H.B. No. 2673
 
 
 
 
AN ACT
  relating to the protection and care of individuals with
  intellectual and developmental disabilities.
         BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
         SECTION 1.  The heading to Section 411.1144, Government
  Code, is amended to read as follows:
         Sec. 411.1144.  ACCESS TO CRIMINAL HISTORY RECORD
  INFORMATION:  AGENCIES WITH EMPLOYEES, CONTRACTORS, OR VOLUNTEERS
  AT STATE SUPPORTED LIVING CENTERS.
         SECTION 2.  Sections 411.1144(a) and (d), Government Code,
  are amended to read as follows:
         (a)  The Department of State Health Services, [and] the
  Department of Aging and Disability Services, and the Health and
  Human Services Commission are entitled to obtain from the
  department criminal history record information maintained by the
  department that relates to a person:
               (1)  who is:
                     (A)  an applicant for employment with the agency;
                     (B)  an employee of the agency;
                     (C)  a volunteer with the agency; [or]
                     (D)  an applicant for a volunteer position with
  the agency;
                     (E)  an applicant for a contract with the agency;
  or
                     (F)  a contractor of the agency; and
               (2)  who would be placed in direct contact with a
  resident or client, as defined by Section 555.001, Health and
  Safety Code [of a state supported living center or the ICF-MR
  component of the Rio Grande State Center].
         (d)  Subject to Section 411.087, the Department of State
  Health Services, [and] the Department of Aging and Disability
  Services, and the Health and Human Services Commission are entitled
  to:
               (1)  obtain through the Federal Bureau of Investigation
  criminal history record information maintained or indexed by that
  bureau that pertains to a person described by Subsection (a); and
               (2)  obtain from any other criminal justice agency in
  this state criminal history record information maintained by that
  criminal justice agency that relates to a person described by
  Subsection (a).
         SECTION 3.  The heading to Subchapter U, Chapter 531,
  Government Code, is amended to read as follows:
  SUBCHAPTER U. MORTALITY REVIEW FOR CERTAIN INDIVIDUALS WITH
  INTELLECTUAL OR DEVELOPMENTAL DISABILITIES
         SECTION 4.  Subchapter U, Chapter 531, Government Code, is
  amended by adding Section 531.8501 to read as follows:
         Sec. 531.8501.  DEFINITION. In this subchapter, "contracted
  organization" means an entity that contracts with the Health and
  Human Services Commission for the provision of services as
  described by Section 531.851(c).
         SECTION 5.  Sections 531.851(a), (c), (d), and (e),
  Government Code, are amended to read as follows:
         (a)  The executive commissioner shall establish an
  independent mortality review system to review the death of a person
  with an intellectual or [a] developmental disability who, at the
  time of the person's death or at any time during the 24-hour period
  before the person's death:
               (1)  resided in or received services from:
                     (A)  an intermediate care facility for persons
  with an intellectual or developmental disability (ICF/IID) [mental
  retardation (ICF-MR)] operated or licensed by the Department of
  Aging and Disability Services or a community center; or
                     (B)  the ICF/IID [ICF-MR] component of the Rio
  Grande State Center; or
               (2)  received services [residential assistance]
  through a Section 1915(c) waiver program for [serving] individuals
  who are eligible for ICF/IID [ICF-MR] services [in a residence in
  which residential assistance is provided to three or more persons
  and in which the waiver program provider has a property interest].
         (c)  The executive commissioner shall contract with an
  institution of higher education or a health care organization or
  association with experience in conducting research-based mortality
  studies [a patient safety organization certified in accordance with
  42 C.F.R. Part 3, as effective on January 19, 2009,] to conduct
  independent mortality reviews of persons with an intellectual or
  developmental disability [required by this subchapter]. The
  contract must require the contracted [patient safety] organization
  to form a [conduct an independent mortality] review [using a] team
  consisting of:
               (1)  a physician with expertise regarding the medical
  treatment of individuals with intellectual or developmental
  disabilities [mental retardation];
               (2)  a registered nurse with expertise regarding the
  medical treatment of individuals with intellectual or
