Sec. 154.058. DETERMINATION OF MEDICAL COMPETENCY

(a) Each complaint against a physician that requires a determination of medical competency shall be reviewed initially by a board member, consultant, or employee with a medical background considered sufficient by the board.

(b) If the initial review under Subsection (a) indicates that an act by a physician falls below an acceptable standard of care, the complaint shall be reviewed by an expert physician panel authorized under Section 154.056(e) consisting of physicians who practice in the same specialty as the physician who is the subject of the complaint or in another specialty that is similar to the physician's specialty.

(c) The expert physician panel shall report in writing the panel's determinations based on the review of the complaint under Subsection (b). The report must specify the standard of care that applies to the facts that are the basis of the complaint and the clinical basis for the panel's determinations, including any reliance on peer-reviewed journals, studies, or reports.

Acts 1999, 76th Leg., ch. 388, Sec. 1, eff. Sept. 1, 1999. Amended by Acts 2003, 78th Leg., ch. 202, Sec. 10, eff. June 10, 2003.