S.B. No. 1705
AN ACT
relating to the authority and policies and procedures of the Dallas
County Hospital District with regard to appointing, contracting
for, or employing physicians, dentists, and other health care
providers.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
SECTION 1. Subchapter B, Chapter 281, Health and Safety
Code, is amended by adding Section 281.0282 to read as follows:
Sec. 281.0282. DALLAS COUNTY HOSPITAL DISTRICT; EMPLOYMENT
OF HEALTH CARE PROVIDERS AND PHYSICIANS. (a) The board of the
Dallas County Hospital District may appoint, contract for, or
employ physicians, dentists, and other health care providers as the
board considers necessary for the efficient operation of the
district.
(b) The term of an employment contract entered into under
this section may not exceed four years.
(c) This section may not be construed as authorizing the
board of the Dallas County Hospital District to supervise or
control the practice of medicine, as prohibited by Subtitle B,
Title 3, Occupations Code.
(d) The authority granted to the board of the Dallas County
Hospital District under Subsection (a) to employ physicians shall
apply only as necessary for the district to fulfill the district's
statutory mandate to provide medical and dental care for the
indigent and needy residents of the district as provided by Section
281.046.
(e) The Dallas County Hospital District shall establish a
committee consisting of at least five actively practicing
physicians who provide care in the district. The committee shall
approve existing policies or adopt new policies, if no policies
exist, to ensure that a physician who is employed by the district is
exercising the physician's independent medical judgment in
providing care to patients.
(f) The chair of the committee must be a member of the
executive committee of the Dallas County Hospital District's
medical staff.
(g) The policies adopted or approved by the committee shall
include policies relating to credentialing, quality assurance,
utilization review, peer review, medical decision-making,
governance of the committee, and due process.
(h) Each member of a committee shall provide biennially to
the chief medical officer of the Dallas County Hospital District a
signed, verified statement indicating that the committee member:
(1) is licensed by the Texas Medical Board;
(2) will exercise independent medical judgment in all
committee matters, including matters relating to credentialing,
quality assurance, utilization review, peer review, medical
decision-making, and due process;
(3) will exercise the committee member's best efforts
to ensure compliance with the Dallas County Hospital District's
policies that are adopted or established by the committee; and
(4) will report immediately to the Texas Medical Board
any action or event that the committee member reasonably and in good
faith believes constitutes a compromise of the independent medical
judgment of a physician in caring for a patient.
(i) The committee shall adopt rules requiring the
disclosure of financial conflicts of interest by a committee
member.
(j) For all matters relating to the practice of medicine,
each physician employed by the board shall ultimately report to the
chief medical officer of the Dallas County Hospital District.
SECTION 2. 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, 2009.
______________________________ ______________________________
President of the Senate Speaker of the House
I hereby certify that S.B. No. 1705 passed the Senate on
April 30, 2009, by the following vote: Yeas 31, Nays 0.
______________________________
Secretary of the Senate
I hereby certify that S.B. No. 1705 passed the House on
May 27, 2009, by the following vote: Yeas 147, Nays 1, one
present not voting.
______________________________
Chief Clerk of the House
Approved:
______________________________
Date
______________________________
Governor