By Maxey H.B. No. 935
75R2981 JMM-D
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
1-1 AN ACT
1-2 relating to public access to certain information pertaining to
1-3 medical practitioners.
1-4 BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
1-5 SECTION 1. Section 5.07(a), Medical Practice Act (Article
1-6 4495b, Vernon's Texas Civil Statutes), is amended to read as
1-7 follows:
1-8 (a) Within 30 days after the initial conviction or the
1-9 initial finding of the trier of fact of guilt of a person known to
1-10 be a physician, licensed or otherwise lawfully practicing in this
1-11 state or applying to be so licensed to practice, of any offense not
1-12 punishable by fine only [a felony, a misdemeanor involving moral
1-13 turpitude], a violation of state or federal narcotics or controlled
1-14 substance laws, or an offense involving fraud or abuse under the
1-15 Medicare or Medicaid programs, whether or not the conviction,
1-16 adjudication, or finding is entered, withheld, or appealed under
1-17 the laws of this state, the clerk of the court of record in which
1-18 the conviction, adjudication, or finding was entered shall:
1-19 (1) prepare and forward to the Department of Public
1-20 Safety the information required under Chapter 60, Code of Criminal
1-21 Procedure, for use in the computerized criminal history system; and
1-22 (2) send a copy of the information to the board.
1-23 SECTION 2. Subchapter E, Medical Practice Act (Article
1-24 4495b, Vernon's Texas Civil Statutes), is amended by adding Section
2-1 5.11 to read as follows:
2-2 Sec. 5.11. PHYSICIAN PROFILES. (a) The board shall create
2-3 a profile of each physician licensed under this Act. The profile
2-4 must:
2-5 (1) include the information required by Subsection (b)
2-6 of this section; and
2-7 (2) be compiled in a format that permits the board to
2-8 make the information contained in the profile available to the
2-9 public.
2-10 (b) A profile must contain the following information on each
2-11 physician:
2-12 (1) the name of each medical school attended and the
2-13 dates of graduation;
2-14 (2) a description of any graduate medical education;
2-15 (3) any specialty certification held;
2-16 (4) the number of years the physician has practiced
2-17 medicine;
2-18 (5) the name of each hospital in which the physician
2-19 has privileges;
2-20 (6) any appointments to a medical school faculty and
2-21 whether the physician had responsibility for graduate medical
2-22 education during the 10-year period preceding the date of the
2-23 profile;
2-24 (7) a description of any publications in peer-reviewed
2-25 medical literature during the 10-year period preceding the date of
2-26 the profile;
2-27 (8) information regarding professional or community
3-1 service activities and awards;
3-2 (9) the location of the physician's primary practice
3-3 location;
3-4 (10) whether the physician provides any language
3-5 translating services at the physician's primary practice location;
3-6 (11) whether the physician participates in the
3-7 Medicaid program;
3-8 (12) a description of any criminal conviction for an
3-9 offense constituting a felony or a serious misdemeanor, as
3-10 determined by board rule, during the 10-year period preceding the
3-11 date of the profile;
3-12 (13) a description of any charges reported to the
3-13 board under Section 5.07(a) of this Act during the 10-year period
3-14 preceding the date of the profile to which the physician has
3-15 pleaded no contest or in which sufficient facts of guilt were found
3-16 and the matter was continued by a court of competent jurisdiction;
3-17 (14) a description of any final disciplinary action
3-18 against the physician by the board during the 10-year period
3-19 preceding the date of the profile;
3-20 (15) a description of any final disciplinary action
3-21 against the physician by a medical licensing board of another state
3-22 during the 10-year period preceding the date of the profile;
3-23 (16) a description of any revocation of or involuntary
3-24 restriction on the physician's hospital privileges, after notice
3-25 and hearing, imposed by the hospital's governing body or other
3-26 hospital official for a reason related to the physician's
3-27 competence or character during the 10-year period preceding the
4-1 date of the profile;
4-2 (17) a description of any resignation from or
4-3 nonrenewal of medical staff membership or restriction on hospital
4-4 privileges imposed as a settlement of a pending disciplinary
4-5 proceeding related to the physician's competence or character
4-6 during the 10-year period preceding the date of the profile; and
4-7 (18) a description of each medical malpractice court
4-8 judgment, medical malpractice arbitration award, or medical
4-9 malpractice claim settlement reported to the board under Section
4-10 5.05 of this Act in which payment was awarded to a complaining
4-11 party during the 10-year period preceding the date of the profile.
4-12 (c) Information required to be included in a profile under
4-13 Subsection (b)(18) of this section shall be classified by the board
4-14 in a manner indicating the level of significance of the award or
4-15 settlement. The information shall be put in context by the board
4-16 by comparing a physician's medical malpractice judgment awards and
4-17 settlements to the experience of other physicians in the same
4-18 specialty. The board shall adopt rules to implement this section
4-19 and to provide for a system to classify the significance of a
4-20 malpractice award or settlement.
4-21 (d) Information concerning a malpractice settlement under
4-22 Subsection (b)(18) of this section must include the following
4-23 statement:
4-24 "Settlement of a claim may occur for a variety of reasons
4-25 that do not necessarily reflect negatively on the professional
4-26 competence or conduct of a physician. A payment in settlement of a
4-27 medical malpractice claim should not be construed as creating a
5-1 presumption that medical malpractice has occurred."
5-2 (e) This section does not prevent the board from providing
5-3 other explanatory information regarding the significance of
5-4 categories in which malpractice settlements are reported.
5-5 (f) A pending malpractice claim may not be disclosed to the
5-6 public by the board. This subsection does not prevent the board
5-7 from investigating and disciplining a physician on the basis of a
5-8 pending medical malpractice claim.
5-9 (g) The board shall provide an individual physician with a
5-10 copy of the physician's profile before the board makes the profile
5-11 available to the public. The board shall provide the physician a
5-12 reasonable time to correct factual errors in the physician's
5-13 profile before the profile is made available to the public.
5-14 (h) A physician may request the board to omit from the
5-15 physician's profile information collected by the board under
5-16 Subsections (b)(6)-(8) of this section. The board shall inform
5-17 physicians of the right to omit that information from the
5-18 physician's profile.
5-19 (i) The board shall update the information contained in a
5-20 physician's profile annually.
5-21 (j) The board shall adopt rules as necessary to implement
5-22 this section.
5-23 SECTION 3. (a) This Act takes effect September 1, 1997.
5-24 (b) The change in law made by this Act to Section 5.07(a),
5-25 Medical Practice Act (Article 4495b, Vernon's Texas Civil
5-26 Statutes), applies only to a conviction or finding of guilt for an
5-27 offense that is made on or after the effective date of this Act. A
6-1 conviction or finding that occurs before the effective date of this
6-2 Act is governed by the law in effect on the date of the conviction
6-3 or finding, and the former law is continued in effect for that
6-4 purpose.
6-5 (c) The Texas State Board of Medical Examiners shall adopt
6-6 rules under Section 5.11, Medical Practice Act (Article 4495b,
6-7 Vernon's Texas Civil Statutes), as added by this Act, not later
6-8 than January 1, 1998. The board shall make the initial physician
6-9 profiles required under this Act available to the public not later
6-10 than September 1, 1998.
6-11 SECTION 4. The importance of this legislation and the
6-12 crowded condition of the calendars in both houses create an
6-13 emergency and an imperative public necessity that the
6-14 constitutional rule requiring bills to be read on three several
6-15 days in each house be suspended, and this rule is hereby suspended.