By J. Lyn Carl, GalleryWatch.com
Austin, TX – The 6 percent of medical practitioners who are reportedly responsible for 50 percent of all medical malpractice claims will face a regulatory board with more teeth to prohibit them from practicing medicine if a bill that passed the Senate today clears the House.
Sen. Jane Nelson's (R-Flower Mound) SB 104 was filed, she said, as a companion to SB 12, the Medical Liability Reform Act.
Nelson said her legislation is aimed at "ensuring patient safety and access to health care," which she called "key components to solving the medical liability crisis."
The Flower Mound Republican said the legislation grew out of interim studies by the Select Committee on Prompt Pay. She said during hearings, the committee heard "over and over again that the State Board of Medical Examiners (SBME) needed statutory changes in order to fulfill its obligation" to protect the citizens of the state against bad actors.
SB 104, said Nelson, will allow the SBME to take "swift and appropriate action" on the few bad actors who are responsible for most of the malpractice claims.
"These are doctors who should not be practicing medicine in the state of Texas or anywhere else," she said.
Among the provisions of the legislation are the ability to revoke and suspend licenses more quickly, to prioritize cases based on complaints and a medical practitioner's past history, the adherence by the board to a timelines, and the collection of a fee to cover review and investigation.
Nelson said the bill "tells the board how to respond to our common sense expectations" relative to the provision of quality health care for Texans.
A number of refining amendments were tacked onto the bill. One that did not pass was offered by Sen. Chuy Hinojosa. His amendment would have transferred authority for prosecution by the state board to the attorney general's (AG's) office. He was questioned by Sens. Florence Shapiro (R-Plano), Chris Harris (R-Arlington) and Kyle Janek (R-Houston) regarding the fiscal impact of such action. "Cost is not really a factor," said Hinojosa, citing public health as more important than the money involved.
However, it was pointed out that the state is facing a multi-billion dollar budget deficit and the cost for additional attorneys is questionable. Sen. Robert Duncan (R-Lubbock) said he felt the amendment would diffuse the accountability effort of the bill by moving prosecution to the AG's office. Duncan said he thinks the legislature would have better response from the board attorneys than from those in the attorney general's office because the board is a state entity and the AG's office is an entity in itself.
Although saying they were both "on the same page" with what they wanted accomplished by the bill, Nelson said she was "not convinced that moving this to the AG's office isn't going to increase the cost." She said her greater concern is "expediency."
She said she is worried about any delay that might take place if the cases were referred to the AG's office and thus opposed the amendment. The amendment failed by a vote of 12-19.
Another amendment that Nelson opposed was by Sen. Mario Gallegos (D-Houston). His amendment would allow formal complaints and board orders (other than confidential complaints) to be made open to the public. Nelson said she has concerns about privacy issues. Gallegos argued these documents already are public and contain no patient identification. The amendment was tabled.
After 20 amendments were offered, 17 of which were adopted, the bill was passed out of the Senate.
Nelson noted the bill will "ensure that the public has access to safe, quality health care." She called passage of the bill "a major step toward ensuring public safety" and added, "The next step is to pursue patient access."