Rate (SGR) formula. Getting Congress to pass MACRA was a long hard-fought battle. It took 17 temporary patches over a 12 year period. This victory was a true collective effort that involved members from all the Chapters of the College, as well as joint work of many other medical societies.

The Medicare Access and CHIP Reauthorization Act of 2015 or MACRA, which was sponsored by Dr. Michael Burgess from the 26th Texas Congressional District, maintains physician reimbursements until 2019 with 0.5% annual increments halting forever the draconian 20 plus percent cut. From 2019 until 2025, physicians would choose one of two forms of reimbursements every year: a new merit-based incentive payment program (MIPS) that consolidates current quality incentive programs and caps negative payment adjustments at 4-9% for the lowest performers or alternative payment models (APMs) with a 5% annual bonus for participating in specific programs. After 2025, physicians under MIPS will get a 0.5% annual update while those in the APMs will get 1% annual update. MACRA also provides strong incentives for patient centered homes and continues funding the Teaching Health Centers program that funds residency training programs in non-traditional settings, such as ambulatory care centers.

At the state level, the Texas Legislature reinstated funding for our flagship educational program: the Primary Care Preceptorship Program. The General Internal Medicine Statewide Preceptorship Program, along with the Pediatric and Family Medicine Preceptorship Programs, lost all state funding in 2011. Our Chapter at that time decided to preserve the Preceptorship Program using its own funds because of the program’s proven records. It increases the numbers of medical students staying in internal medicine and in Texas. The Chapter, however, could afford keeping the Program only at a fourth of its original size. Our members have been working tireless for the past 4 years trying to regain the public funding for such an important program. Thanks to Senator Jane Nelson who championed this legislation, the General Internal Medicine, Pediatrics, and Family Medicine Preceptorship Programs will receive $3 million dollars for the next biennium. The same legislation also created a new funding mechanism for residency training spots in Texas. 

Our Chapter continues to look for other funding sources for the Preceptorship Program. We are currently collaborating with the University of Texas at Houston to expand the General Internal Medicine Preceptorship Program through a primary care innovation grant. Similarly, our Chapter is working towards a permanent endowment for its educational activities through the TXACP Foundation. I take this opportunity to remind you to please donate to the foundation, which can be deducted from your taxes as a charitable contribution. We are very thankful to all the Members who have already done so.

Before closing this letter, I call upon you to join the Chapter in its advocacy efforts. For instance, join us visiting the Capitol in Austin, meeting legislators in their district offices, attending ACP Leadership day in Washington, or writing op-eds on key topics the College or our Chapter is trying to advance. If you are uncertain because you have never done such activities, any Board member or officer would be more than happy to guide you through the process.  Remember, these activities empower you and they make a difference.

I also call upon you to sign up as a mentor for the General Internal Medicine Statewide Preceptorship Program. We will need to revamp the program from 50 to 300 students a year. This is a unique way to participate in the main educational activity of the Chapter. It is also a unique opportunity to help shape the career of a young student. Members who have been preceptors unanimously say that it is one of the most rewarding professional experiences. The participating students have the same opinion in regards to the mentors.

Thank you again to all Members, residents, and students who actively participated in our advocacy activities. We would not have been able to advance our legislative goals without your work.  

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Governor’s Message


George E Crawford, MD, MACP
Governor, TX Southern Region

This is my first Governor’s report and I want you to know that I am excited to represent you , and have been thrilled to become more involved in the activities of our chapter.  I want to represent you and advocate for your issues, and I can do this best if you tell me what your problems are.  The ACP continues to advocate actively for several issues, notably reform of the ABIM maintenance of certification process, and national issues.  I attended Leadership Day in Washington DC and met with Texas Congressional members and staff, celebrating the repeal of the “Sustainable Growth Rate” legislation, and advocating for Medicare Payment Parity and reinstatement of the Primary Care Incentive.  The replacement legislation, MACRA, will lead to important decisions in the future, and the ACP will take an important role in the education of our members as to the complex choices and consequences of this legislation in future reimbursement.  Neither of the primary care or Medicaid issues got much traction in the face of a budget neutral environment, but we will continue to advocate for these important initiatives.