  developmental disabilities [mental retardation];
               (3)  a clinician or other professional with expertise
  in the delivery of services and supports for individuals with
  intellectual or developmental disabilities [mental retardation];
  and
               (4)  any other appropriate person as provided by the
  executive commissioner.
         (d)  The executive commissioner shall adopt rules regarding
  the manner in which the death of a person described by Subsection
  (a) must be reported to the contracted [patient safety]
  organization by a facility or waiver program provider described by
  that subsection.
         (e)  To ensure consistency across mortality review systems,
  a review under this section must collect information consistent
  with the information required to be collected by any other
  independent mortality review process established specifically for
  persons with intellectual or developmental disabilities [mental
  retardation].
         SECTION 6.  Section 531.852, Government Code, is amended to
  read as follows:
         Sec. 531.852.  ACCESS TO INFORMATION. (a) A contracted
  [patient safety] organization may request information and records
  regarding a deceased person as necessary to carry out the
  contracted [patient safety] organization's duties.  Records and
  information that may be requested under this section include:
               (1)  medical, dental, and mental health care
  information; and
               (2)  information and records maintained by any state or
  local government agency, including:
                     (A)  a birth certificate;
                     (B)  law enforcement investigative data;
                     (C)  medical examiner investigative data;
                     (D)  juvenile court records;
                     (E)  parole and probation information and
  records; and
                     (F)  adult or child protective services
  information and records.
         (b)  On request of the contracted [patient safety]
  organization, the custodian of the relevant information and records
  relating to a deceased person shall provide those records to the
  contracted [patient safety] organization at no charge.
         SECTION 7.  Section 531.853, Government Code, is amended to
  read as follows:
         Sec. 531.853.  MORTALITY REVIEW REPORT.  Subject to Section
  531.854, a contracted [The patient safety] organization shall[, to
  the extent allowed by federal law,] submit:
               (1)  to the Department of Aging and Disability
  Services, the Department of Family and Protective Services, the
  office of independent ombudsman for state supported living centers,
  and the commission's office of inspector general a report of the
  findings of the mortality review; and
               (2)  semiannually to the governor, the lieutenant
  governor, the speaker of the house of representatives, and the
  standing committees of the senate and house of representatives with
  primary jurisdiction over the Department of Aging and Disability
  Services, the Department of Family and Protective Services, the
  office of independent ombudsman for state supported living centers,
  and the commission's office of inspector general a report that
  contains:
                     (A)  aggregate information regarding the deaths
  for which the contracted [patient safety] organization performed an
  independent mortality review;
                     (B)  trends in the causes of death identified by
  the contracted [patient safety] organization; and
                     (C)  any suggestions for system-wide improvements
  to address conditions that contributed to deaths reviewed by the
  contracted [patient safety] organization.
         SECTION 8.  Section 531.854, Government Code, is amended by
  amending Subsections (a), (b), and (e) and adding Subsections (f)
  and (g) to read as follows:
         (a)  The commission may use or publish information under this
  subchapter only to advance statewide practices regarding the
  treatment and care of individuals with intellectual and
  developmental disabilities.  A summary of the data in the
  contracted [patient safety] organization's reports or a
  statistical compilation of data reports may be released by the
  commission for general publication if the summary or statistical
  compilation does not contain any information that would permit the
  identification of an individual or that is confidential or
  privileged under this subchapter or other state or federal law
  [patient safety work product].
         (b)  Information and records acquired by the contracted
  [patient safety] organization in the exercise of its duties under
  this subchapter are confidential and exempt from disclosure under
  the open records law, Chapter 552, and may be disclosed only as
