Tarrant County Physician Online

TMA Foundation grants tackle public health problems

Originally published in Texas Medical Association’s January 2022 issue of Texas Medicine. It was republished with TMA’s permission in the March/April 2022 issue of Tarrant County Physician.

When Trey Moore, MD, started his career as a urologist in Fort Worth 26 years ago, he worked in a busy emergency department and his own private practice. In both settings, many of his patients weren’t covered by insurance and could only access stopgap care. At the same time, he was surprised by the dearth of opportunities for physicians like him to give back to their community by offering their services pro bono.

So, in 2011 he jumped at the chance to join Project Access Tarrant County, a then-nascent initiative of the Tarrant County Medical Society (CMS) that connects low-income, uninsured residents to specialty and surgical services provided by a network of volunteer physicians and facilities. Since its start, Project Access has served more than 1,700 patients and provided more than $14.5 million in donated health care.

Dr. Moore especially likes the program’s focus on surgical care, which is unique in the world of health care safety-net programs. Given his specialty, many of his neediest patients – such as those suffering from large kidney stones that cause recurring, and sometimes disabling, infections – require surgery to recover fully.

“Every [pro bono service] makes a difference, whatever we do, but [Project Access is] particularly helpful because so many of these patients – until they have a surgical resolution – are stuck in a vicious cycle of not being able to go back to work and cycling in and out of emergency rooms,” he said. “It’s a big stress on the patients and their families, and it’s a big stress on the system.”

But relieving that stress would not be possible without ongoing financial support.

Project Access is one of several long-standing recipients of the Texas Medical Association Foundation’s Medical Community Grant program, which accepts applications from county medical societies and alliance chapters for up to $7,500 in matching funds to support unique community health improvement initiatives. The separate Medical Student Community Leadership Grants program accepts applications from TMA medical student chapters for up to $3,000 thanks to a fund established by Houston pathologist Roberto J. Bayardo, MD.

For more than two decades, TMAF’s grant programs have helped the Family of Medicine tackle the state’s most pressing health care concerns at the local level. Many grantees, including Project Access, have received funding over successive years, which allows for continuous programming. Physicians like Dr. Moore say this is especially important in Texas, which has the highest rate of uninsured residents in the nation.

Not only do the grant programs connect patients to life-changing care but also they honor TMA’s mission to stand up for Texas physicians by providing them with resources to create solutions to local health challenges and by reinforcing physicians’ trusted leadership in the community, says TMA Foundation Executive Director Lisa Stark Walsh.

“Our goal is to remove the obstacle of resources for members to do what they feel is necessary in their communities,” she said. “Medical Community Grants give physicians an opportunity to chip away at long-standing, intractable problems over the long term and to demonstrate their advocacy for the health of all Texans.”

Originally founded in 1966 as the Texas Medical Education and Research Foundation, TMAF is a separate, nonprofit entity that serves as the philanthropic arm of TMA. Since 1998, the Medical Community Grant and Medical Student Community Leadership Grants programs have disbursed $891,931 across more than 200 such grants to support myriad community health improvement programs all over Texas, ranging from vaccine clinics and border health services to breast cancer screenings and kids’ bicycle helmet giveaway events.

Houston neonatologist and TMAF Board President Michael E. Speer, MD, is passionate about growing the foundation’s endowment so it can offer even more grants that support Texas physicians and their patients. “If you look at the most successful colleges and charities, the best ones spend very little on themselves and most of their endowment on supporting the organization,” he said.

This growth mindset has paid off. In recent years, TMAF has fielded increased demand for the grant programs from county medical societies, alliance chapters, and medical student chapters. As a result, the upcoming application cycle will include a new focus area of physician health and wellness. This expansion stems from the success of a recent TMAF initiative, Caring for Physician Healers: Mental Health and Wellness Resources During COVID-19 Fund, which helped seven county medical societies launch or extend physician health and wellness initiatives during the ongoing pandemic. (See “Self-Investment: Physician Wellness Programs Bolster a Beleaguered Workforce,” November 2021 Texas Medicine, pages 22-25, http://www.texmed.org/Self-Investment.)

