Texas Medical Association

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Meet Your Committee Chair: Cynthia Peacock, MD. Caring for patients insured by Medicaid requires a physician to keep up with numerous moving targets, says Cynthia Peacock, MD, new chair of TMA’s Committee on Medicaid, CHIP, and the Uninsured. So, she’s taken the charge to help physicians “navigate the ever-changing rules.” The Houston internist believes the committee can provide value to physicians and patients by “finding better ways to work with the state to improve health care services and advocating for policies that enhance better patient care.”

Meet Your Committee Chairs: Michelle Berger, MD, and Amy Townsend, MD. Having reluctantly retired from her solo ophthalmology practice in Austin, former TMA secretary/treasurer Michelle Berger, MD, understands “private practice is on very thin ice.” As chair of TMA’s new standing Committee on Independent Physician Practice, she hopes “this committee can be a lifeline to all ... under threat.” Vice chair Amy Townsend, MD, who owns her direct patient care family practice in Bridge City, adds: “By identifying the issues within our health care system that have led to the decline of independent physicians, we aim to develop solutions that will enable independent practices to flourish.”

Taking the Value-Based Care Pulse. Recent surveys show an uptick in physicians participating in value-based care models alongside fee-for-service, and indicate shared challenges. https://hubs.li/Q02LlPz80

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More Physicians Eye Alternative Payment Models. Fee-for-service payment still dominates the U.S. health care system, but economic headwinds are pushing some practices to seek options with an eye toward alternative payment models (APMs). With payers and lawmakers looking in the same direction, TMA's new standing Committee on APMs formed to educate physicians and develop related legislative and regulatory recommendations. https://hubs.li/Q02LlSGZ0

Meet Your Council Chair: Megan Kressin Physicians in Texas represent a hugely diverse group of professionals, across different geographies, practice settings, career stages, and backgrounds. And TMA provides value for all, says Megan Kressin, MD, an Austin pathologist and new chair of TMA’s Council on Member Experience. “My goal for my term as chair is to grow our membership by ensuring that all Texas physicians see the value of what TMA provides, understand how to participate and contribute to our organization, and are engaged in improving the lives of Texans through our collective work.”

Meet Your Committee Chair: Morvarid "Mo" Rezaie, MD. After 16 years of practice, including in hospice and palliative care, Fort Worth internist Mo Rezaie, MD, knows well how cancer intersects with the larger practice of medicine in Texas. Her experience has contributed to her two years of service on TMA’s Committee on Cancer, which she now co-chairs alongside Terri Woodard, MD. Dr. Rezaie is eager to “focus on prevention of disease, early detection through access to recommended screening tests, and easier access to treatments for our fellow Texans.”

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