  necessary to carry out the contracted [patient safety]
  organization's duties.
         (e)  Reports, information, statements, memoranda, and other
  information furnished under this subchapter to the contracted
  organization and any findings or conclusions resulting from a
  review by the contracted [patient safety] organization are
  privileged.
         (f)  A contracted organization's report of the findings of
  the independent mortality review conducted under this subchapter
  and any records developed by the contracted organization relating
  to the review:
               (1)  are confidential and privileged;
               (2)  are not subject to discovery or subpoena; and
               (3)  may not be introduced into evidence in any civil,
  criminal, or administrative proceeding.
         (g)  A member of the contracted organization's review team
  may not testify or be required to testify in a civil, criminal, or
  administrative proceeding as to observations, factual findings, or
  conclusions that were made in conducting a review under this
  subchapter.
         SECTION 9.  Section 531.855, Government Code, is amended to
  read as follows:
         Sec. 531.855.  LIMITATION ON LIABILITY. A health care
  provider or other person is not civilly or criminally liable for
  furnishing information to the contracted [patient safety]
  organization or to the commission for use by the contracted
  [patient safety] organization in accordance with this subchapter
  unless the person acted in bad faith or knowingly provided false
  information to the contracted [patient safety] organization or the
  commission.
         SECTION 10.  Section 555.021, Health and Safety Code, is
  amended to read as follows:
         Sec. 555.021.  REQUIRED CRIMINAL HISTORY CHECKS FOR
  EMPLOYEES, CONTRACTORS, AND VOLUNTEERS [OF CENTERS]. (a) The
  department, [and] the Department of State Health Services, and the
  Health and Human Services Commission shall perform a state and
  federal criminal history background check on a person:
               (1)  who is:
                     (A)  an applicant for employment with the agency;
                     (B)  an employee of the agency;
                     (C)  a volunteer with the agency; [or]
                     (D)  an applicant for a volunteer position with
  the agency;
                     (E)  an applicant for a contract with the agency;
  or
                     (F)  a contractor of the agency; and
               (2)  who would be placed in direct contact with a
  resident or client.
         (b)  The department, [and] the Department of State Health
  Services, and the Health and Human Services Commission shall
  require a person described by Subsection (a) to submit fingerprints
  in a form and of a quality acceptable to the Department of Public
  Safety and the Federal Bureau of Investigation for use in
  conducting a criminal history background check.
         (c)  Each agency shall obtain electronic updates from the
  Department of Public Safety of arrests and convictions of a person:
               (1)  for whom the agency performs a background check
  under Subsection (a); and
               (2)  who remains an employee, contractor, or volunteer
  of the agency and continues to have direct contact with a resident
  or client.
         SECTION 11.  Section 252.134, Health and Safety Code, is
  repealed.
         SECTION 12.  Section 531.851, Government Code, as amended by
  this Act, does not apply to a contract entered into by the executive
  commissioner of the Health and Human Services Commission before
  June 1, 2013. A contract entered into before June 1, 2013, is
  governed by the law in effect on the date the contract was entered
  into, and that law is continued in effect for that purpose.
         SECTION 13.  This Act takes effect immediately if it
  receives a vote of two-thirds of all the members elected to each
  house, as provided by Section 39, Article III, Texas Constitution.  
  If this Act does not receive the vote necessary for immediate
  effect, this Act takes effect September 1, 2013.
 
 
  ______________________________ ______________________________
     President of the Senate Speaker of the House     
 
 
         I certify that H.B. No. 2673 was passed by the House on April
  25, 2013, by the following vote:  Yeas 136, Nays 0, 2 present, not
  voting.
 
  ______________________________
  Chief Clerk of the House   
 
 
         I certify that H.B. No. 2673 was passed by the Senate on May
  20, 2013, by the following vote:  Yeas 31, Nays 0.
 
  ______________________________
  Secretary of the Senate    
  APPROVED:  _____________________
                     Date          
   
            _____________________
                   Governor