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House Bill 746 |
House Author: Ashby |
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Effective: 9-1-13 |
Senate Sponsor: Schwertner |
House Bill 746 amends the Occupations Code to enact the Uniform Emergency Volunteer Health Practitioners Act, applicable to volunteer health practitioners who are registered with the bill's registration system that is administered by the Department of State Health Services (DSHS) and who provide health or veterinary services in Texas for a host entity while an emergency declaration is in effect. The bill provides for the Texas Division of Emergency Management's regulation by order of volunteer health practitioner services and certain other related matters while an emergency declaration is in effect and establishes consulting, coordinating, and compliance requirements for a host entity that uses volunteer health practitioners to provide health or veterinary services in Texas. The bill establishes content and functionality requirements for the volunteer health practitioner registration system, sets out DSHS's authorities and duties with respect to satisfying those requirements and managing licensing or criminal history record information of practitioners seeking registration, prohibits DSHS from allowing a registration applicant who has an unacceptable licensing or criminal history to register, and prohibits such an applicant from serving as a volunteer health practitioner. The bill provides for the confirmation by DSHS that volunteer health practitioners used in Texas are registered with the system while an emergency declaration is in effect and specifies that a host entity is not required to use the services of a volunteer health practitioner even if the practitioner is registered with the system and the system indicates that the practitioner is licensed and in good standing and has an acceptable criminal history.
House Bill 746 authorizes a volunteer health practitioner registered with the system, licensed and in good standing in another state, and having an acceptable criminal history to practice in Texas while an emergency declaration is in effect to the same extent as such a practitioner licensed in Texas, with certain exceptions for a practitioner with a license that is suspended, revoked, subject to certain restrictions, or voluntarily terminated under threat of sanction.
House Bill 746 requires a volunteer health practitioner to adhere to the scope of practice for a similarly licensed practitioner established by Texas licensing provisions or other Texas laws but expressly does not authorize a volunteer health practitioner to provide a service outside the practitioner's scope of practice. The bill provides for the modification or restriction by the division or a host entity of the health or veterinary services that a volunteer health practitioner may provide and sets out the circumstances under which such a practitioner engages in unauthorized practice. The bill provides for the imposition of administrative sanctions by a licensing board or other disciplinary authority in Texas on a practitioner licensed in Texas for conduct outside of the state in response to an out-of-state emergency and on a practitioner not licensed in Texas for conduct in the state in response to an in-state emergency and provides for the reporting of an administrative sanction imposed on a practitioner licensed in another state to the appropriate licensing or disciplinary authority in other states.
House Bill 746 authorizes the division to incorporate into the emergency forces of Texas volunteer health practitioners who are not officers or employees of the state or a political subdivision of the state and to adopt rules to implement the bill's provisions, and sets out requirements for such rule adoption. The bill provides for the limited civil and vicarious liability of a volunteer health practitioner, with certain exceptions, and limits the civil liability of a person who operates, uses, or relies on information provided by the volunteer health practitioner registration system except in cases involving certain conduct.