By: Hardcastle H.B. No. 1885
Substitute the following for H.B. No. 1885:
By: Jackson C.S.H.B. No. 1885
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT
relating to the authority of the board of directors of the Knox
County Hospital District to employ physicians and other health care
providers.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
SECTION 1. Subchapter B, Chapter 1050, Special District
Local Laws Code, is amended by adding Section 1050.0615 to read as
follows:
Sec. 1050.0615. EMPLOYMENT OF PHYSICIANS AND HEALTH CARE
PROVIDERS. (a) The board may employ physicians and other health
care providers as necessary for the efficient operation of the
district.
(b) This section may not be construed as authorizing the
board to supervise or control the practice of medicine, as
prohibited by Subtitle B, Title 3, Occupations Code.
(c) The board may employ a physician and retain all or part
of the professional income generated by the physician for medical
services provided at the hospital and other health facilities owned
or operated by the hospital if the hospital satisfies the
requirements of this subchapter.
(d) The board shall:
(1) appoint a chief medical officer, who may be a
member of the hospital's medical staff; and
(2) adopt, maintain, and enforce policies to ensure
that a physician employed by the hospital exercises the physician's
independent medical judgment in providing care to patients at the
hospital.
(e) The policies adopted under this section must include:
(1) policies relating to:
(A) credentialing;
(B) quality assurance;
(C) utilization review;
(D) peer review; and
(E) medical decision-making; and
(2) the implementation of a complaint mechanism to
process and resolve complaints regarding interference or attempted
interference with a physician's independent medical judgment.
(f) The policies adopted under this section must be approved
by the chief medical officer of the hospital.
(g) For all matters relating to the practice of medicine,
each physician employed by the hospital under this subchapter shall
ultimately report to the chief medical officer of the hospital. The
policies adopted under this section:
(1) must be approved by the chief medical officer of
the hospital; and
(2) shall control and prevail in the event of a
conflict with any other policies of a hospital under this
subchapter.
(h) The chief medical officer shall immediately report to
the Texas Medical Board any action or event that the chief medical
officer reasonably and in good faith believes constitutes a
compromise of the independent medical judgment of a physician in
caring for a patient."
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, 2011.