ATTORNEY GENERAL OF TEXAS 

GREG ABBOTT 

April 28,2003 

Ms. Karen F. Hale, Commissioner 

Texas Department of Mental Health 

and Mental Retardation 

909 West 45th Street 

P.O. Box 12668 

Austin, Texas 787 1 l-2668 

Opinion No. GA-0066 

Re: Whether the Health and Safety Code, 

section 572.0025(f)(l) requirement that a 

physician conduct an “in-person examination” 

of a prospective patient of an inpatient mental 

health facility means that only a physician may 

conduct the examination (RQ-0003-GA) 

Dear Commissioner Hale: 

You ask whether section 572.0025(f)(l) of the Health and Safety Code requires that only a 

physician may conduct an examination required to admit a person to an inpatient mental health 

facility or whether a physician may delegate the examination to a non-physician pursuant to section 

157.001 of the Occupations Code.’ 

Chapter 572 of the Health and Safety Code governs voluntary admissions to inpatient mental 

health facilities. See TEX. HEALTH & SAFETY CODE ANN. $8 572.001-.005 (Vernon Supp. 2003).2 

Section 572.0025 requires the Board of Mental Health and Mental Retardation (the “Board”) to 

adopt rules for voluntary admissions, including rules for intake and assessment procedures. See id. 

8 572.0025(a).3 “Assessment” is the process a facility uses to gather inforrnation from a prospective 

patient, “including a medical history and the problem for which the patient is seeking treatment, to 

determine whether a prospective patient should be examined by a physician to determine if 

admission is clinically justified.” Id. 8 572.0025(h)(2). An assessment may be conducted only by 

a professional who meets the qualifications prescribed by Board rules. See id. 8 572.0025(c)-(d) (the 

Board’s rules governing assessment must prescribe: “( 1) the types ofprofessionals who may conduct 

‘Letter from Ms. Karen F. Hale, Commissioner, Texas Department of Mental Health and Mental Retardation, 

to Honorable John Comyn, Texas Attorney General at 2 (Nov. 25,2002) (on file with Opinion Committee) [hereinafter 

Request Letter]. 

2See also TEX. HEALTH & SAFETY CODE ANN. 8 57 1.003(9) (Vernon Supp. 2003) (defining “inpatient mental 

health facility”). 

3See also id. $8 571.003( 1) (defining “board”), 572.0025(h)(3) (“‘Intake’ means the administrative process for 

gathering information about a prospective patient and giving a prospective patient information about the facility and the 

facility’s treatment and services.“). 
Ms. Karen F. Hale - Page 2 (GA-0066) 

an assessment; (2) the minimum credentials each type of professional must have to conduct an 

assessment; and (3) the type of assessment that professional may conduct”). 

You ask about the requirement in section 572.0025(f) that a patient must be examined by a 

physician before admission: 

(f) A prospective voluntary patient may not be formally 

accepted for treatment in a facility unless: 

(1) the facility has a physician’s order admitting the 

prospective patient, which order may be issued orally, 

electronically, or in writing, signed by the physician, provided 

that, in the case of an oral order or an electronically transmitted 

unsigned order, a signed original is presented to the mental 

health facility within 24 hours of the initial order; the order 

must be from: 

(A) an admitting physician who has conducted an 

in-person physical andpsychiatric examination within 72 

hours of the admission; or 

(B) an admitting physician who has consulted with 

a physician who has conducted an in-person examination 

within 72 hours of the admission. 

Id. 8 572.0025@( 1) (emphasis added); see also id. 5 571.003( 18) (defining “physician”). 

You ask whether the requirement in section 572.0025@( 1) “that the physical and psychiatric 

examination be ‘in-person’ mean[s] that only a physician may conduct the examination and, 

therefore, that the physician is prohibited from delegating the examination in accordance with” 

section 157.001 of the Occupations Code. Request Letter, supra note 1, at 2 (Question 1). Section 

157.001 of the Occupations Code, a provision of the Medical Practice Act, authorizes a physician 

to “delegate to a qualified and properly trained person acting under the physician’s supervision any 

medical act that a reasonable and prudent physician would find within the scope of sound medical 

judgment to delegate.” TEX. OCC. CODE ANN. 5 157.001 (a) (Vernon 2003). You suggest that section 

572.0025(f) could be construed to permit a physician to delegate an examination, provided that the 

delegate “conduct[s] the examination in the presence of the prospective patient.” Request Letter, 

supra note 1, at 2. 

In construing a statute, we attempt to give effect to the legislature’s intent. See Mitchell 

Energy Corp. v. Ashworth, 943 S.W.2d 436,438 (Tex. 1997). To do that, we construe the statute 

according to its plain language. See RepublicBankDallas, N.A. v. Interkal, Inc., 691 S.W.2d 605, 

607-08 (Tex. 1985). We read words and phrases in context and construe them according to rules of 

grammar and common usage. See TEX. GOV’T CODE ANN. 5 3 11 .Ol l(a) (Vernon 1998) (Code 
Ms. Karen F. Hale - Page 3 (GA-0066) 

Construction Act). Words and phrases that have acquired a technical or particular meaning, whether 

by legislative definition or otherwise, must be construed accordingly. Id. 8 3 11 .Ol l(b). 

