By Berlanga H.R. No. 1139
75R16646 PB-D
R E S O L U T I O N
1-1 BE IT RESOLVED by the House of Representatives of the State
1-2 of Texas, 75th Legislature, Regular Session, 1997, That House Rule
1-3 13, Section 9(a), be suspended in part as provided by House Rule
1-4 13, Section 9(f), to enable the conference committee appointed to
1-5 resolve the differences on House Bill No. 2846 to consider and take
1-6 action on the following matters:
1-7 (1) House Rule 13, Sections 9(a)(3) and (4), are suspended
1-8 to permit the committee to add text incorporating a new Section in
1-9 the bill, appropriately numbered, to amend Section 3.10, Medical
1-10 Practice Act (Article 4495b, Vernon's Texas Civil Statutes), to
1-11 read as follows:
1-12 SECTION ____. Section 3.10, Medical Practice Act (Article
1-13 4495b, Vernon's Texas Civil Statutes), as amended by Chapters 214
1-14 and 862, Acts of the 73rd Legislature, Regular Session, 1993, is
1-15 amended to read as follows:
1-16 Sec. 3.10. FEES. (a) All annual registration fees
1-17 collected by the board shall be placed in the State Treasury to the
1-18 credit of the medical registration fund. The fees deposited to
1-19 this special fund shall be credited to the appropriations of the
1-20 board and may be spent only as provided by the General
1-21 Appropriations Act, this Act, or other applicable statutes. Money
1-22 in that fund may be used by the board and under its direction in
1-23 the enforcement of this Act, the prohibition of the unlawful
1-24 practice of medicine, the dissemination of information to prevent
2-1 the violation of the laws, and the prosecution of those who violate
2-2 the laws. All distributions from the fund may be made only upon
2-3 written approval of the secretary-treasurer of the board or his
2-4 designated representative, and the comptroller shall upon
2-5 requisition of the board from time to time draw warrants upon the
2-6 State Treasurer for the amounts specified in the requisition.
2-7 (b) The board may not set, charge, collect, receive, or
2-8 deposit any of the following fees in excess of:
2-9 (1) for processing and granting a license
2-10 by reciprocity to a licensee of
2-11 another state .................... $1,000 [$700]
2-12 (2) for processing an application and
2-13 administration of a partial examination for
2-14 licensure ........................ $1,000 [$700]
2-15 (3) for processing an application and
2-16 administration of a complete examination for
2-17 licensure ........................ $1,000 [$700]
2-18 (4) for processing an application and issuance of a
2-19 temporary license ......................... $200
2-20 (5) for processing an application and issuance of a
2-21 duplicate license ......................... $200
2-22 (6) for processing an application and issuance of a
2-23 license of reinstatement after a lapse or
2-24 cancellation of a license ........ $1,000 [$700]
2-25 (7) for processing an application and issuance of an
2-26 annual registration of a licensee ......... $200
2-27 (8) for processing and issuance of an institutional
3-1 permit for interns, residents, and others in
3-2 approved medical training programs ........ $200
3-3 (9) for processing an application and issuance of an
3-4 endorsement to other state medical boards . $200
3-5 (10) for processing and issuance of a license
3-6 or temporary license to a physician
3-7 assistant ................................. $200
3-8 (11) for processing and issuance of a permit
3-9 to a physician who supervises an
3-10 acupuncturist ........................... $200.
3-11 (c) [(b)] The board may set and collect a sales charge for
3-12 making copies of any paper of record in the office of the board and
3-13 for any printed material published by the board. The charges shall
3-14 be in amounts considered sufficient to reimburse the board for the
3-15 actual expense.
3-16 (d) [(c)] The financial transactions of the board are
3-17 subject to audit by the state auditor in accordance with Chapter
3-18 321, Government Code.
3-19 (e) [(d)] The board shall file annually with the governor
3-20 and the presiding officer of each house of the legislature a
3-21 complete and detailed written report accounting for all funds
3-22 received and disbursed by the board during the preceding fiscal
3-23 year. The annual report must be in the form and reported in the
3-24 time provided by the General Appropriations Act.
