1-1     By:  Maxey (Senate Sponsor - Moncrief)                 H.B. No. 110
 1-2           (In the Senate - Received from the House April 19, 1999;
 1-3     April 20, 1999, read first time and referred to Committee on Health
 1-4     Services; May 13, 1999, reported favorably, as amended, by the
 1-5     following vote:  Yeas 5, Nays 0; May 13, 1999, sent to printer.)
 1-6     COMMITTEE AMENDMENT NO. 1                             By:  Moncrief
 1-7           Amend H.B. 110 on page 2 by striking lines 25 through 27 and
 1-8     replacing with the following:
 1-9     (13)  a description of the final resolution taken by the Board on
1-10     medical malpractice claims or complaints required to be opened by
1-11     the Board under Section 5.05(f) of the Act.
1-12                            A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
1-13                                   AN ACT
1-14     relating to public access to certain information regarding medical
1-15     practitioners.
1-16           BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
1-17           SECTION 1.  Section 5.07(a), Medical Practice Act (Article
1-18     4495b, Vernon's Texas Civil Statutes), is amended to read as
1-19     follows:
1-20           (a)  Within 30 days after the initial conviction or the
1-21     initial finding of the trier of fact of guilt of a person known to
1-22     be a physician, licensed or otherwise lawfully practicing in this
1-23     state or applying to be so licensed to practice, of any offense
1-24     constituting a felony, a Class A or Class B misdemeanor, or a Class
1-25     C misdemeanor involving moral turpitude, a violation of state or
1-26     federal narcotics or controlled substance laws, or an offense
1-27     involving fraud or abuse under the Medicare or Medicaid programs,
1-28     whether or not the conviction, adjudication, or finding is entered,
1-29     withheld, or appealed under the laws of this state, the clerk of
1-30     the court of record in which the conviction, adjudication, or
1-31     finding was entered shall prepare and forward to the Department of
1-32     Public Safety the information required under Chapter 60, Code of
1-33     Criminal Procedure, for use in the computerized criminal history
1-34     system.
1-35           SECTION 2.  Subchapter E, Medical Practice Act (Article
1-36     4495b, Vernon's Texas Civil Statutes), is amended by adding Section
1-37     5.12 to read as follows:
1-38           Sec. 5.12.  PHYSICIAN PROFILES.  (a)  The board shall create
1-39     a profile of each physician licensed under this Act.  The profile
1-40     must:
1-41                 (1)  include the information required by Subsection (b)
1-42     of this section; and
1-43                 (2)  be compiled in a format that permits the board to
1-44     make the information contained in the profile available to the
1-45     public.
1-46           (b)  A profile must contain the following information on each
1-47     physician:
1-48                 (1)  the name of each medical school attended and the
1-49     dates of:
1-50                       (A)  graduation; or
1-51                       (B)  Fifth Pathway designation and completion of
1-52     the Fifth Pathway Program;
1-53                 (2)  a description of all graduate medical education in
1-54     the United States or Canada;
1-55                 (3)  any specialty certification held by the physician
1-56     and issued by a medical licensing board that is a member of the
1-57     American Board of Medical Specialties or the Bureau of Osteopathic
1-58     Specialists;
1-59                 (4)  the number of years the physician has actively
1-60     practiced medicine in:
1-61                       (A)  the United States or Canada; and
1-62                       (B)  this state;
1-63                 (5)  the name of each hospital in this state in which
 2-1     the physician has privileges;
 2-2                 (6)  the physician's primary practice location;
 2-3                 (7)  the type of language translating services,
 2-4     including translating services for a person with impairment of
 2-5     hearing, that the physician provides at the physician's primary
 2-6     practice location;
 2-7                 (8)  whether the physician participates in the Medicaid
 2-8     program;
 2-9                 (9)  a description of any conviction for an offense
2-10     constituting a felony, a Class A or Class B misdemeanor, or a Class
2-11     C misdemeanor involving moral turpitude during the 10-year period
2-12     preceding the date of the profile;
2-13                 (10)  a description of any charges reported to the
2-14     board during the 10-year period preceding the date of the profile
2-15     to which the physician has pleaded no contest, for which the
2-16     physician is the subject of deferred adjudication or pretrial
2-17     diversion, or in which sufficient facts of guilt were found and the
2-18     matter was continued by a court of competent jurisdiction;
2-19                 (11)  a description of any disciplinary action against
2-20     the physician by the board during the 10-year period preceding the
2-21     date of the profile;
2-22                 (12)  a description of any disciplinary action against
2-23     the physician by a medical licensing board of another state during
2-24     the 10-year period preceding the date of the profile;
2-25                 (13)  a description of the types of medical malpractice
2-26     claims or complaints reported as resolved under Section 5.05(f) of
2-27     this Act in a five-year period;
2-28                 (14)  whether the physician's patient service areas are
2-29     accessible to disabled persons, as defined by federal law; and
2-30                 (15)  a description of any formal complaint against the
2-31     physician initiated and filed under Section 4.03 of this Act and
2-32     the status of the complaint.