By harnessing the expertise of medicine to help address a community health problem, the TMAF grant programs complement the work of the association and represent the best of organized medicine, says TMA President-Elect and TMAF board member Gary Floyd, MD.

“Anyone in practice will find things that need to be changed,” he said. “When you’re alone or in a small group, you’re just a small voice yelling into the wind with very little result. When you join into organized medicine, particularly with TMA, you have [more than] 55,000 voices, and people tend to start listening.”

Physician-driven results
Tarrant County Medical Society received its eighth TMAF Medical Community Grant in support of Project Access in 2021. The program’s organizers say it is a prime example of what physicians can accomplish working together to solve an entrenched community health problem. Tarrant CMS was inspired by the Dallas County Medical Society’s now defunct Project Access initiative, which focused on primary care. Given Tarrant County’s robust network of free and income-based primary care clinics, Tarrant CMS decided to gear its own Project Access initiative toward specialty and surgical care since that’s where the need was most acute.

Tarrant CMS Executive Vice President and CEO Brian Swift says Project Access runs on a shoestring budget that belies its impact. Patients are largely members of the working poor, and many are undocumented immigrants. They don’t qualify for Medicaid but typically don’t earn enough to afford private insurance, leaving them without coverage and beholden to emergency departments for symptom management. Without care that addresses the root cause of their medical problems, however, they are often robbed of their livelihoods – and sometimes their lives.

By providing specialty and surgical care to eligible Tarrant County residents, the initiative not only helps patients resume healthy lives but also saves area hospitals tens of thousands of dollars in emergency department costs. “These patients don’t have access anywhere else,” said Stuart Pickell, MD, Project Access’ medical director and an internist-pediatrician in Fort Worth.

Although physician volunteers provide specialty and surgical care, Project Access still requires funding to fulfill its mission. “Free isn’t free,” Mr. Swift said.

As with previous awards, the county medical society used the TMAF funds to offset the costs of its annual patient database subscription. “Data management does not come cheaply, so we really depend on that [funding] to be able to manage our Project Access database,” Mr. Swift said.

The grant-funded database – which Dr. Pickell describes as “essential” – allows staff to determine patients’ eligibility, which helps ensure Project Access is distributing its limited resources as judiciously as possible, and to track their care, including the donated value of medical services and administrative costs. In this way, the grant helps Project Access obtain more funding by quantifying its positive impact and cost savings.

Armed with the database, staff can focus on serving patients – and the broader community. Typical cases include a woman with cervical cancer who would have died without surgery, leaving her young children orphans; a construction worker with a hernia that kept him out of work; and a patient with osteoarthritis that had nearly disabled her until surgery allowed her to resume a productive life.

The Project Access model not only unburdens its patients and their loved ones from medical crises but also often allows them to return to work. This can be transformative, Dr. Pickell says, because a job offers the possibility of long-term health care access through employer health insurance.

After a decade of success, staff are now working on growing the program. With more than 500 volunteer physicians across numerous specialties, including ancillary care, their attention is focused on the limiting factor of operating room space and other facility needs. By renting such space, rather than relying on the whims of donors, Project Access can increase its patient volume.

Physicians would welcome such a change. “It’s such a gracious group of people,” Dr. Moore said. “They’re so grateful to get help. In a selfish way, it’s a great group to treat.”

Project Access also is keen to expand, both to meet the community need and to highlight the work physicians do every day to serve their patients. It’s supported in this endeavor by TMAF’s Medical Community Grant program, which allows physicians to spearhead solutions to the problems they’re facing on the ground.

“That’s why it’s so important for the foundation to continue doing what it does,” Mr. Swift said.

An engine for innovation
Another repeat recipient, in this case of the TMAF Medical Student Community Leadership Grants program, the annual HOPE Health Fair in Galveston tackles a community health challenge while also providing medical students with the opportunity to fine-tune solutions over the long term.

