References on Instrumentation & Sterilization: Sterilization plays a major role in patient safety. Click here for links to training, audit check list, certification, and more.
Walk With A Doc...Take a step to a healthier you! Second Saturday of the month, 9 am, at Bear Creek Pioneer's Park. More Visit Walk with a Doc Web site
Must I sign the death certificate for unattended deaths? See Questions and Answers from the Medical Examiner's Office.More
Texas Medical Liability Trust (TMLT) Claim Studies: More
Medicare Incentive Calculator (new)
Don't Delay in Renewing DPS applications! DPS is urging physicians to renew their applications as soon as they receive notices. More
Go Online with HCMS and Go Green
Revalidation Delayed: The CMS recently announced that the physician revalidation effort will be pushed back through 2015, instead of the originally planned deadline in 2013. More
TMA Calendar of Federal Deadlines: TMA developed this calendar, a web-based regulatory compliance tool, to give you and your staff a big-picture view of upcoming state and federal compliance timelines and key health policy issues that impact Texas physicians. click here
HCMS Introduces New Mobile Apps for Members - DocBookMD and TMA Mobile App. More
Medicare e-Prescribing Penalty - ( see inside for more information )
HIPAA Change-Electronic Transactions Version 5010 / ICD-10
Health System ReformMore information inside
Electronic Medical Records (EMRs)More information inside
Many of the member organizations of the HCMS Council of International and Affiliated Medical Societies offer minority medical student scholarships directly. More
Need more patients? Try these HCMS services. Click here
Do you want to reach physicians in Harris County?
Advertise in the Harris County Physician Newsletter and reach more than 7,500 physicians in the area. The newsletter is distributed twice a month and is available on this Web site. For more information, call 713-524-4267, ext. 240.
Hot Member Benefits:
- TMA Calendar of Federal Deadlines: TMA developed this calendar, a web-based regulatory compliance tool, to give you and your staff a big-picture view of upcoming state and federal compliance timelines and key health policy issues that impact Texas physicians. click here
- Protecting Patients IDs: The TMA has a guide for practices to put into place to protect their patient's from identity theft. Identity theft exposes victims to financial loss, credit destruction, business destruction, and could jeopardize the delivery of safe, quality health care. To receive the downloadble guide, click here .
- HCMS Mailing Label Service: Opening a new medical practice? Relocating? Adding an associate? Promoting an educational program? Offering a new procedure? Creating a practice newsletter? Use the HCMS Mailing Label Service. As an HCMS member, you can purchase mailing labels/electronic data of HCMS member physicians for these specified uses. More
- HCMS Referral Service: Many times the public calls HCMS looking for a specific type of physician in a certain area. HCMS assists these callers by given them three names from the HCMS Referral Service. More
- Network with colleagues in your part of town through the HCMS Branch Society meetings. Current branch meetings include wine tastings, Game Nights, and seminars all available with CME. More
- Looking for services/products for your practice, such as accounting, financial, or legal, medical collections, auto leasing, discounted magazine subscription, computer discounts, etc.? HCMS and TMA have a list of vendors to start your search. More
- Billing & Coding Assessment. If you have TMA Practice Consulting Services conduct a review of your practice's business office operations, focusing on your complete billing an collections process, every physician in your practice is eligilble for up to 20 hours of category 1 CME. More
- Physicians who complete TMA-sponsored CME now have the ability to view and print personal CME transcripts for any TMA-sponsored CME activity. Credits for live, Internet, and home-study activities will be available for viewing and printing within two weeks of receipt. Go to www.texmed.org and click on CME-CME Courses.
- HCMS Direct: You can receive Health System Reform updates in your inbox by signing up for HCMS Direct (Legislative Issues). Click here to sign up!
- Need extra copies of the 2011 HCMS Pictorial Roster? To purchase additional copies, complete the order form. For questions, contact Nancy Boone at the HCMS office, 713-524-4267, ext. 221
- HCMS Newsletter Ads: Want to reach more than 10,000 physicians in the Greater-Houston area? If you are not advertising in the Harris County Physician Newsletter (the official newsletter of HCMS), you should be. The newsletter provides your ad with high visibility from physicians and physicians’ offices at a very low cost—a much lower cost than local newspapers. HCMS members can apply to receive a special low rate for certain noncommercial-approved ads. More
- Protecting Patients IDs: The TMA has a guide for practices to put into place to protect their patient's from identity theft. Identity theft exposes victims to financial loss, credit destruction, business destruction, and could jeopardize the delivery of safe, quality health care. To receive the downloadble guide, click here
- Do You Twitter? Follow TMA: As part of an effort to explore new communication technologies, TMA regularly publishes on Twiter, the hot, 140-character "micro-blogging" service. If you Twitter, follow TMA to get practice management tips, news bits, and political chatter - and TMA will follow you, too. If you don't know what we're talking about, click here to check it out .
- Disaster information for patients/physicians: Hurricane season begins June 1. Are you ready? The Harris County Medical Society has created a downloadable brochure for your practice to assist you in preparing your practice and patients for a disaster. In order to volunteer during a disaster, you must complete the Medical Reserve Corp. form that is on the HCMS Web site.
