Another lawsuit from the Texas Medical Association? A trial has been set for Aug. 2 for TMA vs. TBCE. TCA is intervening in the case on behalf of the profession. In 2013, TMA amended the VONT case, challenging the definition of musculoskeletal and subluxation because of the neural or nerve inclusion. TMA again raised the issue of diagnosis. So, here we go again! 

In 2015, Google announced that non-mobile-friendly websites would be penalized in local search results.  If your website looks fantastic, but still isn’t getting any traffic, it could be due to underlying issues like a lack of mobile capability. Google stated that more searches take place on mobile devices than on computers. Having a mobile-friendly website is the key to meeting the increasing trend of mobile usage. Learn what it takes for a mobile-firendly website.

HIPAA random audits are ramping up. This FREE webinar presents the facts regarding this new round of audits and how to protect yourself. Ignorance of this federal law can lead to $50,000 minimum fines! Please register for the FREE Surviving the NEW July 2016 Random Physician HIPAA Audits webinar to be held Thursday, Aug. 4, at 12:30 p.m. CT. Click here for a video preview.

The Texas Chiropractic College has named Stephen Foster, DC, FICC, as the institution’s 15th president. Dr. Foster’s effective date as President was July 18.

MACRA, the replacement law for the SGR law that for years required Congress to pass last minute legislative corrections, has raised concerns that it may hinder smaller practices and benefits large corporate practices. CMS is open to delaying the implementation of parts of the SGR repeal law dealing with physician payment, CMS acting administrator Andy Slavitt said and he discussed what options were on the table.

International speaker Dr. Mitch Mally will be providing an extremity adjusting seminar in Dallas on Saturday, Aug. 6.  Learn about shoulder conditions, injuries and syndromes in this hands-on adjusting seminar.

The Foundation for Chiropractic Progress (F4CP) has published its landmark positioning paper entitled "Chiropractic: A Safer Strategy Than Opioids."  Download your copy here.

Are you confused and struggling with all of the changes in Medicare? Are you concerned that you don’t know enough about HIPAA regulations and the new audits? Would you like to learn more about leg length inequality and its effect on the knee, hip and lower back?  Check out TCA’s one-day seminars for the answers you need.

The viral gaming phenomenon, while leading to a number of injuries has also lead to an increase in activity levels among players.  The game uses GPS and the phone’s camera to direct players, called "trainers", to the Pokemon creatures that appear to pop up in the real world. Once alerted to a location, the game requires trainers to walk to capture the creatures.  Many fans say they're already addicted, logging miles each day on a quest to "catch them all."

SGR, MACRA,  PQRS, and other government acronyms from Medicare makes it easy to get confused.  Need help in decoding just what it is that Medicare wants?  Then attend this seminar on Saturday, Sep. 24, at Texas Chiropractic College in Pasadena.

The latest in the saga of "physician controlled health care" is demonstrated through a book written by a Harvard MD. Under his proposal a quasi-governmental organization would be established "to oversee the healthcare choices that doctors and their patients make," and would decide what would constitute "essential health benefits" to be paid for by the government. "I’m saying the rules need to be handed down to doctors by doctors themselves," the author says.

Please make sure that your current email address is on file with the TBCE. You can submit your request by fax to (512) 305-6705 or by email to licensing@tbce.state.tx.us

JULY CALENDAR

Opioid-epidemic legislation aimed at helping everyone from pregnant women and infants to veterans and inmates goes to President Barack Obama for his yay or nay after the Senate passed it in a 90-to-2 vote.The bill, called the Comprehensive Addiction and Recovery Act (CARA) has zero provisions for funding, however.

At the end of June the American Chiropractic Association petitioned the HHS to amend one of its recent rules to, among other things, reinstate manipulative therapy into theCDC Guideline for Prescribing Opioids for Chronic Pain.

In this article, learn more about a few of the myths concerning HIPAA.

The United Kingdom's National Health Service (NHS) has announced plans to give millions of patients free health apps and connected health devices in a bid to promote self-management of chronic diseases.

A number of medical school student-led proposals to make the medical school curriculum less stressful indicates that the focus on wellness in medical education is growing.  It’s motivating students and faculty to search for the path to the wellness-centered learning environment of the future.  Maybe chiropractic might be included on that path.

In a 10-page letter to CMS regarding Medicare programs, the ACA made the following points regarding CMS Proposals. Portions have been highlighted for ease of reference. You will find the information in this letter a helpful resource.

This letter is in response to the article featured on MSN.com, 9 Plain Truths About Alternative Medicine Doctors Desperately Want You to Know, in which a medical doctor advises readers to avoid the use of chiropractic neck manipulation.

You should tell the MD everything you are doing to a patient, but the inverse is not true.  What if organized medicine were to try to make this a law?  "AMA recommends that non-physicians who perform tests such as blood pressure or blood sugar measurements advise the examinee to communicate these findings to their personal physician."

The healthcare industry by definition used to be considered a profession: "a vocation founded upon specialized educational training, the purpose of which is to supply disinterested objective counsel and service to others for a direct and definite compensation, wholly apart from expectation of other business gain."  It has now considered a service industry, one providing "services to businesses as well as final consumers...where no goods are produced," and where the customers are always right. Or are they?