The University of Texas Medical Branch (UTMB) TMA Medical Student Section chapter hosted its fifth annual event in November thanks, in part, to its fourth annual TMAF grant award. The fair connects approximately 250 uninsured Galveston residents – around a quarter of whom are homeless – to vaccinations, health care screenings, meals, and educational resources through the St. Vincent’s Student Clinic at UTMB. It also serves as a critical outreach opportunity in Galveston County, where 17.4 percent of residents under age 65 lack health insurance, according to the U.S. Census Bureau.

“We’re just catching ships in the night, people who frequently never have access to health care,” said John W. Davis, one of the event’s organizers and a third-year medical student at UTMB who also is pursuing a PhD.

The HOPE Health Fair received a $3,000 Medical Student Community Leadership Grant from TMAF in 2021, which covered about 40 percent of the overall cost. Without it, organizers would not have been able to host the event. “It’s very helpful for us to get this grant each year,” said Jenna Reisler, a third-year medical student at UTMB and an event organizer.

In addition to providing critical funding, the grant also has spurred innovation. Because the organizers are repeat recipients of the grant program, they take pains to improve the event each year. In 2021 they used the award to offer rapid COVID-19 testing and screenings for sexually transmitted infections, including HIV and hepatitis C.

By offering screenings, the organizers not only help attendees detect any debilitating illnesses they might have contracted but also prompt them to return to the student clinic to get their results and receive treatment. Once attendees have made the jump from the health fair to the student clinic, they can receive treatment for underlying health problems, such as diabetes and hypertension, and start to build patient-physician relationships.

In this way, the health fair functions as a kind of benevolent Trojan horse, linking Galveston’s most vulnerable residents to health care for years to come. “It’s a way to show people that we care about them,” Mr. Davis said.

Global reach
Located in a top U.S. county for refugee resettlement, the Baylor College of Medicine (BCM) TMA Medical Student Section chapter and the Houston nonprofit Alliance for Multicultural Community Services have used the TMAF Medical Student Community Leadership Grants program to host the BCM-Alliance Refugee Health Fair. The annual event helps refugees navigate the local health care system – and provides medical students a glimpse at global health in action.

Like the HOPE Health Fair, the BCM-Alliance Refugee Health Fair aims to serve as a conduit for attendees to long-term health care access. At an upcoming event scheduled for this spring, student volunteers will distribute hygiene kits – including soap, hand sanitizer, masks, and health care resources in multiple languages – via a COVID-19-safe drive-thru. Attendees also will receive basic preventive health screenings and flu vaccines from local free and income-based clinics.

Although refugees can access Medicaid for up to eight months upon their arrival in the U.S., they are expected to secure private insurance afterward. This is a complicated process that can quickly fall to the bottom of a refugee’s to-do list, overtaken by tasks such as learning a foreign language, securing a job, and familiarizing oneself with the local public transit system. But the BCM-Alliance Refugee Health Fair aims to smooth attendees’ search for health care by introducing them to the Alliance and area clinics.

“Ultimately, even if these patients don’t stay on with these clinics, they at least have a starting-off point to return to if they develop a medical issue in the future,” said Avery Haugen, a fourth-year medical student at Baylor and one of the event’s organizers. “It really alleviates a lot of the stress of those first steps.”

The Baylor TMA student chapter will use its latest TMAF grant – its fifth – to print promotional flyers, purchase hygiene kit supplies, and furnish volunteers with personal protective equipment. The grant, which accounts for nearly all of the event’s budget, is critical to its success.

“This event is really not possible without the help from the TMA Foundation,” said Chris Wong, a fourth-year medical student at BCM and another event organizer.

In addition to educating refugee attendees about the local health care system, the event also serves as a critical learning experience for the medical students involved. Both Ms. Haugen and Mr. Wong are interested in global health, which is partly what prompted them to get involved with the fair.

“The event was really my first exposure to the idea of refugee health [and] the very specific health disparities that immigrants face, especially in our very complicated health system,” Mr. Wong said.