3-25 Explanation: This change is necessary to increase certain
3-26 fees assessed by the Texas State Board of Medical Examiners to
3-27 levels that cover the administrative costs of that agency in
4-1 providing the affected services.
4-2 (2) House Rule 13, Sections 9(a)(3) and (4), are suspended
4-3 to permit the committee to add text incorporating a new Section in
4-4 the bill, appropriately numbered, to amend the Medical Practice Act
4-5 (Article 4495b, Vernon's Texas Civil Statutes) to add a new Section
4-6 5.11 to read as follows:
4-7 SECTION _____. Subchapter E, Medical Practice Act (Article
4-8 4495b, Vernon's Texas Civil Statutes), is amended by adding
4-9 Section 5.11 to read as follows:
4-10 Sec. 5.11. PHYSICIAN PROFILES. (a) The board shall create
4-11 a profile of each physician licensed under this Act. The profile
4-12 must:
4-13 (1) include the information required by Subsection (b)
4-14 of this section; and
4-15 (2) be compiled in a format that permits the board to
4-16 make the information contained in the profile available to the
4-17 public.
4-18 (b) A profile must contain the following information on each
4-19 physician:
4-20 (1) the name of each medical school attended and the
4-21 dates of graduation;
4-22 (2) a description of any graduate medical education;
4-23 (3) any specialty certification recognized by the
4-24 board and held by the physician;
4-25 (4) the number of years the physician has practiced
4-26 medicine;
4-27 (5) the name of each hospital in which the physician
5-1 has privileges;
5-2 (6) the physician's primary practice location;
5-3 (7) whether the physician provides any language
5-4 translating services, including translating services for a person
5-5 with impairment of hearing, at the physician's primary practice
5-6 location;
5-7 (8) whether the physician participates in the Medicaid
5-8 program;
5-9 (9) a description of any conviction for an offense
5-10 constituting a felony or a serious misdemeanor that reflects
5-11 adversely on the physician's clinical competence to practice
5-12 medicine in an acceptable manner consistent with the public health
5-13 and welfare or affects adversely:
5-14 (A) the physician's ability to practice medicine
5-15 in an acceptable manner consistent with the public health and
5-16 welfare, as determined by board rule, during the 10-year period
5-17 preceding the date of the profile; or
5-18 (B) the safety of the physician's patients;
5-19 (10) a description of any charges reported to the
5-20 board under Section 5.07(a) of this Act during the 10-year period
5-21 preceding the date of the profile to which the physician has
5-22 pleaded no contest or in which sufficient facts of guilt were found
5-23 and the matter was continued by a court of competent jurisdiction;
5-24 (11) a description of any final disciplinary action
5-25 against the physician by the board during the 10-year period
5-26 preceding the date of the profile;
5-27 (12) a description of any final disciplinary action
6-1 against the physician by a medical licensing board of another state
6-2 during the 10-year period preceding the date of the profile;
6-3 (13) a description of any revocation of or involuntary
6-4 restriction of longer than 30 days on the physician's hospital
6-5 privileges, after notice and hearing, imposed by the hospital's
6-6 governing body or other hospital official that was based on
6-7 clinical quality of patient care during the 10-year period
6-8 preceding the date of the profile;
6-9 (14) a description of any resignation from or
6-10 nonrenewal of medical staff membership or restriction on hospital
6-11 privileges of longer than 30 days that was based on clinical
6-12 quality of patient care imposed as a settlement of a pending
6-13 disciplinary proceeding during the 10-year period preceding the
6-14 date of the profile;
6-15 (15) a description of the type of allegation and of
6-16 each review action taken by the board as the result of opening a
6-17 complaint regarding a physician against whom three or more
6-18 malpractice claims were reported under Section 5.05 of this Act in
6-19 a five-year period; and
6-20 (16) whether the physician's patient service areas are
6-21 accessible to disabled persons, as defined by federal law.
6-22 (c) Information required to be included under Subsection (b)
6-23 of this section that is not maintained by the board in the ordinary
6-24 course of the board's duties shall be obtained from a physician at
6-25 the time the physician renews the physician's license. In
6-26 requesting information from the physician, the board shall inform
6-27 the physician that compliance with the request for information is
7-1 mandatory, inform the physician of the date the information will be
7-2 made available to the public, and instruct the physician of the
7-3 requirements under Subsection (f) of this section for the physician
7-4 to obtain a copy of the physician's profile to make corrections.
