(a) A hospital that employs physicians under this subchapter shall:
- (1) appoint a chief medical officer, who may be a member of the hospital's medical staff;
- (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; and
- (3) designate the chief medical officer as the contact for the Texas Medical Board for all matters relating to complaints regarding interference or attempted interference with a physician's independent medical judgment or any other matter under this section.
- (b) The person appointed as chief medical officer shall report the person's appointment to the Texas Medical Board.
(c) 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.
- (d) The policies adopted under this section must be approved by the chief medical officer.
- (e) In the event of a conflict between a policy approved by the chief medical officer and any other policy of the hospital, a conflict management process shall be jointly developed and implemented to resolve the conflict.
- (f) For all matters relating to the practice of medicine, each physician employed by a hospital under this subchapter shall ultimately report to the chief medical officer.
- (g) 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.
Added by Acts 2011, 82nd Leg., R.S., Ch. 901 (S.B. 761), Sec. 1, eff. June 17, 2011.