Similarly, Ms. Haugen sees the event as a unique opportunity to learn more about global health while studying medicine in Houston – and largely prohibited from international travel by the ongoing pandemic.

“For us, the refugee health fair is a really unique example of a way to promote global health on a local scale,” she said.

Past TCMS President Assumes TMA Presidency

Find Texas Medical Association’s original press release here.

On Saturday, April 30, 2022, the Texas Medical Association (TMA) installed Gary W. Floyd, MD, a Keller pediatrician, as its 157th president. TMA’s House of Delegates policymaking body installed Dr. Floyd during TexMed, the association’s annual conference, in Houston this year. TMA elected him president-elect in May 2021.

“It’s an incredible privilege and responsibility – and very humbling – for the members of our TMA to entrust me to lead our great organization,” Dr. Floyd said.

Three tenets guide him: his work, faith, and family. He said the three principles have formed the internal value system by which he lives and works, serving as guardrails along his path from medical school to TMA president.

Dr. Floyd addressing the members of the Texas Medical Association as their newly-installed president.

Dr. Floyd is the fourth president to serve America’s largest state medical society during the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. During his one-year presidency, he hopes to repair the mistrust of the medical profession that has grown as doctors and health care workers have battled COVID. He said to accomplish that, organized medicine should present a united front in the face of misinformation, while remaining professional and collegial.

“One of the biggest things we have to focus on … is finding areas of commonality,” Dr. Floyd said.

He explained those commonalities include “protecting the sanctity of the patient-physician relationship; allowing physicians to practice medicine without … interference from insurance or other payers or the government; protecting our patients as they seek assistance for delicate issues; and protecting our physicians as they try to render care to the best of their abilities.”

Dr. Floyd has been involved in TMA throughout his 43-year medical career. He chaired the TMA Board of Trustees, the association’s governing body, in 2020-21, having served seven years on the board.

He also chaired the TMA Council on Legislation and served on the association’s Council on Constitution and Bylaws, and the Select Committee on Medicaid, CHIP, and the Uninsured. Dr. Floyd also was a district chair of TEXPAC, TMA’s political action committee.

In addition to his TMA involvement, he previously served as president of the Texas Pediatric Society and the Tarrant County Medical Society, and he was active in the American College of Physician Executives and the Society for Pediatric Emergency Medicine. He is a fellow and board member of the American Academy of Pediatrics.

After the pandemic hit, Dr. Floyd began seeing fewer patients although he continues to be involved in medical management and organized medicine. His passion for medicine makes him a strong advocate for patients and physicians. His recipe for successful advocacy involves teamwork. One example, he said, was the agreed-to bill he helped TMA broker with advanced practice nurses and physician assistants in 2013. The Texas Legislature passed the landmark compromise, which led to an improved model for a team-based approach to health care, with physicians leading the team.

Dr. Floyd believes successful advocacy does not happen overnight; it depends on unwavering, grassroots commitment. “It’s not that you have special abilities,” he said, “it’s just that you keep showing up.”

Dr. Floyd is board certified by the American Board of Pediatrics. He has practiced in various settings in Texas and Oklahoma including general pediatrics, academic pediatrics, and pediatric emergency and urgent care. He was the medical director for pediatric emergency services at Cook Children’s Medical Center for 15 years. Dr. Floyd later became John Peter Smith Health Network’s chief medical officer and executive vice president of medical affairs, and then executive vice president of government and alumni affairs.

A graduate of The University of Texas Medical Branch School of Medicine at Galveston, Dr. Floyd completed his pediatric residency at Children’s Hospital of Oklahoma, University of Oklahoma Health Science Center. He pursued his undergraduate studies at The University of Texas at Austin.

Dr. Floyd has been married 47 years to Karen Floyd, whom he met when they were in high school. She introduced him to Christianity – a faith that he said kept him calm when he found himself in chaotic pediatric emergency departments and intensive care units, with patients sometimes on the brink of death.

