There has been lots of buzz in social media around the Texas chiropractic community. The TCA office has received hundreds of calls from members about everything from the TMA vs. TBCE (diagnosis) lawsuit to the Texas Sunset Advisory Commission’s current review of TBCE to the upcoming 85th Texas Legislative Session. Lately, the two biggest questions I am asked are, "What can I do to help?" and "How can I get involved?" I am happy to provide a few answers.

The competition for top rankings on Google is fierce. As more turn to the Internet to find chiropractic practitioners in their area, having a personalized website is essential. Register for this short webinar from Online Chiro on Wednesday, Dec. 7, and you will learn the strategies that will help your practice get the most out of its website and bring more new patients to the door.

Plan on attending the 2017 Texas Chiropractic Legislative Conference (TCLC),  Feb. 9-11, 2017, at the Sheraton Austin Hotel at The Capitol, Austin. This is the one event you can’t miss! The highlight of TCLC is TCA Legislative Day. After a quick debrief on TCA’s key bills, we’ll converge on the Texas Capitol for scheduled visits with your state representative and senator before capping the day at historic Scholz Garten for the TCLC Legislative Reception. You also can earn all 16 CE hours at the two-day conference. Bring along your assistants and staff for training to elevate your practice.

TCA’s Mid-Winter Conference has been a tradition for Panhandle doctors for decades. We’ll be back at the beautiful Overton Hotel & Conference Center in Lubbock again. Make Mid-Winter the place you go to earn all 16 CE hours. It’s the perfect place to reconnect with your colleagues and have fun.

Judge Rhonda Hurley determined that the Texas Board of Chiropractic Examiners’ (TBCE’s) rules permitting chiropractors to make a diagnoses and perform other medical procedures exceed the chiropractic scope of practice. The court also specified that the definitions of "musculoskeletal system" to include "nerves," "subluxation complex" as a "neuromusculoskeletal condition," and use of the term "diagnosis" by TBCE in its rules all exceed the scope of practice.

TBCE states that "despite the adverse judgment, we have not received a statement of Judge Hurley’s findings of fact and conclusions of law.The legal matter is not final until all appeals have been exhausted. It is important to understand that, in the meantime, the TBCE rules and regulations continue to govern the practice of chiropractic."

"In the world of healthcare professionals, the physician reigns supreme. No other healthcare practitioner has greater autonomy or authority over patient care than a physician." Thus begins the Sunset Commission Staff Report on the Texas Board of Medical Examiners. But lest you think that the report venerates TMB licensees as demigods, note the very next sentence, "consequently, no other healthcare discipline poses a greater risk to patient and public safety than the practice of medicine."

Let’s pull together, advance chiropractic in Texas at the Inaugural TCLC in Austin. Make no mistake, YOUR state association plans to appeal this decision in what figures to be a long, expensive trial. We strongly believe the matter eventually could make its way to the Texas Supreme Court. As even TMA admitted, these matters need to be decided in the Texas Legislature, not the court room.

A dozen doctors, pharmacists and marketers have been charged in a $100 million health care scheme targeting military veterans and their families. Prosecutors contend the medical men sought to defraud Tricare when a Dallas-based company was formed to market compounds that had little medical benefit and that kickbacks were provided to physicians and others who promoted the compounds.

"In most respects, the Texas Board of Nursing is a shining example of how a health licensing agency should be run." says the Sunset Commission Staff Report and "with nursing being the most trusted profession, the board maintains high expectations for nurses, who often care for vulnerable patients." Learn more about the Texas Board of Nursing.

"The review of the State Board of Veterinary Medical Examiners found an agency struggling after a difficult biennium that stretched its resources and abilities, almost to the breaking point. ... the agency could not provide with a reasonable degree of confidence and consistency some of the most basic enforcement data such as number of licensees inspected and number of complaints resolved. ... Given the raft of problems identified in this report, a six-year continuation [rather than the usual 12 years] will ensure closer legislative oversight and attention to the question of whether the agency will be able to resolve its considerable management and administrative problems on its own."

NOVEMBER CALENDAR

The concept of payment reform under MACRA is to shift healthcare away from paying for volume to paying for value. MIPS combines elements of a handful of prior reporting schemes — the Physician Quality Reporting System, the Value-based Payment Modifier, "Meaningful Use" or the Medicare Electronic Health Record (EHR) Incentive Program for Eligible Professionals into one unified program. CMS fleshed out the details of the four data submission options under the MIPS framework that could save practitioners from a 4% pay cut.

The issuance of the final MACRA rule is to move the focus away from paperwork and reporting toward paying more for what works and giving physicians more freedom and more flexibility," Andy Slavitt, acting administrator of the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS), said. Slavitt added that he didn’t really consider the MACRA rule to be truly "final," despite its name. "This has to be a living, breathing, evolving set of ways we're going to structure the payment system, because we're going to learn a lot over the next couple of years.

Republican Donald Trump's victory will force a major shift in the healthcare industry's thinking about its future. Combined with the GOP’s retention of control of the Senate and the House, a Trump presidency may enable conservatives to repeal or roll back the Affordable Care Act and implement at least some of the proposals outlined in the GOP party platform and the recent House Republican leadership white paper on healthcare.

Wanted: DCs for public office. Nationwide 39 medical doctors, nurses, and dentists campaigned for statewide and federal offices. According to the US Elections website, there were 28 physicians, eight nurses, and one dentist running for Congress, and two physicians who were running for governor.

What an exciting time it is to join the American Chiropractic Association as the new executive vice president (EVP). With a successful National Chiropractic Health Month, and with a visionary strategic plan in place to guide the association to new levels of excellence, the future of ACA is bright and full of possibility.

The Department of Veterans Affairs chiropractic residency programs have reached a historic first by receiving accreditation from the Council of Chiropractic Education. These are the first residency programs in the nation ever to be awarded this distinction, a significant advancement in the evolution of chiropractic education.

A federal judge approved $33 million settlement between Horizon Healthcare Services, Inc. and plaintiff chiropractors. Plaintiffs alleged that Horizon made "across-the-board" denials of certain types of claims that were submitted by chiropractic physicians, that they improperly and systematically bundled various Current Procedural Terminology ("CPT") codes that contracted and non-contracted chiropractic physicians billed to Horizon. Plaintiffs claimed that Horizon summarily denied reimbursement for non-CMT (chiropratic manipulative therapy) services and unilaterally determined that the non-CMT services were bundled with Horizon’s payment for CMT services.

This study presents a theory accounting for the initiation and potential consequences of neuromusculoskeletal pain that may arguably represent the allopathic trigger point, the osteopathic lesion, the chiropractic subluxation, the physical therapy movement restriction and the cardiologist’s myocardial infarction. The perception of pain is not always due to an increase in nociception, but may be reduced proprioceptive input to the CNS.

I have been coaching Chiropractors for over 30 years. Many doctors strive for success. I have also coached chiropractors that seem to fear success. Break through the barriers that are holding you back from the success you deserve. Here is your affirmation for the month: "I AM ON THE ROAD TO A MORE SUCCESSFUL LIFE."

The large majority of us are failure hypocrites. Praising failure in the abstract is one thing, but almost no one will openly discuss their own failures. Leaders don’t want to feel vulnerable so they want to minimize their own failures. It is vitally important for leaders not only to accept failure, but also to cop to their own specific failures. Not doing so can cause four very real problems discussed here.