I was pleased to participate in the South Texas ACP Associates Day in San Antonio, and the Houston Associates Day in Galveston, and see the scholarship of our residents.  These residents are the future of our organization, and one of my priorities is the recruitment and retention of these young physicians.  One of the challenges facing us is recruiting and retaining medical students and residents, and we had a banner year in the Texas Legislature this year.  Texas has a deficit in terms of primary care physicians which we recognize are the foundation for a cost effective care system for the care of our patients.  Recruiting medical students has long been a priority through the General Internal Medicine Statewide Preceptor Program (GIMSPP).  This has been funded by the Texas ACP for the past several years independently, with no stipend for the participants, which has limited the participation.  This year, thanks to long standing advocacy by the Texas Chapter of the ACP, we have received a grant from the legislature to allow grants to student participants to spend 3-4 weeks with a primary care provider.  We have almost 100 students who will participate this summer for a primary care experience.   Although Texas has expanded medical school enrollments, and added additional medical schools in El Paso, Austin, and soon the Rio Grande Valley and San Antonio, with more graduating medical school students, the number of residency spots has lagged.  Recognizing that Texas is exporting medical school graduates to other states, and where people practice is most strongly associated with where they trained, the legislature has provided additional support for Internal Medicine and other primary care residents, which has allowed some programs to expand.  For example, UTHSCSA has expanded by 10 residents, providing more physicians for South Texas. 

Another important function of the ACP is recognizing our members for their accomplishments.  Last year was a banner year for national awards with three national awards – and five members selected for Mastership.  I would be happy to support members for fellowship, mastership or special awards. Another important recognition is Laureate, which is selective with 2-4 candidates selected per year.  I am confident that there are good candidates out there and I encourage you to send your nominations to our chapter office by the August 1st deadline. Please let me know if I can be helpful to you. 

I am looking forward to seeing you at our next chapter meeting in Dallas, being hosted by your Texas Northern Governor, Dr. Sue Bornstein November 7 - 8, 2015 at the Renaissance Dallas Hotel.

George Crawford, MD, MACP
crawfordg@uthscsa.edu
Phone: (210) 567-6685

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2015 Annual Meeting Save the Date

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Call for Awards

Nominate a colleague today for a Texas Chapter Award!

Nominations for the Texas Chapter Laureate, Volunteerism & Community Service, and Advocate of the Year awards are due August 1, 2015. Awards will be presented at the 2015 Annual Meeting in Dallas, on Saturday November 7, 2015.

Nominations for Chapter awards must include a detailed letter of recommendation and curriculum vitae; additional letters of support are welcome. Nominations are due to the Chapter business office no later than August 1, 2015. More information on Texas Chapter Awards is available online here.

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Now Accepting Nominations for the Chapter's Board of Directors 

Are you looking for a new challenge? Want to take on a new leadership role representing your colleagues? 

The Board sets policy and provides leadership for TXACP, including planning strategically for the Chapter's growth; determining our mission, goals, and priorities; and allocating resources in line with those priorities. Nominations are due July 15, 2015. View the Board's job description online.

 

Members, Fellows, and Masters of the ACP are eligible for election to the board. Directors are elected to represent each of the state's five regions plus one at-large. Directors serve three-year, terms, starting 2015-2018. Board meetings are held three times per year to oversee the activities and programs of the chapter.   

 

Names of prospective candidates and curriculum vitae should be submitted or mailed to the Chapter business office at  401 W. 15th St., Austin, TX 78701; by fax to (512) 370-1693; or by e-mail to Nicole.Abbott@texmed.org.  If you have any questions, please contact the chapter office at 512-370-1528. 

