By Maxey H.B. No. 110 A BILL TO BE ENTITLED 1-1 AN ACT 1-2 relating to public access to certain information regarding medical 1-3 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 1-12 constituting a felony, a Class A or Class B misdemeanor, or a Class 1-13 C misdemeanor involving moral turpitude, a violation of state or 1-14 federal narcotics or controlled substance laws, or an offense 1-15 involving fraud or abuse under the Medicare or Medicaid programs, 1-16 whether or not the conviction, adjudication, or finding is entered, 1-17 withheld, or appealed under the laws of this state, the clerk of 1-18 the court of record in which the conviction, adjudication, or 1-19 finding was entered shall prepare and forward to the Department of 1-20 Public Safety the information required under Chapter 60, Code of 1-21 Criminal Procedure, for use in the computerized criminal history 1-22 system. 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 5.12 to read as follows: 2-2 Sec. 5.12. 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: 2-14 (A) graduation; or 2-15 (B) Fifth Pathway designation and completion of 2-16 the Fifth Pathway Program; 2-17 (2) a description of all graduate medical education in 2-18 the United States or Canada; 2-19 (3) any specialty certification held by the physician 2-20 and issued by a medical licensing board that is a member of the 2-21 American Board of Medical Specialties or the Bureau of Osteopathic 2-22 Specialists; 2-23 (4) the number of years the physician has actively 2-24 practiced medicine in: 2-25 (A) the United States or Canada; and 2-26 (B) this state; 2-27 (5) the name of each hospital in this state in which 3-1 the physician has privileges; 3-2 (6) the physician's primary practice location; 3-3 (7) the type of language translating services, 3-4 including translating services for a person with impairment of 3-5 hearing, that the physician provides at the physician's primary 3-6 practice location; 3-7 (8) whether the physician participates in the Medicaid 3-8 program; 3-9 (9) a description of any conviction for an offense 3-10 constituting a felony, a Class A or Class B misdemeanor, or a Class 3-11 C misdemeanor involving moral turpitude during the 10-year period 3-12 preceding the date of the profile; 3-13 (10) a description of any charges reported to the 3-14 board during the 10-year period preceding the date of the profile 3-15 to which the physician has pleaded no contest, for which the 3-16 physician is the subject of deferred adjudication or pretrial 3-17 diversion, or in which sufficient facts of guilt were found and the 3-18 matter was continued by a court of competent jurisdiction; 3-19 (11) a description of any disciplinary action against 3-20 the physician by the board during the 10-year period preceding the 3-21 date of the profile; 3-22 (12) a description of any disciplinary action against 3-23 the physician by a medical licensing board of another state during 3-24 the 10-year period preceding the date of the profile; 3-25 (13) a description of the types of medical malpractice 3-26 claims or complaints reported as resolved under Section 5.05(f) of 3-27 this Act in a five-year period; 4-1 (14) whether the physician's patient service areas are 4-2 accessible to disabled persons, as defined by federal law; and 4-3 (15) a description of any formal complaint against the 4-4 physician initiated and filed under Section 4.03 of this Act and 4-5 the status of the complaint. 4-6 (c) Information required to be included under Subsection (b) 4-7 of this section that is not maintained by the board in the ordinary 4-8 course of the board's duties shall be obtained from a physician at 4-9 the time the physician renews the physician's license. In 4-10 requesting information from the physician, the board shall inform 4-11 the physician that compliance with the request for information is 4-12 mandatory, inform the physician of the date the information will be 4-13 made available to the public, and instruct the physician of the 4-14 requirements under Subsection (f) of this section for the physician 4-15 to obtain a copy of the physician's profile to make corrections. 4-16 (d) This section does not: 4-17 (1) prevent the board from providing explanatory 4-18 information regarding the significance of categories in which 4-19 malpractice settlements are reported; or 4-20 (2) require the board to disclose confidential 4-21 settlement information. 