VOLUME 35, ISSUE 1

Happy New Year! Hopefully you had a blessed and enjoyable Christmas and Hannukah. What a busy 4 months since our annual meeting! The Texas Society of Anesthesiologists (TSA) has undertaken a myriad of efforts since we were all together in Round Rock this summer. Hopefully this missive will provide you with insight as to the focus of your leadership team, board and committees while we are all working hard in our various practices across Texas.

Appropriate payment for our services remains front and center for TSA. We were recently made aware of dramatic changes in FAIRHealth datapoint values and modifications to the actual variables themselves beyond what is listed in statute. Consequently, in November, your leadership team met with the executive leadership of FAIRHealth in order to make them aware of concerns that have been raised by our members. You can be confident that we made a clearly stated and strong case to make sure that the data that FAIRHealth provides is accurate and useful; some of our suggestions were implemented and others were not. We are working to resolve these differences by partnering with members from across the state as appropriate in order to rectify this issue. We hope to have an update for you by the end of the winter.

Election day has come and gone, but the active engagement of our governmental affairs team remains intrepid and bipartisan. Nearly all candidates (89 out of 90) supported by TSA were successful in winning their elections all across the state! We recognize that the TSA will inevitably support a candidate that may be despised by some members and lauded by others; thank you for recognizing that the TSA does and must contribute to any policy-maker that supports safe care for our patients and the sustainability of our practices regardless of their party. Our outstanding governmental affairs director, Mrs. Elizabeth Farley has demonstrated an efficacious and enthusiastic work ethic on behalf of the TSA and we are grateful for her leadership of our efforts. Additionally, we have a new member in the TSA office, Ms. Jasmine Owen. Hopefully you will have the chance to meet Jasmine at the TSA Anesthesiologists Days at the Capitol in Austin this March. Welcome Jasmine!

The Practice Management Committee has activated and announced a dedicated TSA email to support any member who needs technical/logistical support in navigating the independent dispute resolution process. This email is IDR@tsa.org. Thank you to the Practice Management Committee for leading this effort. Additionally, the TSA has been following the evolving No Surprises Act (NSA) landscape closely and is coordinating our efforts with the American Society of Anesthesiologists as well. The TSA also thanks the Texas Medical Association for truly leading the charge on behalf of the house of medicine in filing an additional lawsuit following the maliciously and persistently anti-physician implementation of the NSA thus far.

The TSA has formally submitted the new advocacy rotation which was approved by the House of Delegates in September to the American Board of Anesthesiology (ABA) for formal approval during their winter meeting. Our team put forth a solid effort to submit a comprehensive academic curriculum and are hopeful that the ABA will approve this rotation when they meet. If approved, we will have the opportunity to enroll 2 residents in Spring 2023 so be on the lookout if you are interested!

The TSA Scholarly Target Anesthesiology Research for Texas (START) will likely send its first grant application announcement to the membership in the winter of 2023. We are very excited about starting this first of its kind funding opportunity ($25,000 per award) to support discovery and investigative excellence here in Texas. It is our hope that awardees eventually go on to compete effectively for funding from the NIH or other governmental and non-governmental organizations. Go Texas!

You may recall that I volunteered to visit any group that would like an update on their TSA. Since our annual meeting, I have given this ~1-hour presentation for Baylor College of Medicine, Houston Methodist Hospital, and the University of Texas San Antonio. This offer remains open for the rest of my term (until September 2023); if you would like for me to visit your group or department, please email our excellent executive director, Mrs. Chris Bacak at chris@tsa.org. Thank you, Chris, for running our society with care and dedication!

There is more taking place in the TSA which supersedes what we are able to include in this brief article. I am happy to commit to providing an update about your TSA in every published newsletter for this next year. It is my great honor and genuine pleasure to serve as your TSA President; please do not hesitate to reach out to me if there is anything that I can do to be supportive to you.