S.B. No. 292
 
 
 
 
AN ACT
  relating to the requirement that licensed physicians provide
  emergency contact information to the Texas Medical Board and to the
  creation of the Texas Physician Health Program.
         BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
         SECTION 1.  Subchapter A, Chapter 156, Occupations Code, is
  amended by adding Section 156.006 to read as follows:
         Sec. 156.006.  EMERGENCY CONTACT INFORMATION. (a)  Each
  license holder shall submit to the board telephone numbers, fax
  numbers, and e-mail addresses, if available and as appropriate,
  that the board may use to contact the license holder in an
  emergency.
         (b)  A license holder who receives an initial registration
  permit shall provide the information required under Subsection (a)
  not later than the 30th day after the date the permit is issued.
  Each license holder who applies to renew a registration permit
  shall submit the information required under Subsection (a) with the
  renewal application.
         (c)  A license holder shall report to the board any change in
  the information required under Subsection (a) not later than the
  45th day after the date of the change.
         (d)  The information provided by a license holder under this
  section is confidential and is not subject to disclosure under
  Chapter 552, Government Code. The board may not publish, release,
  or make available information provided by a license holder under
  this section except as provided by Subsection (e).
         (e)  In the event of a public health emergency declared or
  invoked by the governor, the Department of State Health Services,
  or a federal agency, the board may publish, release, or make
  available information provided by a license holder under this
  section for the sole purpose of disseminating information to:
               (1)  a license holder;
               (2)  a designated city, county, state, or federal
  public health or emergency management official; or
               (3)  the Federation of State Medical Boards.
         SECTION 2.  (a)  Subtitle B, Title 3, Occupations Code, is
  amended by adding Chapter 167 to read as follows:
  CHAPTER 167. TEXAS PHYSICIAN HEALTH PROGRAM
         Sec. 167.001.  DEFINITIONS. In this chapter:
               (1)  "Committee" means the Physician Health and
  Rehabilitation Advisory Committee established under this chapter.
               (2)  "Governing board" means the governing board of the
  program.
               (3)  "Medical director" means a person appointed under
  Section 167.002 to oversee the program.
               (4)  "Physician assistant board" means the Texas
  Physician Assistant Board established under Chapter 204.
               (5)  "Program" means the Texas Physician Health Program
  established under this chapter.
               (6)  "Program participant" means a physician or
  physician assistant who receives services under the program.
         Sec. 167.002.  MEDICAL DIRECTOR. (a)  The board shall
  appoint a medical director for the program.
         (b)  The medical director must:
               (1)  be a physician licensed by the board; and
               (2)  have expertise in a field of medicine relating to
  disorders commonly affecting physicians or physician assistants,
  including substance abuse disorders.
         (c)  The medical director shall provide clinical and policy
  oversight for the program.
         Sec. 167.003.  GOVERNING BOARD. (a)  The president of the
  board shall appoint persons to serve on the governing board of the
  program. The appointees shall include physicians, physician
  assistants, and other related professionals with experience
  addressing health conditions commonly found in the population of
  monitored physicians or physician assistants.
         (b)  The governing board shall:
               (1)  provide advice and counsel to the board; and
               (2)  establish policy and procedures for the operation
  and administration of the program.
         (c)  The board, with the advice and in consultation with the
  physician assistant board and Texas-based professional
  associations of physicians and physician assistants, shall adopt
  rules relating to the appointment of members to the governing
  board, including length of terms, procedures for filling a vacancy,
  and conflict-of-interest provisions.
         Sec. 167.004.  PHYSICIAN HEALTH AND REHABILITATION ADVISORY
  COMMITTEE. (a)  The governing board shall appoint physicians to
  the Physician Health and Rehabilitation Advisory Committee who have
  experience in disorders commonly affecting physicians or physician
  assistants.
         (b)  The committee shall assist the governing board by making
  recommendations on the request of the governing board.
         (c)  The board, with the advice and in consultation with the