 

Election results will be announced at the annual meeting November 7 in Dallas at the Renaissance Dallas Hotel. 

 

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CECP Requesting Nominations for Co-Chair, Texas Northern

The Texas Chapter of the Council of Early Career Physicians is currently looking for candidates for the Texas Northern Co-Chair. As the Co-Chair, you will participate on quarterly (or more) conference calls, contribute to newsletter articles and work with the current Southern Co-Chair. You will attend the three Texas Chapter of the ACP Board meetings held throughout the year. The Co-Chair will serve two years as the Co-Chair and one year as the Immediate Past Co-Chair. If you are interested in this leadership opportunity, please submit your CV and a brief summary of why you would be a good Co-Chair to our chapter office contact, Nicole Abbott, Nicole.abbott@texmed.org or call (512) 370-1528. Nominations are due July 15, 2015.

The mission of the Council of Early Career Physicians (CECP) is to enhance the professional development and quality of life of young physicians and to foster their involvement in College activities.  Throughout the year, CECP members host physician networking and mentoring events.

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Students, Residents Call for Abstracts

The call for abstracts will be sent out Tuesday, July 9th. Deadline for submissions will be Wednesday, August 19th. Please make sure your contact information is up-to-date with the ACP. Residents and medical students are invited to submit new entries that have never been submitted in the past for several competitions during the Texas Chapter of the ACP Annual Meeting November 7 - 8 in Dallas. 

Medical Student Poster Competition: Medical students are invited to submit abstracts of clinical vignettes that have clinical relevance to internal medicine to the 2015 Texas Chapter of the ACP medical students’ poster competition via the medical student abstract submission form on the Texas chapter’s web site. On the submission form, students can indicate whether they want their abstract considered for the poster competition only or for the poster and/or clinical vignette competition.  In order to submit an abstract for either competition, you must be a member of the American College of Physicians.

Resident Poster Competition: Residents are invited to submit abstracts of clinical vignettes, clinical research (not basic science research), and quality improvement-patient safety that have clinical relevance to internal medicine to the 2015 Texas Chapter of the ACP residents’ poster competition via the resident abstract submission form on the Texas Chapter’s web site.  In order to submit an abstract for either competition, you must be a member of the American College of Physicians. 

Andy Diehl On Being a Doctor creative writing competition: Residents and medical students are invited to submit original prose or poetry dedicated to a particular theme. Submissions are limited to 1,000 words or less and must be submitted via the submission form on the Texas Chapter of the ACP web site. 

A panel of physicians will review the submissions, and the winner will be announced in October.  The winning author will be invited to present his or her work in a 10-minute oral reading during the general session at the Annual Meeting and will be recognized with the Andy Diehl on Being a Doctor Award. The author will win a trip paid for by the chapter to attend the Texas Chapter of the ACP Annual Meeting in Dallas and a trip to attend IM2016 in Washington, DC in May.

2015 Doctor's Dilemma Competition Team Form for the TXACP 2015 Annual Meeting: The competition is much like the TV show Jeopardy.  Questions are presented as answers and teams buzz in to answer the question in the form of a question.  There is a moderator asking the questions and each team has a buzzer so that the team that buzzes in first, has the first chance to answer the question. Checks are awarded to first and second place team members.  The first place team advances to the National ACP competition held May 5th - 7th in Washington, DC., during the ACP Annual Session at IM2016.  Members of the team who advance to the national competition must be Resident ACP members in good standing.  Please contact Becca Lawson in the chapter business office at (512) 370-1463 or e-mail her at rebecca.lawson@texmed.org with questions.

For more information, please visit www.txacp.org in July for further details.

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ACP Regional Competitions Resident Winners

All across the state of Texas, internal medicine residents are hard at work learning, practicing, and teaching medicine. The Texas Chapter of the ACP has the honor of allowing these young physicians to showcase their hard work locally at one of our five Residents’ regional competitions.

