Mega Doctor News
Richard W. “Rick” Snyder II, MD, a Dallas cardiologist in practice for nearly three decades, was elected president-elect of the Texas Medical Association (TMA) today. TMA’s House of Delegates policymaking body elected him during TexMed, the association’s annual conference, held in Houston this year. Dr. Snyder will serve in this role for one year before assuming the presidency of America’s largest state medical society in 2023.
“[I am] simultaneously humbled, awed, and excited,” said Dr. Snyder. “I feel humbled to follow in the footsteps of the giants of Texas organized medicine and awed by the responsibility of helping lead the largest and finest state medical association in the land. Most importantly, I am excited by the prospect of representing an organization of 56,000 physicians whose dedication and commitment to boldly advocate to improve the health of all Texans is second to none.”
In his new role, Dr. Snyder said he will defend the vision of what it means to be a physician, and the important role physicians play in health care. He also will advocate to protect the patient-physician relationship.
“It is difficult to defend the patient-physician relationship if the physician role is being constantly watered down, diluted, and diminished by outside organized interests and groups,” he said, alluding to the sometimes-outsized influence of insurance companies and government entities. “We cannot allow them to redefine and repackage us as ‘providers.’ ”
Dr. Snyder has been involved in TMA throughout his 29-year career. For the past seven years, he has served on the TMA Board of Trustees as secretary/treasurer, vice chair, and as chair. He also has served in TMA’s House of Delegates and on the Council on Legislation. In addition, Dr. Snyder is active in TEXPAC, TMA’s political action committee.
Earlier this year, Dr. Snyder was appointed to represent TMA on the newly formed Texas All-Payer Claim Database Advisory Group. The database will collect health care claims from public and private health insurance plans with the goals of improving price transparency and supporting a more competitive marketplace.
Dr. Snyder is passionate about advocacy and believes physicians must advocate for legislation that helps patients and physicians.
“We physicians have as much impact on the health care our patients receive through our work in legislative chambers, as we do in exam and operating rooms,” he said. “We need to make the capitol buildings in D.C. and Austin as familiar as our own hospitals. As clinicians we treat one patient at a time, but as physician advocates, we can help a whole state, country, everyone all at once!”
Dr. Snyder said many of his most rewarding experiences as a physician have occurred in his role as physician advocate. While serving as the president of the Dallas County Medical Society in 2012, he led the physician community’s response to the West Nile virus outbreak. Dr. Snyder’s leadership prompted Dallas County Judge Clay Jenkins to appoint him as his representative to the Dallas County Health and Human Services Public Health Advisory Committee.
Dr. Snyder will assume the TMA presidency during the 88th Texas Legislature, and one of his main goals will be “access, access, access.” By that he means advocating for legislation for meaningful access to “timely, high quality, cost-effective healthcare” for patients “not just coverage.”
“Coverage is not the same thing as access,” he said, “and access to a waiting list is not the same thing access to health care.”
Dr. Snyder also wants to bring about meaningful Medicaid payment reform, especially for outpatient primary care. “Primary care is the foundation of TMA. If primary care disintegrates, all of Texas medicine collapses,” he said.
Since 1996, Dr. Snyder has practiced at Medical City Dallas, where he has chaired the Department of Medicine, served as medical staff president, and served on the board of trustees. He also was a member of the board of directors of the Southwestern Medical Foundation. Dr. Snyder is president of HeartPlace, the oldest and largest independent cardiovascular group in Texas. In addition, he chairs the board of directors of ASPEN Physicians Network, a network 20 large independent specialty groups serving North Texas.
Dr. Snyder is board-certified in cardiovascular disease, interventional cardiology, advanced heart failure care, and transplant cardiology.
He is a graduate of UT Southwestern Medical School and completed his internal medicine and cardiology fellowship at Parkland Memorial Hospital in Dallas. He received his undergraduate degree in preprofessional studies and French from the University of Notre Dame, and Université Catholique de l’Ouest in Angers, France, graduating with honors. He attended Jesuit College Preparatory School of Dallas.
Dr. Snyder is married to Shelley Hall, MD, chief of advanced heart failure, cardiac transplant, and mechanical circulatory support at Baylor University Medical Center in Dallas. The couple has five children: Robert Hicks, Eileen Cornell, Jessica Snyder, Alex Snyder, and Nicholas Snyder.
TMA is the largest state medical society in the nation, representing more than 56,000 physician and medical student members. It is located in Austin and has 110 component county medical societies around the state. TMA’s key objective since 1853 is to improve the health of all Texans.
