Sec. 160.006. BOARD CONFIDENTIALITY. (a) A record, report, or other information received and maintained by the board under this subchapter or Subchapter B, including any material received or developed by the board during an investigation or hearing and the identity of, and reports made by, a physician performing or supervising compliance monitoring for the board, is confidential. The board may disclose this information only:

(1) in a disciplinary hearing before the board or State Office of Administrative Hearings or in a subsequent trial or appeal of a board action or order;

(2) to the physician licensing or disciplinary authority of another jurisdiction, to a local, state, or national professional medical society or association, or to a medical peer review committee located inside or outside this state that is concerned with granting, limiting, or denying a physician hospital privileges;

(3) under a court order;

(4) to qualified personnel for bona fide research or educational purposes, if personally identifiable information relating to any physician or other individual is first deleted; or

(5) to the division of workers' compensation of the Texas Department of Insurance as provided by Section 413.0514, Labor Code.

(b) Any known hospital suspension of a physician for a term of 30 days or longer relating to the physician's competence and a disciplinary order of the board against a physician are not confidential.

(c) A record or report disclosed by the board under this subchapter, a record or report received, maintained, or developed by the board, a medical peer review committee, a member of the committee, or a health care entity, and a record or report received or maintained by the State Office of Administrative Hearings under this subchapter are not available for discovery or court subpoena and may not be introduced into evidence in any action for damages, including a medical professional liability action that arises out of the provision of or failure to provide a medical or health care service.

(d) Medical peer review documents remain confidential at the board and at the State Office of Administrative Hearings. If medical peer review documents are admitted into evidence for any purpose at a proceeding before the State Office of Administrative Hearings, the documents must be admitted under seal to protect the confidentiality of the records as provided by this section and Section 160.007. In the event that a decision of the board or the State Office of Administrative Hearings is appealed to district court or other court, the confidentiality protections relating to the medical peer review committee documents shall continue.

(e) The confidentiality requirements of this section do not apply to records used by a medical peer review committee, including a patient's medical records or records made or maintained in the regular course of business, if the records are not considered confidential under this chapter or any other law and are otherwise available to the board.

Acts 1999, 76th Leg., ch. 388, Sec. 1, eff. Sept. 1, 1999. Amended by Acts 2001, 77th Leg., ch. 1201, Sec. 1, eff. June 15, 2001; Acts 2003, 78th Leg., ch. 963, Sec. 5, eff. June 20, 2003.

Amended by:

Acts 2005, 79th Leg., Ch. 265 (H.B. 7), Sec. 6.102, eff. September 1, 2005.

Acts 2005, 79th Leg., Ch. 269 (S.B. 419), Sec. 1.29, eff. September 1, 2005.