This year’s meetings followed in the successful tradition of those of the past. Competition was stiff, participation was high and all of the work was exceptional quality. An enormous amount of time and energy went into the planning of each event. Recognition for the extensive meeting preparation goes to the following program leaders and their respective staff members and teams: Drs. George Crawford and Michael Morris for the Southwest region, Dr. Richard Goodgame for the Southeast region, Dr. Kenneth Nugent for the Northwest region, Dr. Mark Feldman for the Northeast region, and Dr. Pedro Blandon for the Far Northwest region. Thank you all for your diligence and hard work.  A special thank you goes out to Drs. Suma Pokala and George Crawford for all of their involvement with these regional events as the Texas Chapter of the ACP Residents Committee Co-Chairs.

The Texas Chapter supports the regional Residents’ councils with annual grants of up to $1,000 per council to help fund their programming. Each regional clinical vignette competition winner will receive Chapter support to allow them to travel to Dallas, November 7-8, 2015, to represent their region at the Annual Meeting.

Congratulations go to the following regional competition winners!

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GIMSPP Match Update for 2015

This has been a year of promising change for the GIMSPP program.  The online application for GIMSPP opened on January 7, 2015.  As of June 10, 2015, we have been able to match 86 students. We have seen a 63% increase in match numbers since 2014’s final match number of 54.

On April 30, 2015, we received word that the Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board (THECB) chose UT Health Science Center at Houston in collaboration with GIMSPP to receive an award under the Graduate Medical Education Expansion Primary Care Innovation Program for fiscal years (FY) 2015 - 2016.  This means there is an opportunity to help offset student living expenses to participate in GIMSPP in 2015 and 2016 for students matched in urban and rural practices. With this information, we notified the students of their stipends and re-opened the application, garnering another 19 student applications and bringing the grand total number of applicants to 131. 

There are five preceptors who qualify for the Decade of Service Award this year, which is given to preceptors who have been a preceptor for 10 years and have hosted students for at least 7 of those years.  Those preceptors are: Dr. Khanh Vu, MD, FACP; Dr. Pamela Dugano-Daphnis, MD; Dr. Stuart Pickell, MD; Dr. Ben Barnett, MD, FACP; and Dr. Lonzetta Newman, MD, FACP.  In addition, Dr. Susan Andrew, MD, will be the first recipient of the distinguished Emerald Award for 20 years of service – Dr. Andrew has hosted 25 students since 1995. 

We recently interviewed Dr. Andrew regarding her breadth of experience with the GIMSPP program.  Dr. Aaron Samsula, a former GIMSPP student-turned-preceptor, was also interviewed.  Their outstanding testimonials can be found here: http://www.txacp.org/i4a/pages/index.cfm?pageid=1009

The GIMSPP’s primary goal is to match 90-100 students for 2015.  To meet the goals under the grant, we will strive to match at least 200 students in 2016, and will recruit preceptors heavily in anticipation of this influx of student applications.  If you want to help by becoming a preceptor, fill out the availability form.  We will need many preceptors in rural practices around the state and in high-need areas such as Houston, San Antonio, Dallas, Fort Worth, and Austin.

We believe that with the help of the Primary Care Innovation Grant and other initiatives by the Chapter to restore funding, the GIMSPP will again become a strong program with great influence over the future of internal medicine in Texas.

If you wish to serve as a preceptor for 2016, please contact Laura Tolin at Laura.Tolin@texmed.org or visit the GIMSPP webpage for more information.

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Thank You to All of Our Summer 2015 Preceptors

The General Internal Medicine Statewide Preceptorship Program would like to thank all of the physicians that served as preceptors for medical students this summer. Their dedication to the program, the students and to internal medicine is greatly appreciated. To learn more about the Preceptoship Program please read more here or contact Program Coordinator Laura Tolin at laura.tolin@texmed.org.

