It’s an election year. As a Doctor of Chiropractic in Texas, the stakes couldn’t be any higher. What happens this fall in state elections could have major ramifications on our success in the 85th Texas Legislature. It’s critical that we find friends to move our agenda forward in Austin. To make this happen, we must elect individuals in the Texas Senate and House who are chiropractic-friendly, understand our credentials, recognize the value of what we do for our patients and believe that Texans have a right to the health care of their choice. How can we do that? Learn how from the TCA President in his report.

The Texas Chiropractic Association is pleased to announce that Financially Fit has come on board as a TCA Silver Sponsor. Financially Fit is a financial education company that provides a variety of financial services. We’ll show you simple ways to improve your cash flow so that there is more money for the important things. Become a Master of Money and be in charge of your life and actions regarding it. Best of all, Financially Fit’s program is absolutely free!

The government has mobilized its enforcement agencies. The TCA is offering a comprehensive six-hour seminar, HIPAA – Protecting Your Practice in an Overregulated World, taught by Ty Talcott, DC, CHPSE, of HIPAA Compliance Services.

Medical error is the third leading cause of death in the United States, after heart disease and cancer.

A case argued before the Supreme Court was filed under the False Claims Act on the theory that even though the claims submitted to Medicaid for payment accurately represented the services that were provided, the claims were false because the clinic had not complied with state laws by billing physician services rendered by an unlicensed provider.

The Student American Chiropractic Association (SACA) will raise awareness of the National Medicare Equality Petition throughout the month of May. Join them as they promote #MedicareEquality by changing your Twitter, Instagram and Facebook profile photo to the Medicare in May logo.

The American Society for Association Executives (ASAE) awarded the American Chiropractic Association (ACA) with a 2016 Gold Circle Award for its member retention campaign.

An Orthopaedic Clinic has agreed to pay $750,000 to settle charges that it might have violated the HIPAA Privacy Rule by disclosing protected health information (PHI) without first executing a business associate agreement (BAA).

For the 2015-2016 academic year, medical school enrollment in the United States is up 25% over 2002-2003 levels, representing 4143 new students. Since 2002, 20 additional medical schools have been established and seven new schools are currently awaiting accreditation.

The countdown to Chiro Texpo ’16 has started, with only a few more weeks until the chiropractic event of year comes to Arlington. If you haven’t registered for Chiro Texpo ’16, there’s still time. Early registration has been extended until May 31. Check out the content in this article to learn more of what you can expect at Chiro Texpo ’16.

TCA is offering three practice improvement programs during Chiro Texpo ’16 that could make a big difference in your practice. Don’t miss these sessions!

Continuing education is important, but so is running a successful and profitable practice. With the help of Exclusive Centennial Sponsor Physicians Business Solutions, the Texas Chiropractic Association is pleased to announce the Success Track at Chiro Texpo ’16 on June 10-12 in Arlington. "PBS is excited to bring the Success Track to Chiro Texpo ’16," said Steve Peyroux, DC, president of PBS. "It’s getting tougher for DCs to run a successful practice in today’s environment. Our goal is to share easy to implement ideas that have the potential to significantly increase their bottom line."

Is your practice hiring now or in the next year? TCA is hosting a Student Career Fair to provide you the opportunity to speak with students and new chiropractic graduates.  There’s no cost to participate in the Student Career Fair. 

The most reliable way to increase your new patients is to get referrals from your current patients. It starts by just asking! Use wording that is not only tactful but also natural to you. If you are comfortable saying it, then you will appear genuine and will get better results in return. If you commit a script to memory that does not match your personality, your patients will sense when you switch into autopilot and begin mechanically talking.

Texas.gov is the official website of the State of Texas where more than 1,000 services are available to help professionals to apply for or renew their state-issued licenses from the comfort of their home or office. Check out the links available for TBCE business in this article.

Avoid Medicaid disenrollment and possible disruption in claims payment on September 25, 2016, providers should submit a re-enrollment application to the state or TMHP today.

The Keeler Plaque is the Texas Chiropractic Association’s most prestigious award designating the Chiropractor of the year. You have the opportunity to nominate a TCA member for consideration to receive the Keeler Plaque. Deadline for nominations is June 3, 2016.

This award is for those who are under 40 years of age, or with fewer than 10 years in chiropractic practice at the time of the award’s receipt. Deadline for nominations is June 3, 2016.

May 21-22, 2016 – AUSTIN, TX– Total Practice Integration: Analyzing and Treating Your Most Difficult Cases – Art Janolo, DC, www.txseminars.com

A new 5-year primary care initiative known as the Comprehensive Primary Care Plus model "is shaping the future of primary care in America," says the CMS.

Doctors fixate on the care of individual patients and on the science of healing. Staying focused on the trees instead of the forest means that significant system evolution often occurs without doctor voices, simply because doctors refuse to be involved. This results in error, inefficiency, and lost opportunity.

Presidential hopeful Hillary Clinton’s advisor shared Clinton’s health policy priorities.

UnitedHealthcare will operate only in a "handful" of health insurance exchanges in 2017, down from 34 states this year, company officials said. The company said it lost $475 million last year from the Obamacare marketplace plans and was on target to lose $650 million in 2016.  United officials said they were unwilling to keep losing money.

Driven in part by high deductibles, Americans are increasingly looking at their healthcare choices in the same way they shop for other commodities, comparing prices and quality to get the most for their money.

A new survey shows that almost 70% of headache specialists report having episodic migraine (EM), much higher than the lifetime incidence of EM in the general population. Authors found it "fascinating" that so many neurologists and headache specialists have migraine.

Vaccines and other antiviral treatments have one overriding, seemingly inescapable problem: since viruses evolve, a solution that works today can be completely useless tomorrow. The researchers at DARPA are convinced this is a solvable problem, however.

Recently CBS National News made a derogatory statement regarding chiropractors that are Certified Medical Examiners (CME) in the National Registry. The clear inference was that DC CMEs have inferior skills and abilities that allow dangerous and medically unqualified drivers to continue driving resulting in grievous accidents.

Organized medicine supports improving diversity of representation on governmental quality improvement organizations, but they "will forcefully advocate" against any guidelines having the governing bodies of these organizations "comprised of a majority of non-physicians."