The couple has two married daughters, Holly Peterson, married to Ben Peterson; and Neely Pedersen, married to Craig Pedersen, DO; and three grandsons.

The Hidden Costs of COVID-19

Public Health Notes

By Catherine Colquitt, MD

This article was originally published in the March/April 2022 issue of the Tarrant County Physician. You can read find the full magazine here.

In response to soaring overdose deaths across the U.S. during the pandemic, the American Medical Association (AMA) Advocacy Resource Center published a brief on Nov. 21, 2021, cataloging increased overdose deaths state-by-state. They decried decreased access to “evidence-based care for substance use disorder, chronic pain, and harm reduction services.”¹

The AMA also sent a letter to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention urging requirements for health insurers to eliminate barriers to opioid treatment for patients who would benefit from these therapies (think prior authorizations for prescriptions and faxed referrals for specialists). The letter also supported the Biden Administration’s 2022 National Drug Control Strategy, which highlights increased production of medications for substance use disorders, harm reduction strategies (including needle and syringe exchange programs), access to naloxone without prescription, and elimination of health insurer obstacles which prevent persons with chronic pain from accessing pain management.³

In addition, a letter from AMA’s Dr. James Madara, MD, to Regina M. LaBelle, the acting director of the Office of National Drug Control Policy, on July 9, 2021, stated that healthcare inequities and social determinants of health fueling the overdose epidemic and disproportionately affecting the “marginalized and minoritized” must be addressed.²

The National Vital Statistics System recently released its “Provisional Drug Overdose Death Counts” for 2021 for the fifty states and the District of Columbia.⁴ The total overdoses will likely be revised upwards as case compilations for 2021 are completed and reports verified, but the provisional death toll is staggering. Over the 12-month period which ended in June 2021, overdose deaths rose from 47,523 to 98,022, and in Tarrant County, our overdose deaths mirror the national trend with 350 overdose deaths for the 12-month period ending March 2021, compared with 185 overdose deaths for the 12-month period ending January 2021. (Tarrant County data are not yet available for April – December 2021 on the NVSS dashboard.)

Overdose deaths provide one measure of the toll of COVID-19 in the U.S. and expose need for redress of healthcare inequities, access to medication for opiate use disorders, substance use disorder treatment, mental healthcare access, and access to pain management. Another way the impact of COVID-19 is being assessed is through peer-reviewed publications exploring the hidden costs and benefits of conventional in-person (commuter) work versus work from home.

“Over the 12-month period which ended in June 2021, overdose deaths rose from 47,523 to 98,022, and in Tarrant County, our overdose deaths mirror the national trend with 350 overdose deaths for the 12-month period ending March 2021, compared with 185 overdose deaths for the 12-month period ending January 2021.”

The results of such studies are uneven and the responses necessarily somewhat subjective when subjects are questioned regarding their feelings about in-person versus telework; in general, workers viewed telework more favorably when they volunteered for it and when their schedules included a combination of both in-person and telework. When mandatory, some teleworkers experienced increased “work-family conflict” as the lines between work and domestic life blurred during telework. Teleworkers and conventional in-person workers reported variable effects on depression, exhaustion, fatigue, and energy level.⁵

Using data from the American Time Use Survey, authors asked workers to record in a diary where they worked (whether they commuted or not) and noted that male teleworkers in this study reported lower pain, stress, and tiredness levels, but that there was no difference in these measures among female commuters versus non-commuters.⁶

In another study based on the American Time Use Survey, the designers compared pain in working-at-home versus conventional workers and found no difference in pain reporting between the two groups. However, working-at-home fathers reported increased stress and working-at-home mothers reported decreased happiness.⁷

COVID-19 is, at the very least, an engine powering academic inquiry, which may have unexpected future benefits for the way healthcare is delivered and work is done. In the meantime, we must continue the important work of educating, advocating, and caring for our communities.

