1. (a) During the investigation of a complaint, the Board may require expert review of a licensee's standard of patient care or billing practices.

2. (b) To qualify as an expert, a person shall:

   1. (1) have an active license with the Board or appropriate professional credentials;
   2. (2) have no prior violations of Board statutes or rules;
   3. (3) have no open complaints;
   4. (4) have no felony convictions or no misdemeanor convictions for a crime of moral turpitude;
   5. (5) show sufficient training or experience to offer an expert opinion;
   6. (6) show knowledge of accepted standards of chiropractic care or other professional standard related to the alleged violation; and
   7. (7) have an acceptable malpractice complaint history.

3. (c) An expert may not review a complaint if the expert has:

   1. (1) a direct financial interest or relationship with any party or witness to the complaint that gives the appearance of a conflict of interest;
   2. (2) a familial relationship within the third degree of affinity with any party or witness;
   3. (3) personal knowledge of any information about any party or witness related to the complaint; or
   4. (4) any other reason where the expert could not fairly and impartially consider the complaint.
4. (d) The Board shall maintain a list of experts and shall periodically audit the list to confirm the experts' qualifications.
5. (e) Board staff shall select an expert when an investigator identifies a standard of care or other professional standard in the complaint.
6. (f) Board staff shall randomly select an expert from the list and based on the expert's qualifications to review the type of complaint.

7. (g) The executive director shall remove an expert from the list for:

   1. (1) failure to maintain the required qualifications;
   2. (2) failure to timely complete reports;
   3. (3) failure to inform the Board of potential or apparent conflicts of interest; or
   4. (4) failure to maintain confidentiality of any matter.

8. (h) The Board shall provide to the expert:

   1. (1) the complaint;
   2. (2) the investigator's report;
   3. (3) the Board's expert report form; and
   4. (4) a contract for services.
9. (i) The expert shall review all relevant information to determine if a licensee violated the applicable standard of care or other professional standard and prepare a written report.

10. (j) The expert's report shall include:

    1. (1) the expert's qualifications;
    2. (2) the relevant facts of the complaint;
    3. (3) the applicable standard of care or other professional standard;
    4. (4) an application of the standard of care or professional standard to the facts;
    5. (5) a finding of whether the standard of care or professional standard was met; and
    6. (6) the clinical basis for the findings, including the use of any peer-reviewed journals, studies, or reports.
11. (k) The expert shall complete and return the review within 30 days, unless the expert requests more time due to the complaint's complexity.
12. (l) The Board shall give the expert's report to the licensee within 30 days of receipt.
13. (m) The Enforcement Committee shall review the report and the licensee's response in determining if a violation occurred.
14. (n) The Enforcement Committee may order additional expert reviews if necessary.

Source Note:The provisions of this §80.5 adopted to be effective October 3, 2019, 44 TexReg 5623.