Texas 2021 - 87th Regular

Texas House Bill HB2052 Compare Versions

Version 1 (Old)

Version 2 (New)

Old	New		Differences
1		-	By: Klick (Senate Sponsor - Kolkhorst) H.B. No. 2052
2		-	(In the Senate - Received from the House April 26, 2021;
3		-	May 10, 2021, read first time and referred to Committee on Health &
4		-	Human Services; May 20, 2021, reported favorably by the following
5		-	vote: Yeas 8, Nays 0; May 20, 2021, sent to printer.)
6		-	Click here to see the committee vote
	1	+	87R3618 JG-F
	2	+	By: Klick H.B. No. 2052
7	3
8	4
9	5		A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
10	6		AN ACT
11	7		relating to public access to certain hospital investigation
12	8		information and materials.
13	9		BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
14	10		SECTION 1. Section 241.051, Health and Safety Code, is
15	11		amended by amending Subsections (d) and (e) and adding Subsections
16	12		(f), (g), and (h) to read as follows:
17	13		(d) Except as provided by Subsection (e), all [All]
18	14		information and materials in the possession of or obtained or
19	15		compiled by the commission [department] in connection with a
20	16		complaint and investigation concerning a hospital are confidential
21	17		and not subject to disclosure under Chapter 552 [Section 552.001 et
22	18		seq.], Government Code, and not subject to disclosure, discovery,
23	19		subpoena, or other means of legal compulsion for their release to
24	20		anyone other than the commission [department] or its employees or
25	21		agents involved in the enforcement action except that this
26	22		information may be disclosed to:
27	23		(1) persons involved with the commission [department]
28	24		in the enforcement action against the hospital;
29	25		(2) the hospital that is the subject of the
30	26		enforcement action, or the hospital's authorized representative;
31	27		(3) appropriate state or federal agencies that are
32	28		authorized to inspect, survey, or investigate hospital services;
33	29		(4) law enforcement agencies; and
34	30		(5) persons engaged in bona fide research, if all
35	31		individual-identifying and hospital-identifying information has
36	32		been deleted.
37	33		(e) The following information is subject to disclosure in
38	34		accordance with Chapter 552 [Section 552.001 et seq.], Government
39	35		Code, only to the extent that all personally identifiable
40	36		information of a patient or health care provider is omitted from the
41	37		information:
42	38		(1) a notice of the hospital's alleged violation
43	39		[against the hospital], which must [notice shall] include the
44	40		provisions of law [which] the hospital is alleged to have violated,
45	41		and a general statement of the nature of the alleged violation;
46	42		(2) the number of investigations the commission has
47	43		conducted of the hospital;
48	44		(3) the pleadings in any [the] administrative
49	45		proceeding to impose a penalty against the hospital for the alleged
50	46		violation;
51	47		(4) the outcome of each investigation the commission
52	48		conducted of the hospital, including:
53	49		(A) the issuance of a reprimand;
54	50		(B) the denial or revocation of a license;
55	51		(C) the adoption of a corrective action plan; or
56	52		(D) the imposition of an administrative penalty
57	53		and the penalty amount; and
58	54		(5) [(3)] a final decision, investigative report, or
59	55		order issued by the commission to address the alleged violation
60	56		[department].
61	57		(f) Not later than the 90th day after the date the
62	58		commission issues a final decision, investigative report, or order
63	59		to address a hospital's alleged violation, the commission shall
64	60		post on the commission's Internet website:
65	61		(1) the notice of alleged violation described by
66	62		Subsection (e)(1);
67	63		(2) the name of the hospital;
68	64		(3) the geographic location of the hospital;
69	65		(4) the date the commission issued the final decision,
70	66		investigative report, or order; and
71	67		(5) the outcome of the commission's investigation of
72	68		the hospital that includes the information described by Subsection
73	69		(e)(4).
74	70		(g) The commission may not remove information posted on the
75	71		commission's Internet website under Subsection (f) before the
76	72		second anniversary of the date the information is posted on the
77	73		Internet website.
78	74		(h) Nothing in this section precludes a hospital from
79	75		releasing medical records in the hospital's possession on the
80	76		request of the patient who is the subject of the record or to the
81	77		patient, the parent or guardian of the patient if the patient is a
