Texas Lawmakers Enact New Laws Reforming Texas Medical Board Disciplinary Authority and Increasing Hospital Reporting Obligations

On June 13, 2023, Texas Governor Greg Abbott signed a major new patient safety bill into law that is intended both to reform the disciplinary authority of the Texas Medical Board (TMB) and to better protect patients from potentially dangerous doctors. It further increases obligations of hospitals to report disciplinary actions against physicians lasting more than 14 days.

The law, known as H.B. No. 1998, received overwhelming, bipartisan support in the Texas Legislature.  The law seeks to equip the TMB, which regulates physicians in Texas, with the tools necessary to protect patients from dangerous physicians, increase hospital reporting requirements, all the while maintaining transparency about physician disciplinary records.

According to other reports, the law was inspired to protect Texas from dangerous physicians such as Dr. Christopher Duntsch, a.k.a. “Dr. Death,” who was sentenced to life in prison in 2017 after leaving dozens of patients injured or dead.

Among other changes, the new law:

• Requires a medical peer review committee or health care entity to report in writing to the TMB the results and circumstances of a medical peer review that adversely affects the clinical privileges of a physician for a period longer than 14 days. Previously, hospitals were obligated to make such a report only if the adverse action lasted more than 30 days, which is the current requirement for reporting such actions to the NPDB.
• Makes it a Class A misdemeanor to lie on a medical license application and a state jail felony if there is intent to defraud or harm another.
• Prevents doctors from practicing medicine in Texas if their medical licenses have been revoked, restricted, or suspended for cause in other states.
• Prevents doctors from practicing in Texas if they have been convicted, or had a deferred disposition, for a felony or misdemeanor crime involving moral turpitude.
• Requires physicians and applicants to be fingerprinted as part of a criminal background check with the Texas Department of Public Safety.
• Requires the TMB to continuously monitor the NPDB in order to ensure regular updates of a physician’s profile on the TMB’s website to include:
  • Any new report or correction to a report of disciplinary action against the physician; and
  • Removal of any report of disciplinary action against the physician that has been dismissed or otherwise voided.
• Mandates that any updates to a physician’s public profile on the TMB’s website be made within 10 business days of notification of any disciplinary action against a physician.

The new law takes effect September 1, 2023.