4-22 (e) A pending malpractice claim or complaint, other than a 4-23 claim disclosed under Subsection (b)(13) of this section, may not 4-24 be disclosed to the public by the board. This subsection does not 4-25 prevent the board from investigating and disciplining a physician 4-26 on the basis of a pending medical malpractice claim or complaint. 4-27 (f) The board shall provide an individual physician with a 5-1 copy of the physician's profile if the physician requests a copy at 5-2 the time the physician renews the physician's license. If a copy 5-3 is requested by a physician the board shall provide the physician 5-4 one month from the date the copy is provided to the physician to 5-5 correct factual errors in the physician's profile. 5-6 (g) The board shall update the information contained in a 5-7 physician's profile annually. The board shall adopt a form that 5-8 allows a physician to update information contained in a physician's 5-9 profile. The form shall be made available on the Internet and in 5-10 other formats as prescribed by board rule. The board may adopt 5-11 rules concerning the type and content of additional information 5-12 that may be included in a physician's profile. 5-13 (h) The board shall adopt rules as necessary to implement 5-14 this section. 5-15 SECTION 3. (a) Each state agency listed in Subsection (b) 5-16 of this section shall provide a cost estimate, including 5-17 methodology, regarding the establishment and administration of a 5-18 profile program for persons licensed or regulated by the agency 5-19 similar to the program established by the Texas State Board of 5-20 Medical Examiners under Section 5.12, Medical Practice Act (Article 5-21 4495b, Vernon's Texas Civil Statutes), as added by this Act. 5-22 (b) This section applies to the: 5-23 (1) Texas Board of Chiropractic Examiners; 5-24 (2) State Board of Dental Examiners; 5-25 (3) Texas Board of Occupational Therapy Examiners; 5-26 (4) Texas Optometry Board; 5-27 (5) Texas State Board of Pharmacy; 6-1 (6) Texas Board of Physical Therapy Examiners; 6-2 (7) Texas State Board of Podiatric Medical Examiners; 6-3 and 6-4 (8) Texas State Board of Examiners of Psychologists. 6-5 (c) An agency required to provide a cost estimate under this 6-6 section shall report, not later than January 1, 2000, the results 6-7 of the study to the presiding officer of each house of the 77th 6-8 Legislature, Regular Session, 2001. 6-9 SECTION 4. (a) This Act takes effect September 1, 1999. 6-10 (b) The change in law made by this Act to Section 5.07(a), 6-11 Medical Practice Act (Article 4495b, Vernon's Texas Civil 6-12 Statutes), applies only to a conviction or finding of guilt for an 6-13 offense that is made on or after the effective date of this Act. A 6-14 conviction or finding made before the effective date of this Act is 6-15 governed by the law in effect on the date of the conviction or 6-16 finding, and the former law is continued in effect for that 6-17 purpose. 6-18 (c) The Texas State Board of Medical Examiners shall adopt 6-19 rules under Section 5.12, Medical Practice Act (Article 4495b, 6-20 Vernon's Texas Civil Statutes), as added by this Act, not later 6-21 than April 1, 2000. The board shall make the initial physician 6-22 profiles required under this Act available to the public not later 6-23 than September 1, 2001. 6-24 (d) The Texas State Board of Medical Examiners shall raise 6-25 fees prescribed by the board in an amount not to exceed $20 for 6-26 each fiscal year in the 2000-2001 biennium and not to exceed $10 6-27 for each fiscal year in the 2002-2003 biennium for each physician 7-1 licensed by the board to cover the costs of administering the 7-2 changes in law made by this Act. The board shall reduce any fees 7-3 raised under this subsection not later than the second anniversary 7-4 of the date the initial physician profiles required under this Act 7-5 are made available to the public to the extent the increase in fee 7-6 amounts was necessary to cover the initial costs incurred by the 7-7 board in establishing a physician profile system. 7-8 SECTION 5. The importance of this legislation and the 7-9 crowded condition of the calendars in both houses create an 7-10 emergency and an imperative public necessity that the 7-11 constitutional rule requiring bills to be read on three several 7-12 days in each house be suspended, and this rule is hereby suspended.