Shamaila Aslam, MD
Anand Balasubramanian, MD
Ben Barnett, MD
Homar Bartra, MD, FACP
Thomas Baxter, MD
Ana Blackmon, MD, FACP
Glenn E. Burnett, II, MD
Luis Camacho, MD
Uyen-Thi Cao, MD
Gopinath Chandrahasan, MD
Niraj Choudhary, MD
Maria Cruz Carreras, MD
Thai Dang, MD
Antonia Davidson, MD, FACP
Lisa Davis, MD
Pamela Dugano-Daphnis, MD
Sarah Duong, MD, MPH
Carmelita Escalante, MD
Manuel Estrada, MD
Mark Farnie, MD
Zanira Fazal, MD
John Flores, MD
Lisa Forrester, MD, PhD
Francisco Fuentes, MD
Carmen Gonzalez, MD
Domingo Gonzalez, MD
Maureen Gutierrez, MD
Jennifer Headrick, MD
Carlos Herrera, MD, MPH
Felice Howard, MD
MICHAEL Hu, MD
Robert Jackson, MD, FACP
Jennifer Johnson-Caldwell, MD
Felicia Jordan, MD, FACP
Alan Kaye, MD
Allan Kelly, MD, FACP
Mubarak Khawaja, MD

Rainer Khetan, MD
Roger Khetan, MD
Lynn Lester, MD
Bill Mania, MD
Michael Marshall, MD, FAAP, FACP
William McKee, MD
Neha Mittal, MD
Tarek Naguib, MD, MBA, FACP
Jason Newman, MD
Lonzetta Newman, MD, FACP
Sandra Ordonez-Sanchez, MD
Fauzia Osama, MD
Madhu Pamganamamula, MD
Maya Patel, MD
Stuart Pickell, MD
Eleazar Quintanilla, MD
Ana Rodriguez, MD
Steve Rosenbaum, MD
Aaron Samsula, MD, FACP
Michael Schrader, MD
Dorothy Serna, MD, FACP
Kimberly Sims, MD
Kathleen Smalky, MD
Sarah Smiley, DO
Brad Snodgrass, MD
Michael Tang, MD
Louis Torres Jr., MD, FACP
Peri Usha, MD
Joseph Varon, MD
Khanh Vu, MD, FACP
Joel Walker, MD, FACP
Larry Warmoth, MD
Beverly White, MD
Sai-Ching Yeung, MD, FACP
Michael Yu, MD
Irum Zaheer, MD

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Leadership Day 2015

The twenty-third annual Leadership Day was hosted May 20-21 in Washington, D.C. The event enables the College to increase its presence on Capitol Hill and bring issues of concern to U.S lawmakers. The invitation was extended via email to all Texas Chapter members to participate on behalf of ACP and the Texas delegation. The ACP program included educational briefings on key policies as well as an opportunity to visit with members from other chapters to discuss legislative priorities. This year, the following participants attended Leadership Day Activities as part of the Texas Chapter Representation:

Sue Bornstein, MD, FACP
Robert Jackson, MD, FACP
George Crawford, MD, MACP
Alejandro Moreno, MBBS, MPH, JD, FACP, FCLM
Richard McCallum, MD, FACP
Roger Khetan, MD, FACP, FHM
Fred Campbell, MD, FACP
Hani Yousif, MD (Resident)
Shraddha Dalwadi (Medical Student)
Michael Gray (Medical Student)
Kevin Kurian (Medical Student)
Scott Yates, MD, MBA, FACP
Nicole Abbott (Staff)

Medical Student’s Accounts of ACP Services Leadership Day

I really enjoyed Leadership Day this year. Being the second I have attended, I felt more confident speaking to Congressmen about ACP’s initiatives and general legislative concerns for the healthcare industry. Public policy is so deeply integrated with the future of medicine, no matter what specialty I end up going into. ACP provided me with an opportunity to make a difference in the decisions that matter. Perhaps the most notable experience for me was being able to spend about an hour speaking to my representative alone about these issues. We didn’t always see eye-to-eye, but it gave me a chance to have a voice in the decisions being made. Lastly, I really enjoyed networking with others students and medical professionals from around the country. If my third year schedule allows, I will definitely be back again. Respectfully, Shraddha Dalwadi, ACP Medical Student Member                                         

