By: Cain S.B. No. 1301
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT
1-1 relating to physician licensing, including the notice and late fee
1-2 requirements for the annual registration of physician licenses, the
1-3 temporary licensure of certain out-of-state physicians, and the
1-4 licensure of certain international medical graduates.
1-5 BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
1-6 SECTION 1. Subsection (c), Section 3.01, Medical Practice
1-7 Act (Article 4495b, Vernon's Texas Civil Statutes), is amended to
1-8 read as follows:
1-9 (c)(1) A person may renew an unexpired license by paying to
1-10 the board on or before the expiration date of the license the
1-11 required renewal fee.
1-12 (2) If a person's license has been expired for 90 days
1-13 or less, the person may renew the license by paying to the board
1-14 the required renewal fee and a fee that is one-half of the annual
1-15 registration fee as established by the board under Section
1-16 3.10(b)(7) of this Act <examination fee for the license>.
1-17 (3) If a person's license has been expired for longer
1-18 than 90 days but less than one year, the person may renew the
1-19 license by paying to the board all unpaid renewal fees and a fee
1-20 that is equal to the annual registration fee as established by the
1-21 board under Section 3.10(b)(7) of this Act <examination fee for the
1-22 license>.
1-23 (4) If a person's license has been expired for one
2-1 year, it is considered to have been canceled, unless an
2-2 investigation is pending, and the person may not renew the license.
2-3 The person may obtain a new license by submitting to reexamination
2-4 and complying with the requirements and procedures for obtaining an
2-5 original license.
2-6 (5) The board may renew without examination an expired
2-7 license of a person who was licensed in this state, moved to
2-8 another state, and is currently licensed and has been in practice
2-9 in the other state for not more than two years preceding
2-10 application. The person must pay to the board a fee that is equal
2-11 to the examination fee for the license.
2-12 (6) The board shall provide written notice to each
2-13 practitioner at the practitioner's last known address according to
2-14 the records of the board at least 30 days prior to the expiration
2-15 date of a license and shall provide for a 30-day grace period for
2-16 payment of the annual registration fee from the date of the
2-17 expiration of the license.
2-18 SECTION 2. Subsection (a), Section 3.025, Medical Practice
2-19 Act (Article 4495b, Vernon's Texas Civil Statutes), is amended to
2-20 read as follows:
2-21 (a) The board by rule shall adopt, monitor, and enforce a
2-22 reporting program for continuing medical education of licensees.
2-23 The board shall adopt and administer rules:
2-24 (1) requiring the number of hours of continuing
2-25 medical education the board determines appropriate as a
3-1 prerequisite to the annual registration of a licensee under this
3-2 Act;
3-3 (2) requiring at least one-half of the hours of
3-4 continuing medical education required under Subdivision (1) of this
3-5 subsection to be approved by the board after taking into account
3-6 the standards of the American Medical Association for its
3-7 Physician's Recognition Award<, the Council on Medical Specialty
3-8 Societies,> or the American Osteopathic Association and permitting
3-9 the remaining hours to be composed of self-study or equivalent
3-10 self-directed continuing medical education according to guidelines
3-11 determined by the board; and
3-12 (3) adopting a process to assess a licensee's
3-13 participation in continuing medical education courses.
3-14 SECTION 3. Section 3.0305, Medical Practice Act (Article
3-15 4495b, Vernon's Texas Civil Statutes), is amended to read as
3-16 follows:
3-17 Sec. 3.0305. Temporary License for Out-of-State
3-18 Practitioners. (a) On application, an applicant for licensure
3-19 <the board> shall be granted one <grant a> temporary license to
3-20 practice medicine. An applicant for a temporary license under this
3-21 section must:
3-22 (1) have a current, active, and unrestricted license,
3-23 without any pending disciplinary matters, as a physician in another
3-24 state, the District of Columbia, or a territory of the United
3-25 States that has licensing requirements that are substantially
4-1 equivalent to the requirements of this Act;
4-2 (2) have passed a national or other examination
4-3 recognized by the board relating to the practice of medicine; and
4-4 (3) be sponsored by a person licensed by the board
4-5 under this Act with whom the temporary license holder may practice
4-6 under this section.
4-7 (b) An applicant for a temporary license may be excused from
4-8 the requirement of Subsection (a)(3) of this section if the board
4-9 determines that compliance with that subsection constitutes a
4-10 hardship to the applicant.
