Sec. 261.3017. CONSULTATION WITH PHYSICIAN NETWORKS AND SYSTEMS REGARDING CERTAIN MEDICAL CONDITIONS. (a) In this section:

(1) "Network" means the Forensic Assessment Center Network.

(2) "System" means the entities that receive grants under the Texas Medical Child Abuse Resources and Education System (MEDCARES) authorized by Chapter 1001, Health and Safety Code.

(b) Any agreement between the department and the network or between the Department of State Health Services and the system to provide assistance in connection with abuse and neglect investigations conducted by the department must require the network and the system to have the ability to obtain consultations with physicians, including radiologists, geneticists, and endocrinologists, who specialize in identifying unique health conditions, including:

(1) rickets;

(2) Ehlers-Danlos Syndrome;

(3) osteogenesis imperfecta;

(4) vitamin D deficiency; and

(5) other similar metabolic bone diseases or connective tissue disorders.

(c) If, during an abuse or neglect investigation or an assessment provided under Subsection (b), the department or a physician in the network determines that a child requires a specialty consultation with a physician, the department or the physician shall refer the child's case to the system for the consultation, if the system has available capacity to take the child's case.

(d) In providing assessments to the department as provided by Subsection (b), the network and the system must use a blind peer review process to resolve cases where physicians in the network or system disagree in the assessment of the causes of a child's injuries or in the presence of a condition listed under Subsection (b).

Added by Acts 2017, 85th Leg., R.S., Ch. 502 (H.B. 2848), Sec. 1, eff. September 1, 2017.