| |
| |
|
|
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
|
|
|
AN ACT
|
|
|
relating to conducting certain medical examinations using |
|
|
telemedicine under the workers' compensation system. |
|
|
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS: |
|
|
SECTION 1. Section 408.123, Labor Code, is amended by |
|
|
adding Subsections (i) and (j) to read as follows: |
|
|
(i) A medical examination conducted to certify maximum |
|
|
medical improvement or assign an impairment rating may be performed |
|
|
using telehealth services or telemedicine medical services, as |
|
|
defined by Section 111.001, Occupations Code. Except as provided |
|
|
by Subsection (j), a health care professional must be physically |
|
|
present in the room in which the employee is located to assist the |
|
|
certifying doctor in conducting the examination and administering |
|
|
any necessary testing. For purposes of this subsection, "health |
|
|
care professional" means an individual licensed, certified, or |
|
|
otherwise authorized to administer health care, for profit or |
|
|
otherwise, in the ordinary course of business or professional |
|
|
practice. |
|
|
(j) A health care professional is not required to be |
|
|
physically present in the room in which the patient is located |
|
|
during a medical examination performed using telehealth services or |
|
|
telemedicine medical services as provided by Subsection (i) that is |
|
|
conducted to assign an impairment rating if: |
|
|
(1) a doctor certified maximum medical improvement |
|
|
during an examination; and |
|
|
(2) based on the examination described by Subdivision |
|
|
(1), the doctor concluded there was no possibility of impairment. |
|
|
SECTION 2. Sections 408.123(i) and (j), Labor Code, as |
|
|
added by this Act, apply only to a medical examination to certify an |
|
|
employee's maximum medical improvement or assign an employee's |
|
|
impairment rating conducted on or after the effective date of this |
|
|
Act. A medical examination conducted before the effective date of |
|
|
this Act is governed by the law in effect on the date the |
|
|
examination was conducted, and the former law is continued in |
|
|
effect for that purpose. |
|
|
SECTION 3. This Act takes effect September 1, 2023. |