- Looking for a specific product or service for your practice and don't know who offers it? Go to our database of companies with services for physicians and medical practices. More
- Have a legal question? As the TMA Knowledge Center. The Texas Medical Association Knowledge Center will help answer legal questions, as well as payments, coding and billing questions about TMA seminars, and more. For Knowledge Center assistance, email knowledge@texmed.org or call 800-880-7955.
- When do the provisions of health system reform happen? The Harris County Medical Society (HCMS) has created a timeline for when the major provisions of health system reform legislation occur. To know when difference aspects of the new health system reform will take effect, click here .
- Payment Advocacy! Want assistance in getting paid for services rendered? Since 2000, HCMS has assisted physicians in collecting more than $16 million owed through its Payment Advocacy Department. For more information on how HCMS can help you, click here.
- Installment payments for dues now available! HCMS offers you the greatest benefits with the lowest dues of any major metropolitan county medical society in the nation. Now you have the option to make installment payments for your membership dues to HCMS/TMA. To make arrangements, call the TMA Knowledge Center at 1-800-880-7955 by Dec. 31, 2011.
- HCMS Newsletter Ads! Want to reach more than 10,000 physicians in the Greater-Houston area? Advertise in the Harris County Physician Newseltter, the official newsletter of the Harris County Medical Society (HCMS). The newsletter provides your ad with high visibility from physicians and physicians' offices at a very low cost-much lower than local newspapers. HCMS members can apply to receive a special low rate for certain noncommercial-approved ads. More
- EMR information: Get information on everything from EMR federal stimulus money to providing information on how to shop for an EMR system that is right for your practice. More
- Doctor needed? Need to add a physician to your practice? Advertise in the Harris County Physician Newsletter, which reaches approximately 9,000 physicians in the Greater Houston area. Ad rates begin at only $40 for qualifying ads. Call 713-524-4267, ext 240 for more information.
- Want the latest legislative info?Sign up for HCMS Direct (legislative issues) and have medical legislative updates delivered to your email inbox. This is one of six topics you can request HCMS to send directly to you. Click here to sign up!
- Search for referring physicians by language?Did you know that you can find a referring physician by language? The HCMS Health Plan Liaison Committee has created a table that explains how to find a physician by language on the Web sites of the top five health plans in Houston (Aetna, BCBSTX, CIGNA, Humana, and UnitedHealthcare). Click here to dowload and view instructions.
- Make Health Care Policy:By being a delegate or alternate delegate to the Texas Medical Association (TMA) did you know that you can help make health care policy and determine TMA's stance on issues? Alternte delegates are elected. To begin the process, complete the nomination form . If you have any questions, call Vanessa Manohar at the HCMS office at 713-524-4267, ext 260.
- Use your Bank of America-HCMS Affinity MasterCard with WorldPoints rewards, and you will earn points you can redeem for cash, travel, merchandise, and even unique adventures. For more information, call Bank of America at 800-932-2775.
- Need to develop a marketing brochure for your practice? The Texas Medical Association offers free practice brochure templates. Click here for free marketing brochure templates and FAQs.
- Referring physicians by language. Did you know that you can find a refering physician by language? The HCMS has created a table that explains how to find a physician by language on the Web sites of the top five health plans in Houston (Aetna, BCBSTX, CIGNA, Humana, and UnitedHealthcare). HCMS also has created other helpful grids and tables for your practice. To view the grids, click here .
- Payment Advocacy :Want assistance in getting paid for services rendererd? Since 2000, HCMS has assisted physicians in collecting more than $17 million owed through its Payment Advocacy department. Email them at paymentadvocacy@hcms.org . For more information about the Payment Advocacy department and how HCMS can help you, click here .
- Find Products & Services for Your Practice:Looking for services/products for your practice, such as accounting, financial, legal medical collections, computer discounts, etc? HCMS and TMA have a list of vendors to start your search. HCMS services ; TMA services
- Hot Member Benefit - Search for physicians by language: Did you know that you can find a referring physician by language? The HCMS Health Plan Liaison Committee has created a table that explains how to find a physician by language on the Web sites of the top five health plans in Houston (Aetna, BCBSTX, CIGNA, Humana, and UnitedHealthcare). To download and view the instructions, click here.
Medical Home:
he only way to make sure you are getting the best medical care possible is to have a medical home. Please post this flyer in your office for your patients. English Flyer Spanish Flyer
Houston Physicians Unveil Health Insurance Report Card:
HCMS Physicians reveal results of the Harris County Medical Society Payor Survey, in which physicians rated the six largest health insurance companies in Harris County on patient care, payment and customer service. More
- Survey Result Graphs
- Health Plan Survey Report
- View Media Coverage
Looking for products/services for your practice?
HCMS collects information on companies that serve physicians (accountants, EMR, attorneys, banks, billers and more). Check the Practice Resources section by product category.
Cultural Awareness:
In order to promote culture awareness in minority health, the Harris County Medical Society has partnered with three culture-specific medical associations to develop Culture-Specific Prevention Screenings. More
Do you see uninsured patients? If you have a patient that doesn't have insurance, needs specialty care, pharmacy assistance, hospital care, diagnostics or labs - the Provider Health Network can help you. This program is endorsed by the Harris County Medical Society. More