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