A Heavy Burden.

A Texas Health and Human Services Commission report reveals gestational diabetes mellitus (GDM) and obese mothers take a toll on the state's Medicaid program. According to the report, in Medicaid, the excess medical and drug costs among women with GDM and their babies totaled $10 million. Women with pregestational diabetes cost Medicaid $60 million more than nondiabetic, normal-weight women. Much of the cost associated with diabetes and obesity comes from more frequent hospitalizations for the mother and a higher likelihood the infant will be admitted into the neonatal intensive care unit.

Medical board wages war over telephone treatment.

In a case working its way through Texas courts, Teladoc argues that a face-to-face meeting is unnecessary for new patients. Teladoc provides telephone patient consultations, claiming that a phone call with a licensed physician can serve as a convenient supplement when patients don't have the time or money to see their primary care doctors. Some physicians say a phone conversation is not enough to properly diagnose and treat a patient with whom the physician is unfamiliar.

HIEs and the gateway to better care.

Health information exchanges (HIEs) are becoming a more widely used method for physicians to share valuable patient information. A proposed health service enterprise gateway would connect to local health information exchanges and give physicians a single place to exchange data with all state health agencies.

On a charitable mission.

Volunteer physicians answered the call over the summer to care for Central American immigrants crossing the border from Mexico into Texas. Nearly 100,000 unaccompanied minors and families flooded into the United States from October 2013 to August 2014.

Too much trust.

Many physicians hire an office manager to take over the administrative side of the practice so the physician can do what he or she does best - care for patients. But paying bills, depositing money, handling payroll, and accepting payments from patients are everyday tasks that give office managers a lot of power over a medical practice. It's crucial that physicians keep an eye on financial operations to help keep their employees honest.

We have your daughter.

Virtual kidnappers attempt to extort money from their victims by saying they've kidnapped a member of the victim's family. While no actual kidnapping occurred, the callers use coconspirators, who sometimes scream for help in the background, to convince their victims of the legitimacy of the threat. During June and July of this year, the FBI received multiple reports indicating physicians in McAllen, Laredo, Brownsville, and Del Rio were contacted in attempts to collect extortion payments in "virtual kidnapping" schemes.

Schoolhouse stock.

Texas does not require schools to stock epinephrine unless it's prescribed for a specific student. Texas allergists are now fighting to pass legislation that would force schools to stock unassigned epinephrine injectors so that coaches, school nurses, and other trained staff could immediately treat students who suffer a severe and unexpected allergic reaction.