Section 572.0025(f)(l) requires an order issued by an admitting physician who has (i) 

conducted an “in-person” examination, or (ii) consulted with another physician who has conducted 

an “in-person” examination. See TEX. HEALTH & SAFETY CODE ANN. 5 572.0025(f)(l) (Vernon 

Supp. 2003). The legislature has not defined the term “in-person” in chapter 572 or in any.other 

statute, nor is there a Texas case defining the term in the context of medical examinations. The term 

is commonly understood to mean “with or by one’s own action or bodily presence; personally; 

oneself.” XI OXFORD ENGLISH DICTIONARY 598 (2d ed. 1989); see also TEX. GOV’T CODE .ANN. 

5 311.011(a) (V emon 1998). Thus, according to the plain language of section 572.0025(f), the 

requirement that a physician conduct an “in-person” examination of a prospective patient means that 

the physician must personally conduct the examination. This meaning is consistent with section 

572.0025(g), which provides that an assessment of a patient by a Board-approved professional, who 

may or may not be a physician4 “ does not satisfy a statutory or regulatory requirement for apersonal 

evaluation of a patient or a prospective patient by a physician before admission.” TEX. HEALTH & 

SAFETY CODE ANN. 8 572.0025(g) (Vernon Supp. 2003) (emphasis added). 

In answer to the second part of your first question, a physician may not delegate the duty to 

conduct an in-person examination required by section 572.0025(f) to a non-physician. The statute’s 

express requirement that the examination must be conducted by either the admitting physician or a 

physician with whom an admitting physician consults indicates that only a physician may conduct 

the examination. See id. 8 572.0025@( 1) (a facility may not admit a patient without an order from 

either “(A) an admitting physician who has conducted an in-person physical and psychiatric 

examination within 72 hours of the admission” or “(B) an admittingphysician who has consulted 

with a physician who has conducted an in-person examination within 72 hours of the admission”) 

(emphasis added). Had the legislature intended to authorize an admitting physician to consult with 

a non-physician examiner before issuing an admission order, it would have expressly granted such 

authority. By contrast, the statute expressly provides that an assessment of a prospective patient may 

be conducted by any “professional” who meets qualifications prescribed by Board rules. See id. 

fj 572.0025(c)-(d); see also supra note 4. Importantly, section 157.001 of the Occupations Code 

does not authorize a physician to delegate an act in violation of another law. See TEX. Oct. CODE 

ANN. 8 15’%OOl(a)( I)(C) (V emon 2003); see also id. 5 157.007 (“An act delegated by a physician 

under this chapter must comply with other applicable laws.“). 

You also ask whether an examination required by section 572.0025(f) may be conducted 

“using audiovisual telecommunication.” Request Letter, supra note 1, at 2 (Question 2). 

4See TEX. HEALTH & SAFETY CODE ANN. 9 572.0025(c)-(d) (Vernon Supp. 2003) (an assessment may be 

conducted only by a professional who meets the qualifications prescribed by Board rules); 25 TEX. ADMIN. CODE 5 

401.583(15) (2002) (T ex. Dep’t of Mental Health and Mental Retardation, Standards of Care and Treatment in 

Psychiatric Hospitals) (defining “qualified mental health professional” to include various health professionals, including 

physicians); id. 8 401.587(e)( 1) (“A n assessment for admission must be conducted by a qualified mental health 

professional (QMHP). If the QMHP is not a physician, the non-physician QMHP conducts the assessment to determine 

the need for physician evaluation for inpatient admission.“). 
Ms. Karen F. Hale - Page 4 (GA-0066) 

Significantly, the legislature has used the term “in-person” in related contexts to contrast “in-person” 

medical care with telemedicine, indicating that an “in-person” examination is one where both the 

physician and the patient are physically present. See, e.g., TEX. GOV’T CODE ANN. 8 53 1.0217(d) 

(Vernon Supp. 2003) (The Health and Human Services Commission “shall require reimbursement 

for a telemedicine medical service at the same rate as the Medicaid program reimburses for a 

comparable in-person medical service. A request for reimbursement may not be denied solely 

because an in-person medical service between a physician and a patient did not occur.“) (emphasis 

added); TEX. HEALTH &SAFETY CODE ANN. 9 106.307 (Vernon Supp. 2003) (“A health professional 

who participates in a program under this subchapter may not use telecommunication technology, 

including telemedicine, as the sole or primary method of providing services and may not use 

telecommunication technology as a substitute for providing health care services in person.“) 

(emphasis added); see also TEX. GOV’T CODE ANN. § 3 11.01 l(b) (Vernon 1998). The statute’s 

requirement that the examination be “in-person” precludes an examination via “audiovisual 

telecommunication.” 
Ms. Karen F. Hale - Page 5 (GA-0066) 

SUMMARY 

A physician must personally conduct an examination of a 

patient required by section 572.0025(f)(l) of the Health and Safety 

Code and may not delegate this duty to a non-physician pursuant to 

section 157.001 of the Occupations Code. The statute’s requirement 

that the examination be “in-person” precludes an examination via 

“audiovisual telecommunication.” 

Very truly yours, 

BARRY R. MCBEE 

First Assistant Attorney General 

DON R. WILLETT 

Deputy Attorney General for Legal Counsel 

NANCY S. FULLER 

Chair, Opinion Committee 

Mary R. Crouter 

Assistant Attorney General, Opinion Committee