7-5 (d) This section does not prevent the board from providing
7-6 explanatory information regarding the significance of categories in
7-7 which malpractice settlements are reported.
7-8 (e) A pending malpractice claim, other than a claim
7-9 disclosed under Subsection (b)(15) of this section, may not be
7-10 disclosed to the public by the board. This subsection does not
7-11 prevent the board from investigating and disciplining a physician
7-12 on the basis of a pending medical malpractice claim.
7-13 (f) The board shall provide an individual physician with a
7-14 copy of the physician's profile if the physician requests a copy at
7-15 the time the physician renews the physician's license. If a copy
7-16 is requested by a physician the board shall provide the physician
7-17 one month from the date the copy is provided to the physician to
7-18 correct factual errors in the physician's profile.
7-19 (g) The board shall update the information contained in a
7-20 physician's profile annually. The board shall adopt a form that
7-21 allows a physician to update information contained in a physician's
7-22 profile or to provide additional information to be included in the
7-23 profile. The form shall be made available electronically and on
7-24 the Internet. A physician may update information in the
7-25 physician's profile or provide additional information for the
7-26 profile at any time. The board may assess a fee to be paid by the
7-27 physician to update the physician's profile at a time other than
8-1 the board's annual update and a fee to cover the costs of including
8-2 additional information in the profile not required by the board.
8-3 The board may adopt rules concerning the type and content of
8-4 additional information that may be included in a physician's
8-5 profile.
8-6 (h) The board shall adopt rules as necessary to implement
8-7 this section.
8-8 Explanation: This change is necessary to authorize the Texas
8-9 State Board of Medical Examiners to establish a physician profiling
8-10 system to improve the efficiency of that agency in regulating the
8-11 practice of medicine in this state.
8-12 (3) House Rule 13, Sections 9(a)(3) and (4), are suspended
8-13 to permit the committee to add text incorporating transitional
8-14 material in the bill to implement the amendment to Section 3.10,
8-15 Medical Practice Act (Article 4495b, Vernon's Texas Civil Statutes)
8-16 and the addition of Section 5.11, Medical Practice Act (Article
8-17 4495b, Vernon's Texas Civil Statutes), to read as follows:
8-18 (b) Section 3.10, Medical Practice Act (Article 4495b,
8-19 Vernon's Texas Civil Statutes), as amended by this Act, applies
8-20 only to a fee assessed for a license application, license issuance,
8-21 or license examination occurring on or after the effective date of
8-22 this Act.
8-23 (c) The Texas State Board of Medical Examiners shall adopt
8-24 rules under Section 5.11, Medical Practice Act (Article 4495b,
8-25 Vernon's Texas Civil Statutes), as added by this Act, not later
8-26 than January 1, 1998. The board shall make the initial physician
8-27 profiles required under that section available to the public not
9-1 later than June 1, 1999.
9-2 (d) The Texas State Board of Medical Examiners shall raise
9-3 fees prescribed by the board in an amount not to exceed $15 for
9-4 each fiscal year in the 1998-1999 biennium and not to exceed $10
9-5 for each fiscal year in the 2000-2001 biennium for each physician
9-6 licensed by the board to cover the costs of administering the
9-7 changes in law made by this Act. The board shall reduce any fees
9-8 raised under this subsection not later than the second anniversary
9-9 of the date the initial physician profiles required under Section
9-10 5.11, Medical Practice Act (Article 4495b, Vernon's Texas Civil
9-11 Statutes), as added by this Act, are made available to the public
9-12 to the extent the increase in fee amounts was necessary to cover
9-13 the initial costs incurred by the board in establishing a physician
9-14 profile system.
9-15 Explanation: This change is necessary to clarify the
9-16 implementation of the new fee increases and physician profiling
9-17 system adopted under the amendments to the Medical Practice Act
9-18 (Article 4495b, Vernon's Texas Civil Statutes).