  physician assistant board and Texas-based professional
  associations of physicians and physician assistants, shall adopt
  rules relating to the appointment of members to the committee,
  including length of terms, procedures for filling a vacancy, and
  conflict-of-interest provisions.
         (d)  Chapter 2110, Government Code, does not apply to the
  committee.
         Sec. 167.005.  TEXAS PHYSICIAN HEALTH PROGRAM. (a)  The
  Texas Physician Health Program is established to promote:
               (1)  physician and physician assistant wellness; and
               (2)  treatment of all health conditions that have the
  potential to compromise the physician's or physician assistant's
  ability to practice with reasonable skill and safety, including
  mental health issues, substance abuse issues, and addiction issues.
         (b)  The program is a confidential, nondisciplinary
  therapeutic program for physicians and physician assistants.
         (c)  The program is administratively attached to the board.
         Sec. 167.006.  RULES. The board, with the advice of and in
  consultation with the governing board, committee, and Texas-based
  professional associations of physicians and physician assistants,
  shall:
               (1)  adopt rules and policies as necessary to implement
  the program, including:
                     (A)  policies for assessments under the program
  and guidelines for the validity of a referral to the program;
                     (B)  policies and guidelines for initial contacts
  used to determine if there is a need for a physician or physician
  assistant to complete a clinically appropriate evaluation or to
  enter treatment, including policies and guidelines for
  arrangements for that evaluation or treatment; and
                     (C)  policies and guidelines for interventions
  conducted under the program; and
               (2)  define applicable guidelines for the management of
  substance abuse disorders, psychiatric disorders, and physical
  illnesses and impairments.
         Sec. 167.007.  OPERATION OF PROGRAM. (a)  The program must
  include provisions for:
               (1)  continuing care, monitoring, and case management
  of potentially impairing health conditions, including provisions
  for cooperation with the evaluating or treating facility;
               (2)  ongoing monitoring for relapse, including random
  drug testing, consultations with other physician health and
  rehabilitation committees, work site monitors, and treating health
  professionals, including mental health professionals; and
               (3)  other physician and physician assistant health and
  rehabilitation programs to operate under an agreement with the
  program, using established guidelines to ensure uniformity and
  credibility of services throughout this state.
         (b)  The program must ensure appropriate communications with
  the board, the physician assistant board, other state licensing
  boards, and physician health and rehabilitation programs.
         (c)  The program shall use physicians or other health care
  professional experts or consultants, as appropriate, when
  necessary to evaluate, recommend solutions for, or resolve a
  medical dispute.
         Sec. 167.008.  REFERRALS TO PROGRAM. (a)  The program shall
  accept a self-referral from a physician or physician assistant and
  referrals from an individual, a physician health and rehabilitation
  committee, a physician assistant organization, a state physician
  health program, a hospital or hospital system licensed in this
  state, a residency program, the board, or the physician assistant
  board.
         (b)  A physician or physician assistant may refer the
  physician or physician assistant to the program.
         (c)  The program may not accept a referral, except as
  provided by board rules, for a violation of the standard of care as
  a result of drugs or alcohol or boundary violations with a patient
  or a patient's family.
         Sec. 167.009.  REFERRAL BY BOARD OR PHYSICIAN ASSISTANT
  BOARD AS PREREQUISITE FOR ISSUING OR MAINTAINING A LICENSE.
  (a)  The board or the physician assistant board, through an agreed
  order or after a contested proceeding, may make a referral to the
  program and require participation in the program by a specified
  physician or physician assistant as a prerequisite for issuing or
  maintaining a license under Chapter 155 or 204.
         (b)  The board or the physician assistant board may
  discipline a physician or physician assistant required to
  participate in the program under Subsection (a) who does not
  participate in the program.
         (c)  Each program participant is individually responsible
  for payment of the participant's own medical costs, including any
  required evaluations, primary treatment, and continuing care.