82	78		minor or incapacitated, or the personal representative of the
83	79		patient if the patient is deceased.
84	80		SECTION 2. Section 577.013, Health and Safety Code, is
85	81		amended by amending Subsections (d) and (e) and adding Subsections
86	82		(f), (g), and (h) to read as follows:
87	83		(d) Except as provided by Subsection (e), all [All]
88	84		information and materials in the possession of or obtained or
89	85		compiled by the commission [department] in connection with a
90	86		complaint and investigation concerning a mental hospital licensed
91	87		under this chapter are confidential and not subject to disclosure,
92	88		discovery, subpoena, or other means of legal compulsion for their
93	89		release to anyone other than the commission [department] or its
94	90		employees or agents involved in the enforcement action except that
95	91		this information may be disclosed to:
96	92		(1) persons involved with the commission [department]
97	93		in the enforcement action against the licensed mental hospital;
98	94		(2) the licensed mental hospital that is the subject
99	95		of the enforcement action, or the licensed mental hospital's
100	96		authorized representative;
101	97		(3) appropriate state or federal agencies that are
102	98		authorized to inspect, survey, or investigate licensed mental
103	99		hospital services;
104	100		(4) law enforcement agencies; and
105	101		(5) persons engaged in bona fide research, if all
106	102		individual-identifying information and information identifying the
107	103		licensed mental hospital has been deleted.
108	104		(e) The following information is subject to disclosure in
109	105		accordance with Chapter 552 [Section 552.001 et seq.], Government
110	106		Code, only to the extent that all personally identifiable
111	107		information of a patient or health care provider is omitted from the
112	108		information:
113	109		(1) a notice of the licensed mental hospital's alleged
114	110		violation [against the licensed mental hospital], which must
115	111		[notice shall] include the provisions of law [which] the licensed
116	112		mental hospital is alleged to have violated, and the nature of the
117	113		alleged violation;
118	114		(2) the number of investigations the commission has
119	115		conducted of the mental hospital;
120	116		(3) the pleadings in any [the] administrative
121	117		proceeding to impose a penalty against the mental hospital for the
122	118		alleged violation;
123	119		(4) the outcome of each investigation the commission
124	120		conducted of the mental hospital, including:
125	121		(A) the issuance of a reprimand;
126	122		(B) the denial or revocation of a license;
127	123		(C) the adoption of a corrective action plan; or
128	124		(D) the imposition of an administrative penalty
129	125		and the penalty amount; and
130	126		(5) [(3)] a final decision, investigative report, or
131	127		order issued by the commission to address the alleged violation
132	128		[department].
133	129		(f) Not later than the 90th day after the date the
134	130		commission issues a final decision, investigative report, or order
135	131		to address a mental hospital's alleged violation, the commission
136	132		shall post on the commission's Internet website:
137	133		(1) the notice of alleged violation described by
138	134		Subsection (e)(1);
139	135		(2) the name of the mental hospital;
140	136		(3) the geographic location of the mental hospital;
141	137		(4) the date the commission issued the final decision,
142	138		investigative report, or order; and
143	139		(5) the outcome of the commission's investigation of
144	140		the mental hospital that includes the information described by
145	141		Subsection (e)(4).
146	142		(g) The commission may not remove information posted on the
147	143		commission's Internet website under Subsection (f) before the
148	144		second anniversary of the date the information is posted on the
149	145		Internet website.
150	146		(h) Nothing in this section precludes a mental hospital from
151	147		releasing medical records in the mental hospital's possession on
152	148		request of the patient who is the subject of the record or to the
153	149		patient, the parent or guardian of the patient if the patient is a
154	150		minor or incapacitated, or the personal representative of the
155	151		patient if the patient is deceased.
156	152		SECTION 3. The changes in law made by this Act apply only to
157	153		an investigation of an alleged violation by a hospital or mental
158	154		hospital that is finalized on or after the effective date of this
159	155		Act.
160	156		SECTION 4. This Act takes effect September 1, 2021.
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