HBA-MPA H.B. 110 76(R) BILL ANALYSIS
Office of House Bill AnalysisH.B. 110
By: Maxey
Public Health
2/2/1999
Introduced
BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE
Choosing a competent doctor to perform surgery, deliver a child, or perform
any other procedure can be one of life's most important decisions. The
information consumers need in order to make informed decisions about their
doctor or prospective doctor is not readily available. Information such as
education, hospital privileges, and nationally recognized specialty
certification, along with information on past criminal conduct and paid
malpractice claims, could be helpful to consumers in making informed
choices when selecting a physician.
RULEMAKING AUTHORITY
It is the opinion of the Office of House Bill Analysis that this bill
expressly delegates additional rulemaking authority to the Texas State
Board of Medical Examiners in SECTION 2 (Section 5.12, Medical Practice
Act, Article 4495b,V.T.C.S.) of this bill.
SECTION BY SECTION ANALYSIS
SECTION 1. Amends Section 5.07(a), Medical Practice Act (Article
4495b,V.T.C.S.), to change the reporting requirement under this section to
"any offense not punishable by fine only," rather than "a felony, a
misdemeanor involving moral turpitude." Creates Subdivision (1) from
existing text and adds Subdivision (2), which requires notice of the
enumerated offenses to be sent to the board.
SECTION 2. Amends Subchapter E, Medical Practice Act (Article
4495b,V.T.C.S.), by adding Section 5.12, as follows:
Sec. 5.12. PHYSICIAN PROFILES. (a) Requires the Texas State Board of
Medical Examiners (board) to create a profile of each physician licensed
under this Act, and to compile them in a format which the board can make
available to the public.
(b) Provides that the profile must contain:
(1) the name and graduation date of each medical school attended by the
physician;
(2) a description of any graduate medical education;
(3) any specialty certification;
(4) number of years of practice;
(5) the name of each hospital in which the physician has privileges;
(6) the location of the physician's primary practice;
(7) any language translation services, including any for a person with
impaired hearing, provided at the primary practice location;
(8) whether the physician participates in the Medicaid program;
(9) any convictions during the previous 10-year period for offenses that
reflect adversely on the physician's competence, adversely affect patient
safety, or the physician's ability to practice medicine as determined by
board rule;
(10) any charges reported to the board to which the physician pleaded no
contest or which a court has continued within the previous 10-year period;
(11) any final disciplinary action taken by the board against the physician
within the previous 10-year period;
(12) any final disciplinary action taken against the physician by the
medical licensing board of another state within the previous 10-year
period;
(13) any revocation or involuntary restriction of hospital privileges for
over 30 days based on clinical quality of patient care imposed on the
physician within the previous 10-year period;
(14) any resignation or nonrenewal of hospital privileges for over 30 days
based on clinical quality of patient care imposed as a settlement of
pending disciplinary proceedings within the previous 10-year period;
(15) the type of allegation and the review action taken by the board if the
physician has had three or more malpractice claims reported under Section
5.05, (Reports and Data from Insurers) of this bill, in a five-year period;
and
(16) whether the physician's patient service area is accessible to disabled
persons.
(c) Requires information necessary to complete this profile which is not
kept in the ordinary course of board operation be made available by the
physician when the physician renews the physician's license. Requires the
board to inform the physician: that it is mandatory to provide this
information; the date the information will be made available to the public;
and that upon request the physician will receive a copy of the profile, to
ensure its accuracy.
(d) Does not prevent the board from providing explanations of the
significance of categories in which malpractice settlements are reported.
(e) Provides that a pending malpractice claim may not be disclosed to the
public by the board, unless the claim was already included in the
physician's profile in accordance with Subsection (b) of this Act. Does
not prevent the board from investigating or disciplining a physician on the
basis of such a claim.
(f) Requires the board to provide upon request at the time of renewal of
the physician's license a copy of the profile, and to give the physician
one month from the date the copy is provided to correct any factual errors.
(g) Requires the board to update physician profiles annually; to adopt a
form that allows a physician to update the profile or provide additional
information to be included in the profile; and that the form be available
electronically and on the Internet. Provides that a physician may update
the profile at any time; and that the board may assess a fee for updating
the profile other than at the board's annual update and to cover the costs
of including information in the profile not required by the board.
Authorizes the board to adopt rules concerning additional information to
be included in the physician's profile.
(h) Requires the board to adopt rules as necessary to implement this
section.
SECTION 3. Requires that the following agencies provide cost estimates and
methodology for assembling similar profiles for persons regulated or
licensed by each agency to the presiding officer of each house of the 77th
Legislature no later than January 1, 2000: Texas Board of Chiropractic
Examiners; State Board of Dental Examiners; Texas Board of Occupational
Therapy Examiners; Texas Optometry Board; Texas State Board of Pharmacy;
Texas Board of Physical Therapy Examiners; Texas State Board of Podiatric
Medical Examiners; and Texas State Board of Examiners of Psychologists.
SECTION 4. (a) Effective date: September 1, 1999.
(b) Makes application of Section 1 of this Act prospective.
(c) Requires the board to adopt rules providing for physician profiles no
later than January 1, 2000, and to make the profiles available to the
public no later than June 1, 2000.
(d) Requires the board to raise fees for each physician licensed by the
board by not more than $15 for each fiscal year in the 2000-2001 biennium
and by not more than $10 for each fiscal year in the 2002-2003 biennium to
cover the costs of establishing the physician profile system. Requires
these fees to be reduced not later than the second anniversary of the date
the profiles are made available to the public to the extent the increase in
fees was necessary to cover the initial costs incurred by the board in
establishing a physician profile system.
SECTION 5. Emergency clause.