Sec. 154.006. PHYSICIAN PROFILES

(a) The board shall create a profile of each physician licensed under this subtitle. The profile must:

(1) include the information required by Subsection (b); and

(2) be compiled in a format that makes the information contained in the profile easily available to the public.

(b) A profile must contain the following information on each physician:

(1) the name of each medical school attended and the dates of:

(A) graduation; or

(B) Fifth Pathway designation and completion of the Fifth Pathway Program;

(2) a description of all graduate medical education in the United States or Canada;

(3) any specialty certification held by the physician and issued by a medical licensing board that is a member of the American Board of Medical Specialties or the Bureau of Osteopathic Specialists;

(4) the number of years the physician has actively practiced medicine in:

(A) the United States or Canada; and

(B) this state;

(5) the name of each hospital in this state in which the physician has privileges;

(6) the physician's primary practice location;

(7) the type of language translating services, including translating services for a person with impairment of hearing, that the physician provides at the physician's primary practice location;

(8) whether the physician participates in the Medicaid program;

(9) a description of any conviction for a felony, a Class A or Class B misdemeanor, or a Class C misdemeanor involving moral turpitude;

(10) a description of any charges reported to the board to which the physician has pleaded no contest, for which the physician is the subject of deferred adjudication or pretrial diversion, or in which sufficient facts of guilt were found and the matter was continued by a court;

(11) a description of any disciplinary action against the physician by the board;

(12) a description of any disciplinary action against the physician by a medical licensing board of another state;

(13) a description of the final resolution taken by the board on medical malpractice claims or complaints required to be opened by the board under Section 164.201;

(14) whether the physician's patient service areas are accessible to disabled persons, as defined by federal law;

(15) a description of any formal complaint against the physician initiated and filed under Section 164.005 and the status of the complaint; and

(16) a description of any medical malpractice claim against the physician, not including a description of any offers by the physician to settle the claim, for which the physician was found liable, a jury awarded monetary damages to the claimant, and the award has been determined to be final and not subject to further appeal.

(c) Information required to be included under Subsection (b) that is not maintained by the board in the ordinary course of the board's duties shall be obtained from a physician at the time the physician renews the physician's license. In requesting information from the physician, the board shall:

(1) inform the physician that compliance with the request for information is mandatory;

(2) inform the physician of the date the information will be made available to the public; and

(3) instruct the physician about the requirements under Subsection (f) for the physician to obtain a copy of the physician's profile to make corrections.

(d) This section does not:

(1) prevent the board from providing explanatory information regarding the significance of categories in which malpractice settlements are reported; or

(2) require the board to disclose confidential settlement information.

(e) A pending malpractice claim or complaint, other than a claim disclosed under Subsection (b)(13), may not be disclosed to the public by the board. This subsection does not prevent the board from investigating and disciplining a physician on the basis of a pending medical malpractice claim or complaint.

(f) The board shall provide a physician with a copy of the physician's profile if the physician requests a copy at the time the physician renews the physician's license. If a copy is requested by a physician, the board shall provide the physician one month from the date the copy is provided to the physician to correct factual errors in the physician's profile.

(g) The board shall update the information contained in a physician's profile annually, except that information provided under Subsection (i) shall be updated not later than the 10th working day after the date the formal complaint is filed or the board's order is issued. The board shall adopt a form that allows a physician to update information contained in a physician's profile. The form shall be made available on the Internet and in other formats as prescribed by board rule. The board may adopt rules concerning the type and content of additional information that may be included in a physician's profile.

(h) The board shall adopt rules as necessary to implement this section.

(i) In addition to the information required by Subsection (b), a profile must contain the text of a formal complaint filed under Section 164.005 against the physician or of a board order related to the formal complaint.

(j) Information included in a physician's profile under Subsections (b) and (i) may not include any patient identifying information.

(k) In the annual update of a physician's profile under Subsection (g), the board shall remove any record of a formal complaint required under Subsection (b)(15) or (i) if the complaint was dismissed more than five years before the date of the update and the complaint was dismissed as baseless, unfounded, or not supported by sufficient evidence that a violation occurred, or no action was taken against the physician's license as a result of the complaint. The board shall also remove any record of the investigation of medical malpractice claims or complaints required to be investigated by the board under Section 164.201 if the investigation was resolved more than five years before the date of the update and no action was taken against the physician's license as a result of the investigation.

Added by Acts 2001, 77th Leg., ch. 1420, Sec. 14.026(a), eff. Sept. 1, 2001. Amended by Acts 2003, 78th Leg., ch. 202, Sec. 7, eff. June 10, 2003. Amended by: Acts 2009, 81st Leg., R.S., Ch. 607 , Sec. 1, eff. September 1, 2009.