TASB Risk Management Services welcomes new Medical Director

by Herman Wilks

You may be asking yourself why TASB Risk Management Services (RMS) area, the group that administers services for the TASB RMF, would need a medical director. Well you may be surprised to know that RMS actually houses quite a few medical professionals. In fact, along with the medical director, all told there are 10 registered nurses on staff along with an extended list of consulting doctors known as physician advisors that work directly with RMS Staff. 

Together, this team of employees and consultants assist the RMS staff in a variety of ways. The preauthorization of medical treatment and providing telephonic case management services for injured employees whose employer is a member of the Fund’s Workers’ Compensation (WC) program is where the majority of their time is spent. However, they also provide guidance to RMS staff who services all of the Fund’s programs when there is a question regarding a medical issue.

TASB’s medical director oversees the medical staff and ensures the highest quality and consistency standards are being met. TASB’s previous medical director resigned earlier this summer to pursue a lifelong career goal of board certification in pharmacological medicine as well as to move back into practice full time. In mid September, Brian Buck, M.D., joined the TASB family as the new medical director. Dr. Buck, a physical medicine and rehabilitation specialist, is a graduate of UT Medical Branch at Galveston and completed his residency at the University of Utah Medical Center in Salt Lake City. An Austin native, Dr. Buck is board certified in a number of areas including physical medicine and rehabilitation and electrodiagnostic medicine. He is also certified as a designated doctor by the Texas Department of Insurance. Dr. Buck’s years of experience in the field of medicine as well as his vast knowledge of the WC in Texas make him a welcomed addition to the organization.