Leadership Day was extraordinary! On the first day I learned much about what internists are facing financially and patient wise. Having the opportunity to meet many ACP members, I realized that internal medicine is made up of some of the most caring and intelligent people. On the second day we went to the capitol building where we met with our senators and congresspersons from our home state. I had the opportunity to speak with Senator Cruz’s staff member Courtney Asbill about key asks. I personally met Congressman Gohmert, Culberson, and Sessions individually and discussed the issues about access to parimary care and which bills could help alleviate it. I also had the opportunity to discuss the matter with various staff members of Congresspersons’ Granger, Thornberry, and Johnson. When the office visits were finished, I felt that the ACP key issues were better known to congress. What I took away from this experience was how important advocacy is. Our elected officials are inundated with requests from numerous organizations. I believe the ACP is doing the right thing by rallying its members to be visible and to let the officials know that we sincerely care about our patients. Together we can improve the nation’s health through better access to primary care, which includes internal medicine. I look forward to being an active member of the ACP.  -Michael Gray, ACP Medical Student Member

This was my first participation and I learned a lot. I had the opportunity to look at the bigger picture of our health care system and where it is heading in the near future. The first day,  we started at 8am with the residents and students orientation by Graeme Williams and Mary Huerter. This presentation was unique because I felt that the speakers are my level. It helped a lot to break the fear I had as a first timer. Then we had a great workshop that addressed in details the top ACP priorities for 2015. The most important thing I learned from that workshop was to tell a story and make a clear and specific request from the representatives and the senators during each visit. The following day, we started around 7am which was too early yet I was so excited and felt so ready to represent my residents colleagues from the national ACP and more specifically ACP TX chapter.

I had the honor to have all my visits with Dr. Sue Bornstein. As a resident, I focused mainly on GME bills. I was able to share my experience of the cut that my residency program in UT Tyler, Good shepherd Internal Medicine Program has suffered this year. The cut was from 18 to 12 positions this year with a future plan to reduce that more to eight positions only next year. This has affected the people of East Texas tremendously. The story I shared was about one of my patients  who has end stage lung disease and a lot of chronic illnesses. My residency clinic had to ask some of the patients to find a new primary care doctor since there are 18 residents graduating while only 12 residents will start because of the slots cut mentioned above. So I had to ask this nice 52yr old patient to find a new primary care physician. After two months she came back to see me in the clinic to inform me that she couldn't find any primary care physician available because all of them are not accepting any new patients especially those with Medicare and/or Medicaid insurance. She said that the only appointment she found was a nurse practitioner 50 miles away from her residence who scheduled her appointment two months later! She broke down in tears and asked me why this is happening to her and why there are not enough primary care physicians in east Texas. I was speechless. I didn't have any good answers for her because she has the right to have a physician to take care of her chronic complicated medical conditions. After telling this story I asked specifically to introduce the two GME bills that were stated in the ACP top priority issues and the leave behind materials which we left with each representative's staff. "The private insurance and private payers should also contribute to GME funding not only Medicare and Medicaid as how it is done right now" Dr. Bornstein added. It has been a great experience and my biggest participation to advocate for a "change". I am looking forward to attend the next ACP Leadership Day in 2016. ~Dr. Hani Yousif, Resident Representative Member

For more information on how you may get involved in Leadership Day, how to become an Advocate for Internal Medicine through ACP or Texas-specific advocacy efforts with TXACP Services, please contact our Texas Chapter office at 512-370-1508.

Click here to see photos from Leadership Day 2015 on our Facebook Page!