References
1. AMA Advocacy Resource Center: Issue brief: Nation’s drug-related overdose and death epidemic continues to worsen, Updated 11/12/2021

2. AMA letter to Regina M. LaBelle, Acting Director of Office of National Drug Control Policy, 7/9/2021

3. AMA letter to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, June 2020

4. National Vital Statistics System Provisional Drug Overdose Death Counts – NVSS dashboard for current data, with final data when available from https://www.cdc.gov/nchc/nvss/mortality_public_use_data.htm

5. Oakman J et al. A rapid review of mental and physical health effects of working at home: how do we optimize health? BMC Public Health (2020) 20:1825

6. Song Y, Gao J. Does telework stress employees out? A study on working at home and subjective well-being for wage/salary workers J Happiness Stud 2019;21(7):2648-68

7. Gimenez-Nadal JI, Molina JA, Velilla J. Work time and well-being for workers at home: evidence from the American Time Use Survey. Int J Manpow 2020; 41(2): 184-206

TCU Medical Students get unique first hand experience with latest laparoscopic technology

By Prescotte Stokes III

Originally published by TCU School of Medicine on April 19, 2022. You can read the original article here.

TCU School of Medicine welcomed experts from Olympus, global leaders in the development of medical devices, onto their campus in early February to give medical students an immersive and hands-on experience using the latest laparoscopic surgery equipment.

Jim Cox, M.D., an assistant professor at TCU School of Medicine, helped organize the event with the help of the Gastrointestinal and Hepatology Student Interest Group (SIG).

“When I was in private practice I worked extensively with Olympus and I reached out to a former colleague and asked could you provide this training session for the students,” Dr. Cox said. “The thing with Gastroenterology is that much of what we do is colonoscopy or upper endoscopy. We have first, second- and third-year medical students here just to give them the opportunity to see if they’re interested in Gastroenterology.”

Before immersing themselves into the technology, about two dozen medical students joined Dr. Cox for a brief presentation in the simulation lab. He gave a brief overview of typical things the students might see during residency.

“Let’s say an ulcer or a polyp or colon cancer and how are we going to treat those things,” said Dr. Cox. “Are we going to remove them? Are we going to remove an inanimate object from the esophagus that someone inadvertently swallowed? We’re talking about both urgent and non-urgent procedures that gastroenterologists encounter every single day.”

The medical schools’ simulation lab had laparoscopy training monitors and tools provided by Ethicon. The training monitors allow the students to see simulated examples of a laparoscopy, which are small scars on the abdomen. Students can use the monitors attached to the machine to practice suturing and knot tying techniques that require basic hand-and-eye coordination.

“This requires more than just being able to coordinate your hands,” said Sujata Ojha, a third-year medical student and co-president of the Gastroenterology and Hepatology Student Interest Group (SIG) at TCU School of Medicine. “There’s visual spatial movement and being able to know where you are in space and being able to maneuver without impacting the patients’ internal organs.”

Dr. Cox added that most of today’s gastrointestinal surgeries are done using a laparoscope, which makes this training much more beneficial for medical students.

“Most gallbladder, appendix and other intraabdominal organ removals are done using a laparoscope,” Dr. Cox said. “They leave very tiny scars which may actually go away in a few years as opposed to having the patient needing a big scar that could possibly stay for a lifetime.”

Gastroenterologists are advancing more and more into the use of laparoscopic procedures. A recent 5-year patient study presented at the 2022 International Gastric Cancer Congress in March showed laparoscopy surgery compared with an open gastrectomy surgery was found to produce better overall survival outcomes for patients, according to the Cancer Network.

Mallory Thompson, a third-year medical student and co-president of the GI and Hepatology SIG, was excited about the demonstrations at the medical school.

“Medical students aren’t exposed to these kinds of medical procedures during their clinical rotations this is more for medical resident training,” Thompson said. “It’s exciting that our medical school faculty like Dr. Cox and our student interest group are setting up these kinds of opportunities for us.”

