October 17, 2008 Bulletin 2008-No. 04
The Texas Medical Board has proposed a number of rule changes including the following:
§ 165.1. Medical Records.
(a) Contents of Medical Record. Each licensed physician of the board shall maintain an adequate medical record for each patient that is complete, contemporaneous and legible. For purposes of this section, an "adequate medical record" should meet the following standards:
(No change.)
(b) Maintenance of Medical Records.
(1) - (6) (No change.)
[A> (7) <A] [A> Destruction of medical records shall be done in a manner that ensures continued confidentiality. <A]
§ 165.5. Transfer and Disposal of Medical Records.
(a) Required Notification of Discontinuance of Practice. When a physician retires, terminates employment or otherwise leaves a medical practice, he or she is responsible for:
(1) (No change.)
(2) notifying the board when they are terminating practice, retiring, or relocating, and [A> therefore <A] no longer available to patients, specifying who has custodianship of the records, and how the medical records may be obtained.
(3) Employers of the departing physician as described in [D> Section <D] [A> § <A]165.1(b)(6) of this chapter are not required to provide notification, however, the departing physician remains responsible, for providing notification consistent with this section.
(b) Method of Notification.
(1) When a physician retires, terminates employment, or otherwise leaves a medical practice, he or she shall provide notice to patients of when the physician intends to terminate the practice, retire or relocate, and will no longer be available to patients, and offer patients the opportunity to obtain a copy of their medical records [A> or have their records transferred <A].
(2) - (4) (No change.)
(c) (No change.)
(d) Voluntary Surrender or Revocation of Physician's License.
(1) Physicians who have voluntarily surrendered their licenses [D> in lieu of disciplinary action <D] or have had their licenses revoked by the board must notify their patients, consistent with subsection (b) [A> of this section <A], within 30 days of the effective date of the voluntary surrender or revocation.
(2) Physicians who have voluntarily surrendered their licenses [D> in lieu of disciplinary action <D] or have had their licenses revoked by the board must obtain a custodian for their records to be approved by the board within 30 days of the effective date of the voluntary surrender or revocation.
(e) (No change.)
The [A> <A] stands for added. The [D> <D] stands for deleted.
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