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What Advocacy Did For You in 2014

ACP advocacy and policy development, with other allied organizations, worked to improve your practice environment and help you provide high quality care. Here's a summary of our most important efforts and initiatives in 2014, and why they matter:

1. Progress made to reduce egregious practices by health plans
2. Payment for chronic care management
3. Increased transparency for physician fee schedule
4. More flexible Meaningful Use criteria
5. Improved Medicare Shared Savings Program

6. ACP member was appointed Surgeon General
7. Uninsured rate reached historical low

8. Increased funding to train primary care physicians
9. Reduced administrative burden on physicians

 

Progress in Other Areas

We are continuing to make progress in other areas as well, due to ACP advocacy and policy development efforts, working with other allied organizations.

  1. Bill to repeal the SGR
    Although Congress failed to complete action to repeal the Medicare Sustainable Growth Rate (SGR) in 2014, for the first time, a bipartisan, bicameral agreement on a bill to repeal the SGR made it through the health care authorizing committees and to the floor of both the House and Senate. This bill included positive incentives for physicians in Patient-Centered Medical Homes and other innovative payment and delivery system models, while improving existing Medicare quality reporting programs. It is expected that this bill will be the basis for legislation in the new 114th Congress.

  2. Legislation to extend the Medicaid Primary Care Parity Program
    While not enacted into law, legislation was introduced in both the House and Senate (H.R. 5723 and S. 2694) to extend the Medicaid Primary Care Parity Program beyond its 2014 expiration date. This program ensures that Medicaid rates for primary care and immunization services are paid at least the rate of Medicare for years 2015 and 2016.

For more details on each topic, please click here.

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ACP's Special Interest Groups

ACP’s Special Interest Groups provide members with opportunities to engage in discussions online, share ideas, and support one another professionally and personally.

Participate by joining as many groups as you would like, then connect with ACP members from all over the world with similar interests. Groups include:

ACOs/New Practice Models | African American Members | Caring for Adults with Developmental Disability | Clinical Problem-Solving | Clinical Research | Emerging Technologies | Genetics and Genomic Medicine | High Value Care | Hospital Medicine | LGBT Health | Maintenance of Certification | Medical Students | MKSAP | Obesity Medicine | Perioperative Medicine | Physician Educators | Point-of-Care Ultrasound | Re-entry Physicians | Sex- and Gender-Specific Medicine | Small Practices | Volunteerism | Women in Medicine | Work/Life Balance | Working Abroad

Join today at www.acponline.org/sigs

Interested in a topic not listed? Contact ACP at mbrdev@acponline.org to ask about forming a new group.

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ACP Publishes Second Edition of The Fenway Guide to LBGT Health

This title is available as an ebook for your tablet or other mobile devices.

View the Table of Contents

View a sample chapter

Praise for the Fenway Guide, 2nd edition:

"This very rich and evidence-based review of the multiple health and health care issues confronting LGBTQ people over the life course is an excellent and welcome reference for all health care providers."
--Billy R. Thomas, M.D., M.P.H., Vice Chancellor of Diversity & Inclusion, University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences

This new 2nd edition of The Fenway Guide to Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgender Health reflects clinical and social changes since the publication of the first edition. Written by leading experts in the field of LGBT health in conjunction with The Fenway Institute at Fenway Health, one of the most trusted and respected community-based research, education, and care centers, this edition continues to present the important issues facing patients and practitioners, including:

  • Principles for taking an LGBT-inclusive health history
  • Caring for LGBTQ youth, families, and older adults
  • Behavioral Health Care: coming out, intimate partner violence, drug, alcohol, and tobacco use
  • Understanding health care needs of transgender people
  • Development of gender identity in children and adolescents
  • Sexual health and HIV prevention
  • Policy and legal issues

The Fenway Guide to Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgender Health, 2nd edition is a must-have resource for clinicians, students, and researchers working in hospitals, clinics, universities, libraries, and private practices in every community.

For more information and instructions to purchase the book please click here.