2-33           (c)  Information required to be included under Subsection (b)
2-34     of this section that is not maintained by the board in the ordinary
2-35     course of the board's duties shall be obtained from a physician at
2-36     the time the physician renews the physician's license.  In
2-37     requesting information from the physician, the board shall inform
2-38     the physician that compliance with the request for information is
2-39     mandatory, inform the physician of the date the information will be
2-40     made available to the public, and instruct the physician of the
2-41     requirements under Subsection (f) of this section for the physician
2-42     to obtain a copy of the physician's profile to make corrections.
2-43           (d)  This section does not:
2-44                 (1)  prevent the board from providing explanatory
2-45     information regarding the significance of categories in which
2-46     malpractice settlements are reported; or
2-47                 (2)  require the board to disclose confidential
2-48     settlement information.
2-49           (e)  A pending malpractice claim or complaint, other than a
2-50     claim disclosed under Subsection (b)(13) of this section, may not
2-51     be disclosed to the public by the board.  This subsection does not
2-52     prevent the board from investigating and disciplining a physician
2-53     on the basis of a pending medical malpractice claim or complaint.
2-54           (f)  The board shall provide an individual physician with a
2-55     copy of the physician's profile if the physician requests a copy at
2-56     the time the physician renews the physician's license.  If a copy
2-57     is requested by a physician the board shall provide the physician
2-58     one month from the date the copy is provided to the physician to
2-59     correct factual errors in the physician's profile.
2-60           (g)  The board shall update the information contained in a
2-61     physician's profile annually.  The board shall adopt a form that
2-62     allows a physician to update information contained in a physician's
2-63     profile.  The form shall be made available on the Internet and in
2-64     other formats as prescribed by board rule.  The board may adopt
2-65     rules concerning the type and content of additional information
2-66     that may be included in a physician's profile.
2-67           (h)  The board shall adopt rules as necessary to implement
2-68     this section.
2-69           SECTION 3.  (a)  Each state agency listed in Subsection (b)
 3-1     of this section shall provide a cost estimate, including
 3-2     methodology, regarding the establishment and administration of a
 3-3     profile program for persons licensed or regulated by the agency
 3-4     similar to the program established by the Texas State Board of
 3-5     Medical Examiners under Section 5.12, Medical Practice Act (Article
 3-6     4495b, Vernon's Texas Civil Statutes), as added by this Act.
 3-7           (b)  This section applies to the:
 3-8                 (1)  Texas Board of Chiropractic Examiners;
 3-9                 (2)  State Board of Dental Examiners;
3-10                 (3)  Texas Board of Occupational Therapy Examiners;
3-11                 (4)  Texas Optometry Board;
3-12                 (5)  Texas State Board of Pharmacy;
3-13                 (6)  Texas Board of Physical Therapy Examiners;
3-14                 (7)  Texas State Board of Podiatric Medical Examiners;
3-15     and
3-16                 (8)  Texas State Board of Examiners of Psychologists.
3-17           (c)  An agency required to provide a cost estimate under this
3-18     section shall report, not later than January 1, 2000, the results
3-19     of the study to the presiding officer of each house of the 77th
3-20     Legislature, Regular Session, 2001.
3-21           SECTION 4.  (a)  This Act takes effect September 1, 1999.
3-22           (b)  The change in law made by this Act to Section 5.07(a),
3-23     Medical Practice Act (Article 4495b, Vernon's Texas Civil
3-24     Statutes),  applies only to a conviction or finding of guilt for an
3-25     offense that is made on or after the effective date of this Act.  A
3-26     conviction or finding made before the effective date of this Act is
3-27     governed by the law in effect on the date of the conviction or
3-28     finding, and the former law is continued in effect for that
3-29     purpose.
3-30           (c)  The Texas State Board of Medical Examiners shall adopt
3-31     rules under Section 5.12, Medical Practice Act (Article 4495b,
3-32     Vernon's Texas Civil Statutes), as added by this Act, not later
3-33     than April 1, 2000.  The board shall make the initial physician
3-34     profiles required under this Act available to the public not later
3-35     than September 1, 2001.
3-36           (d)  The Texas State Board of Medical Examiners shall raise
3-37     fees prescribed by the board in an amount not to exceed $20 for
3-38     each fiscal year in the 2000-2001 biennium and not to exceed $10
3-39     for each fiscal year in the 2002-2003 biennium for each physician
3-40     licensed by the board to cover the costs of administering the
3-41     changes in law made by this Act.  The board shall reduce any fees
3-42     raised under this subsection not later than the second anniversary
3-43     of the date the initial physician profiles required under this Act
3-44     are made available to the public to the extent the increase in fee
3-45     amounts was necessary to cover the initial costs incurred by the
3-46     board in establishing a physician profile system.
3-47           SECTION 5.  The importance of this legislation and the
3-48     crowded condition of the calendars in both houses create an
3-49     emergency and an imperative public necessity that the
3-50     constitutional rule requiring bills to be read on three several
3-51     days in each house be suspended, and this rule is hereby suspended.
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