By: Klick, Lalani H.B. No. 49
        (Senate Sponsor - Kolkhorst)
         (In the Senate - Received from the House April 5, 2023;
  April 12, 2023, read first time and referred to Committee on Health &
  Human Services; April 27, 2023, reported favorably by the
  following vote:  Yeas 9, Nays 0; April 27, 2023, sent to printer.)
Click here to see the committee vote
 
 
 
  COMMITTEE VOTE
 
 
         YeaNayAbsentPNV
         KolkhorstX
         PerryX
         BlancoX
         HallX
         HancockX
         HughesX
         LaMantiaX
         MilesX
         SparksX
 
 
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
 
AN ACT
 
  relating to public access to certain hospital investigation
  information and materials.
         BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
         SECTION 1.  Section 241.051, Health and Safety Code, is
  amended by amending Subsections (d) and (e) and adding Subsections
  (f), (g), and (h) to read as follows:
         (d)  Except as provided by Subsection (e), all [All]
  information and materials in the possession of or obtained or
  compiled by the commission [department] in connection with a
  complaint and investigation concerning a hospital are confidential
  and not subject to disclosure under Chapter 552 [Section 552.001 et
  seq.], Government Code, and not subject to disclosure, discovery,
  subpoena, or other means of legal compulsion for their release to
  anyone other than the commission [department] or its employees or
  agents involved in the enforcement action except that this
  information may be disclosed to:
               (1)  persons involved with the commission [department]
  in the enforcement action against the hospital;
               (2)  the hospital that is the subject of the
  enforcement action, or the hospital's authorized representative;
               (3)  appropriate state or federal agencies that are
  authorized to inspect, survey, or investigate hospital services;
               (4)  law enforcement agencies; and
               (5)  persons engaged in bona fide research, if all
  individual-identifying and hospital-identifying information has
  been deleted.
         (e)  The following information is subject to disclosure in
  accordance with Chapter 552 [Section 552.001 et seq.], Government
  Code, only to the extent that all personally identifiable
  information of a patient or health care provider is omitted from the
  information:
               (1)  a notice of the hospital's alleged violation
  [against the hospital], which must [notice shall] include the
  provisions of law [which] the hospital is alleged to have violated,
  and a general statement of the nature of the alleged violation;
               (2)  the number of investigations the commission has
  conducted of the hospital;
               (3)  the pleadings in any [the] administrative
  proceeding to impose a penalty against the hospital for the alleged
  violation;
               (4)  the outcome of each investigation the commission
  conducted of the hospital, including:
                     (A)  the issuance of a reprimand;
                     (B)  the denial or revocation of a license;
                     (C)  the adoption of a corrective action plan; or
                     (D)  the imposition of an administrative penalty
  and the penalty amount; and
               (5) [(3)]  a final decision, investigative report, or
  order issued by the commission to address the alleged violation
  [department].
         (f)  Not later than the 90th day after the date the
  commission issues a final decision, investigative report, or order
  to address a hospital's alleged violation, the commission shall
  post on the commission's Internet website:
               (1)  the notice of alleged violation described by
  Subsection (e)(1);
               (2)  the name of the hospital;
               (3)  the geographic location of the hospital;
               (4)  the date the commission issued the final decision,
  investigative report, or order; and
               (5)  the outcome of the commission's investigation of
  the hospital that includes the information described by Subsection
  (e)(4).
         (g)  The commission may not remove information posted on the
  commission's Internet website under Subsection (f) before the
  second anniversary of the date the information is posted on the
  Internet website.
         (h)  Nothing in this section precludes a hospital from
  releasing medical records in the hospital's possession:
               (1)  on the request of the patient who is the subject of
  the record; or
               (2)  to the patient, the parent or guardian of a patient
  who is a minor or incapacitated, or the personal representative of a
  patient who is deceased.
         SECTION 2.  Section 577.013, Health and Safety Code, is
  amended by amending Subsections (d) and (e) and adding Subsections
  (f), (g), (h), and (i) to read as follows:
         (d)  Except as provided by Subsection (e), all [All]
  information and materials in the possession of or obtained or
  compiled by the commission [department] in connection with a
  complaint and investigation concerning a mental hospital licensed
  under this chapter are confidential and not subject to disclosure,
  discovery, subpoena, or other means of legal compulsion for their
  release to anyone other than the commission [department] or its
  employees or agents involved in the enforcement action except that
  this information may be disclosed to:
               (1)  persons involved with the commission [department]
  in the enforcement action against the licensed mental hospital;
               (2)  the licensed mental hospital that is the subject
  of the enforcement action, or the licensed mental hospital's
  authorized representative;
               (3)  appropriate state or federal agencies that are
  authorized to inspect, survey, or investigate licensed mental
  hospital services;
               (4)  law enforcement agencies; and
               (5)  persons engaged in bona fide research, if all
  individual-identifying information and information identifying the
  licensed mental hospital has been deleted.
         (e)  The following information is subject to disclosure in
  accordance with Chapter 552 [Section 552.001 et seq.], Government
  Code, only to the extent that all personally identifiable
  information of a patient or health care provider is omitted from the
  information:
               (1)  a notice of the licensed mental hospital's alleged
  violation [against the licensed mental hospital], which must
  [notice shall] include the provisions of law [which] the licensed
  mental hospital is alleged to have violated, and the nature of the
  alleged violation;
               (2)  the number of investigations the commission has
  conducted of the licensed mental hospital;
               (3)  the pleadings in any [the] administrative
  proceeding to impose a penalty against the licensed mental hospital
  for the alleged violation;
               (4)  the outcome of each investigation the commission
  conducted of the licensed mental hospital, including:
                     (A)  the issuance of a reprimand;
                     (B)  the denial or revocation of a license;
                     (C)  the adoption of a corrective action plan; or
                     (D)  the imposition of an administrative penalty
  and the penalty amount; and
               (5) [(3)]  a final decision, investigative report, or
  order issued by the commission to address the alleged violation
  [department].
         (f)  Not later than the 90th day after the date the
  commission issues a final decision, investigative report, or order
  to address a licensed mental hospital's alleged violation, the
  commission shall post on the commission's Internet website:
               (1)  the notice of alleged violation described by
  Subsection (e)(1);
               (2)  the name of the licensed mental hospital;
               (3)  the geographic location of the licensed mental
  hospital;
               (4)  the date the commission issued the final decision,
  investigative report, or order; and
               (5)  the outcome of the commission's investigation of
  the licensed mental hospital that includes the information
  described by Subsection (e)(4).
         (g)  The commission may not remove information posted on the
  commission's Internet website under Subsection (f) before the
  second anniversary of the date the information is posted on the
  Internet website.
         (h)  Nothing in this section precludes a licensed mental
  hospital from releasing medical records in the licensed mental
  hospital's possession:
               (1)  on request of the patient who is the subject of the
  record; or
               (2)  to the patient, the parent or guardian of a patient
  who is a minor or incapacitated, or the personal representative of a
  patient who is deceased.
         (i)  In this section, "commission" means the Health and Human
  Services Commission.
         SECTION 3.  The changes in law made by this Act apply only to
  an investigation of an alleged violation by a hospital or licensed
  mental hospital that is finalized on or after the effective date of
  this Act.
         SECTION 4.  This Act takes effect September 1, 2023.
 
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