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Congratulations to our Newest Fellows

Fellowship recognizes personal integrity, superior competence in internal medicine, professional accomplishment, and demonstrated scholarship.

Roberto L. Collazo, MD, FACP, Dallas
Diego De la Mora, MD, FACP, Horizon City
Cecilia I. Del Moral, MD, FACP, El Paso
Randy A. Fuentes, MD, FACP, Corpus Christi
Emilio Gonzalez-Ayala, MD, FACP, El Paso
Joseph A. Hill, MD, PhD FACP, Dallas
Bielose C. Konwe, MBBS, FACP, Coppell
Darla G. Lowe, MD, FACP, Belton
Heidi L. Matus, MD, FACP, Houston
Rebecca N. McDonald, MD, FACP, Lubbock
Austin Metting, MD, FACP, Temple
Neha Mittal, MD, FACP, Lubbock
Zachary Paul Mulkey, MD, FACP, Lubbock
Charles C. Owen, Jr MD, FACP, Arlington
Suhel Patel, MBChB, FACP, Tyler
Jose F. Pena, MD, FACP, Donna
Alexandria Phan, MD, FACP, Houston
Jovan M. Popovich, MD, FACP, Pearland
Immaraju J. Prem-Swarup, MBBS, FACP, Sugar Land
Kara Prescott, MD, FACP, Dallas
Dorothy C. Serna, MD, FACP, Cypress
Hugo M. Toro-Botero, MD, FACP, Katy
Techksell M. Washington, MD, FACP, Galveston
Austin O. Williams, MD, FACP, Missouri City
 

Advancement to Fellowship applications are available:
•    At the ACP Website
•    From the ACP Customer Service Department at (800) 523-1546, ext. 2600
•    By e-mail

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Welcome New Members

We are proud to welcome the following members who have joined the Chapter during the past 3 months:

SGT Sherwin F. Attai, Waco
Sahar Avestimehr, MD, San Antonio
Christopher Sunday Ayeni, MD, Houston
Sharon P Balcells, MD, Temple
Daryl K Daniel, MD, Missouri City
Shounak Das, MD, Fairview
Anne Dempsey, MD, Austin
Christopher M Farmer, MD, Georgetown
Rashmi Jaitly, MD, Houston
Shaun E Jang, MD, McAllen
Jeffrey W Jundt, MD, Killeen
Paul A O'Leary, MD, Houston
Ashvin Patel, MD, Wichita Falls
Jennifer S Retzloff, MD, San Antonio
Ofelia Rodriguez, MD, Mc Allen
Raul M Sanchez Leon, MD, Spring
Emily Sandbach, MD, Austin
Richa Sharma, MD, Irving
Michael T Shoffeitt, MD, San Antonio
Ariel D Szvalb, MD, Houston
Heriberto A Tejeda, MD MPH, Corpus Christi
Javier Vasallo, MD, El Paso
 

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ACP Recruit-a-Colleague Program

Recommend ACP membership to your colleagues and earn a significant discount on your membership dues or even free membership. Now you have the opportunity to provide your colleagues with the same clinical support and educational resources that you have enjoyed as an ACP member. READ MORE

ACP Member Benefit Highlights Flyer
 

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Member Kudos

The John Tooker Evergreen Awards Program provides recognition and visibility to chapters that have successfully implemented programs to increase membership, improve communication, increase member involvement, enhance diversity, foster careers in internal medicine and improve management of the chapter.  The Texas Chapter received a 2015 John Tooker Evergreen Award for their initiative, Arts, Humanities and Medicine – A Prescription for Healing.

Send news of your accomplishments, or that of a colleague, to: Becca Lawson, TXACP Staff, 401 W. 15th St., Austin, TX 78701; fax to (512) 370-1635; or e-mail to Becca Lawson.

Thank you for being a member of the ACP.

For more information on the Texas Chapter of the ACP activities, news and photos, join us on Facebook.

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