I’ve Done My Research

President’s Paragraph

by Shanna Combs, MD

This article was originally published in the March/April 2022 issue of the Tarrant County Physician. You can read find the full magazine here.

“I’ve done my research.”

These can be some of the most dreaded words to hear as a physician from our patients and their families. We can spend seven-plus years in medical school, residency, and sometimes fellowship, studying our field before we embark on our journey to practice medicine. We also hone our craft through continued learning throughout our careers. Yet, we are often confronted with the above phrase. Since when did Dr. Google become such an expert that it can supersede our years of training and practice?

This became ever more apparent as the COVID-19 pandemic started over two years ago. (Yes, we have crossed over the two-year mark and are still counting). With a lack of information and understanding of this novel virus as well as increased access to information on the internet, we in science and medicine saw people seeking out answers from all the resources they had access to. This unfortunately led to propagation of numerous pieces of misinformation, distortions, and half-truths. Add to this the politicization of our nation and the polarization regarding best measures on how to handle the COVID-19 pandemic, and unfortunately, we in science and medicine are left as the ones not to be trusted.

As a women’s health physician, I am confronted with this on an almost daily basis. While the internet can be a valuable resource of information, it can also be a not so valuable resource of misinformation, lies, and myths. Misinformation was commonly passed along in relation to women’s reproductive health even before the advent of the internet. Unfortunately, nowadays it has a much wider reach with the “expertise” of Dr. Google to further spread these untruths.

What are we to do in this constant back and forth of the internet versus the doctor?

For me, I try to meet my patients and their families where they are. I work with them to better understand where they are coming from as well as who or what their source of information is. I cannot undo the vastness that is the internet and Dr. Google, but I can work to build a relationship with my patients and their families to come to shared decision making to provide the best care for them.

“For me, I try to meet my patients and their families where they are. I work with them to better understand where they are coming from as well as who or what their source of information is. I cannot undue the vastness that is the internet and Dr. Google, but I can work to build a relationship with my patients and their families to come to shared decision making to provide the best care for them. “

While this is helpful in individual encounters of patient care, I also feel that it is important for us as physicians to be out in the public arena as well. Because of this, I never turn down an opportunity to speak when asked, and I am always happy to provide my expertise for those in the media. As physicians, we have a duty to educate. This is a responsibility not only to the individual patients we take care of, but also to the public. By offering education that is based in science and grounded in our years of continued study and experience, we can work to counteract the vast amount of distorted information that is out there. I, for one, will continue in my efforts to dispel myth and spread truth.

HRSA Reopens Reporting Time for Period 1 Provider Relief Fund Recipients

Due largely to AMA and specialty society advocacy, the Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA) has decided to reopen the reporting time for recipients of Period 1 Provider Relief Funds.

Those physicians who received more than $10,000 in provider relief funds and failed to submit their period 1 report should act immediately. Between Monday, April 11 and Friday, April 22, 2022, at 11:59 pm ET, physicians who have not submitted their Period 1 report may submit a late Reporting Period 1 report request. Physician practices should receive information about how to submit a request directly from HRSA via email.

If a physician did not submit a Period 1 report and does not hear from HRSA, they may initiate communication by calling (866) 569-3522. During this reopening period, the physician must choose an extenuating circumstance(s) that prevented compliance with the original reporting deadline. While attesting to an extenuating circumstance is required, no supporting document or proof is required.

If HRSA approves the extenuated circumstances form, the physician will receive a notification to proceed with completing the Reporting Period 1 report shortly thereafter. They will have 10 days from the notification receipt date to submit the late Period 1 report in the PRF Reporting Portal.

Join TMA’s Virtual Career Fair

If you’re looking for the next invaluable member of your health care team, the Texas Medical Association offers opportunities for health care organizations to recruit physician and medical staff talent at its Virtual Career Fairs. The next Virtual Career Fair is on April 28, and spots are open for employers to exhibit.