4-11 (c) A temporary license is valid for 180 days <until the
4-12 date the board approves or denies the temporary license holder's
4-13 application for a license>. The board shall issue a license under
4-14 this Act to the holder of a temporary license under this section
4-15 if:
4-16 (1) the temporary license holder passes the
4-17 examination required by Section 3.05 of this Act;
4-18 (2) the board verifies that the temporary license
4-19 holder has satisfied the academic and experience requirements for a
4-20 license under this Act; and
4-21 (3) the temporary license holder has satisfied any
4-22 other license requirements under this Act.
4-23 (d) The board must assemble the documents and information
4-24 necessary to process a temporary license holder's application for a
4-25 license not later than the 90th day after the date the temporary
5-1 license is issued and complete the processing of the application
5-2 not later than the 90th day after the date the documents and
5-3 information are assembled. If by the 180th day after the date the
5-4 temporary license is issued the board has not completed the
5-5 processing of the application, the board shall review the
5-6 application to determine the cause of the delay. This temporary
5-7 license may be renewed for an additional 180 days at the discretion
5-8 of the executive director.
5-9 SECTION 4. Section 3.04, Medical Practice Act (Article
5-10 4495b, Vernon's Texas Civil Statutes), is amended by adding
5-11 Subsections (g), (h), (i), and (j) to read as follows:
5-12 (g) In addition to the other requirements of this section,
5-13 an applicant who is a graduate of a medical school that is located
5-14 outside the United States and Canada and that was not approved by
5-15 the board at the time the degree was conferred must, in order to be
5-16 eligible for the issuance of a license, present satisfactory proof
5-17 to the board that the applicant:
5-18 (1) is a graduate of a school whose curriculum meets
5-19 the requirements for an unapproved medical school as determined by
5-20 a committee of experts selected by the Texas Higher Education
5-21 Coordinating Board;
5-22 (2) has successfully completed three years of graduate
5-23 medical training in the United States or Canada that was approved
5-24 by the board on the date the training was completed;
5-25 (3) is eligible for licensure to practice medicine in
6-1 the country in which the school is located;
6-2 (4) possesses a valid certificate issued by the
6-3 Educational Commission for Foreign Medical Graduates;
6-4 (5) has the ability to communicate in the English
6-5 language; and
6-6 (6) has passed the examination required by the board
6-7 of all applicants for license as required by Section 3.05 of this
6-8 Act.
6-9 (h) The board by rule may establish alternate educational
6-10 prerequisites to those required by Subsection (a)(3) of this
6-11 section for an applicant who graduated from an unapproved medical
6-12 school located outside the United States and Canada.
6-13 (i) In addition to other licensure requirements, the board,
6-14 before approving the applicant, may require by rule that a graduate
6-15 of an unapproved medical school located outside the United States
6-16 and Canada or the school of which the person is a graduate provide
6-17 additional information to the board concerning the school.
6-18 (j) The board may refuse to issue a license to an applicant
6-19 who graduated from an unapproved medical school located outside the
6-20 United States and Canada if it finds that:
6-21 (1) the applicant does not possess the requisite
6-22 qualifications to provide the same standard of medical care as
6-23 provided by a physician licensed in this state; or
6-24 (2) the applicant failed to provide the board evidence
6-25 to establish that the applicant completed medical education or
7-1 professional training substantially equivalent to that provided by
7-2 a medical school in this state.
7-3 SECTION 5. Subsection (a), Section 1.03, Medical Practice
7-4 Act (Article 4495b, Vernon's Texas Civil Statutes), is amended by
7-5 adding Subdivision (17) to read as follows:
7-6 (17) "Doctor of osteopathy" and "doctor of osteopathic
7-7 medicine" include a doctor of osteopathic medicine, doctor of
7-8 osteopathy, osteopath, osteopathic physician, and osteopathic
7-9 surgeon.
7-10 SECTION 6. Subsection (i), Section 3.01; Subsection (e),
7-11 Section 3.04; and Sections 5.035 and 5.04, Medical Practice Act
7-12 (Article 4495b, Vernon's Texas Civil Statutes), are repealed.
7-13 SECTION 7. The importance of this legislation and the
7-14 crowded condition of the calendars in both houses create an
7-15 emergency and an imperative public necessity that the
7-16 constitutional rule requiring bills to be read on three several
7-17 days in each house be suspended, and this rule is hereby suspended,
7-18 and that this Act take effect and be in force from and after its
7-19 passage, and it is so enacted.