         Sec. 167.010.  CONFIDENTIALITY.  (a)  Each referral,
  proceeding, report, investigative file, record, or other
  information received, gathered, created, or maintained by the
  program or its employees, consultants, work site monitors, or
  agents relating to a physician or physician assistant is privileged
  and confidential and is not subject to disclosure under Chapter
  552, Government Code, or to discovery, subpoena, or other means of
  legal compulsion for release to any person except as provided by
  this chapter.
         (b)  Notwithstanding Subsection (a), the program may report
  to the board or the physician assistant board, as appropriate, the
  name and pertinent information relating to impairment of a
  physician or physician assistant.
         (c)  Notwithstanding Subsection (a), the program shall make
  a report to the board or the physician assistant board, as
  appropriate, regarding a physician or physician assistant if the
  medical director or the governing board determines that the
  physician or physician assistant poses a continuing threat to the
  public welfare. If requested by the board or the physician
  assistant board, a report under this subsection must include all
  information in the possession or control of the program.
         Sec. 167.011.  FUNDING; FEES. (a)  The Texas physician
  health program account is a special account in the general revenue
  fund. Funds in the account may be appropriated only to the board
  for administration of the program.
         (b)  The board by rule shall set and collect reasonable and
  necessary fees from program participants in amounts sufficient to
  offset, to the extent reasonably possible, the cost of
  administering this chapter.
         (c)  Each program participant shall pay an annual fee to
  partially offset the cost of participation and monitoring services.
         (d)  The board shall deposit fees collected under this
  section to the credit of the account established under Subsection
  (a).
         (e)  The board may grant a waiver to the fee imposed under
  Subsection (c). The board shall adopt rules relating to the
  issuance of a waiver under this subsection.
         (b)  Subsection (d), Section 153.051, Occupations Code, is
  amended to read as follows:
         (d)  The board may not set, charge, collect, receive, or
  deposit any of the following fees in excess of:
               (1)  $900 for a license;
               (2)  $400 for a first registration permit;
               (3)  $200 for a temporary license;
               (4)  $400 for renewal of a registration permit;
               (5)  $200 for a physician-in-training permit;
               (6)  $600 for the processing of an application and the
  issuance of a registration for anesthesia in an outpatient setting;
               (7)  $200 for an endorsement to other state medical
  boards;
               (8)  $200 for a duplicate license; [or]
               (9)  $700 for a reinstated license after cancellation
  for cause; or
               (10)  $1,200 for an annual fee under Section 167.011(c)
  for a program participant in the Texas Physician Health Program.
         (c)  Effective January 1, 2010, the following laws are
  repealed:
               (1)  Sections 164.202, 164.203, 164.204, and 164.205,
  Occupations Code; and
               (2)  Sections 204.305, 204.306, 204.307, and 204.3075,
  Occupations Code.
         (d)  A rehabilitation order under Chapter 167 or 204,
  Occupations Code, entered into on or before January 1, 2010, is
  governed by the law as it existed immediately before that date, and
  that law is continued in effect for that purpose.
         SECTION 3.  Not later than December 1, 2009, each person who
  holds a license to practice medicine under Chapter 155, Occupations
  Code, shall make the initial submission to the Texas Medical Board
  of the information required by Subsection (a), Section 156.006,
  Occupations Code, as added by this Act.
         SECTION 4.  This Act takes effect September 1, 2009.
 
 
 
 
 
  ______________________________ ______________________________
     President of the Senate Speaker of the House     
 
         I hereby certify that S.B. No. 292 passed the Senate on
  March 19, 2009, by the following vote: Yeas 31, Nays 0; and that
  the Senate concurred in House amendment on May 30, 2009, by the
  following vote: Yeas 31, Nays 0.
 
 
  ______________________________
  Secretary of the Senate    
 
         I hereby certify that S.B. No. 292 passed the House, with
  amendment, on May 27, 2009, by the following vote: Yeas 148,
  Nays 0, one present not voting.
 
 
  ______________________________
  Chief Clerk of the House   
 
 
 
  Approved:
 
  ______________________________ 
              Date
 
 
  ______________________________ 
            Governor