Here’s why you should exhibit at the next Virtual Career Fair:

Reach physicians and medical care professionals – TMA members and their teams are a ready-made pool of qualified professionals in a variety of specialties, locations, and career stages. TMA’s Virtual Career Fair offers employers exclusive access to this select group.
Chat one on one with candidates in a virtual setting – Getting in front of busy physicians and other members of the health care team can be challenging. At the Virtual Career Fair, employers can meet directly with jobseekers at a specified time in a virtual setting.
Have a database of candidates to follow up with – All job-seeking participants create a profile and upload a resume to register for the fair. This means exhibitors can review potential candidates and follow up with specific individuals after the event. (Available for Gold sponsors only.)
TMA 100% member practices receive 25% off exhibitor packages.

Visit TMA’s Career Center for packages and pricing. To become a participating employer-exhibitor, visit the Career Center or email Lena Loomis.

Join Walk with a Doc on April 9th

Join our local chapter of Walk with a Doc this Saturday for a fun morning walking, talking about health, and meeting people in our community.

Here is what you need to know about the event:

• It will take place on April 9th, 2022
• The hour-long event will begin at 8:30am
• Walkers will start at LVTRise – 8201 Calmont Ave., Fort Worth, TX 76116

For more information, call Kate Russell, OMS-II, at 903-316-9392, or email her at KatherineRussell@my.unthsc.edu.

Join Project Access for a Lunch and Learn on April 20

Concerned about those in Tarrant County who go without healthcare or who are forced to get emergency care because they cannot afford necessary medical treatments? Consider joining Project Access Tarrant County’s Lunch and Learn on April 20 from 11:45 to 1pm. At this event, you will have the opportunity to:

Learn how we are making a difference for Tarrant County’s low-income uninsured residents
Hear from our staff, physician volunteers, and patients
See how we provide healthcare services for those in greatest need and how our new initiative will expand services

You can register for this free event here. It is targeted toward those who work in healthcare and everyone who is passionate about helping the underserved of our community.

Project Access Tarrant County, which was founded in 2010, is a non-profit organization dedicated to expanding health care access and improving health outcomes for low-income, uninsured residents of Tarrant County, utilizing the charitable gifts of a network of existing voluntary providers and collaborative partnerships.

To date, Project Access has:

Scheduled 10,500 medical appointments
Enrolled over 2,100 patients
Provided over $18 million value in donated medical care
Performed 810 surgeries and hospital procedures

Their vision is for all Tarrant County residents to have access to a continuum of care, which includes specialty, pharmacy, laboratory, ancillary, and hospital care. Come on April 20 and see how you can partner with Project Access to bring healing and hope to those who most need it.

“I was falling into a hole of depression”

A Project Access Tarrant County patient story

By Allison Howard

“It was stressful knowing I was not going to make ends meet.”

When “Roberto,” a 49-year-old husband and father of two, began experiencing a burning pain in his torso from an inguinal hernia, he knew he needed to do something about it. Throughout the day it would grow in intensity, making it difficult for him to work. Roberto’s hours were cut, and he eventually had to take an entire month off of work.

“I could not do anything,” he says. “I was falling into a hole of depression.”

The family was experiencing tension from the economic burden, and it was impossible to consider surgery with the financial struggles they were facing day to day. Then, he went to Cornerstone Clinic, where he was referred to Project Access.

He was connected to Project Access volunteer and general surgeon Dr. Mohammad Siadati of North Texas Surgical Specialists, who agreed that surgery was necessary. Dr. Siadati performed the much-needed procedure at Texas Health Harris Methodist Hurst-Euless-Bedford, and anesthesia was provided by U.S. Anesthesia Partners.

“I am very thankful for Dr. Siadati, who was very attentive, respectful, and patient,” says Roberto. “I especially appreciated the patience Dr. Siadati showed when it came to the language barrier we had.” He thanks everyone who made his treatment possible, from those working the front desk to his doctor.

Since the surgery, Roberto has been improving steadily, and he was just cleared to return to work. He is optimistic about the future – he doesn’t feel stuck anymore in the cycle of pain and frustration. “It was a blessing, the entire process.”