2023 Texas Statutes › Health and Safety Code › Title 4 - Health Facilities › Subtitle B - Licensing of Health Facilities › Chapter 241 - Hospitals › Subchapter C. Enforcement › Section 241.051. Inspections

Sec. 241.051.  INSPECTIONS.  (a)  The department may make any inspection, survey, or investigation that it considers necessary.  A representative of the department may enter the premises of a hospital at any reasonable time to make an inspection, a survey, or an investigation to assure compliance with or prevent a violation of this chapter, the rules adopted under this chapter, an order or special order of the commissioner, a special license provision, a court order granting injunctive relief, or other enforcement procedures.  The department shall maintain the confidentiality of hospital records as applicable under state or federal law.
(b)  The department or a representative of the department is entitled to access to all books, records, or other documents maintained by or on behalf of the hospital to the extent necessary to enforce this chapter, the rules adopted under this chapter, an order or special order of the commissioner, a special license provision, a court order granting injunctive relief, or other enforcement procedures.
(c)  By applying for or holding a hospital license, the hospital consents to entry and inspection of the hospital by the department or a representative of the department in accordance with this chapter and the rules adopted under this chapter.
(d)  Except as provided by Subsection (e), all information and materials in the possession of or obtained or compiled by the commission in connection with a complaint and investigation concerning a hospital are confidential and not subject to disclosure under Chapter 552, Government Code, and not subject to disclosure, discovery, subpoena, or other means of legal compulsion for their release to anyone other than the commission or its employees or agents involved in the enforcement action except that this information may be disclosed to:
(1)  persons involved with the commission in the enforcement action against the hospital;
(2)  the hospital that is the subject of the enforcement action, or the hospital's authorized representative;
(3)  appropriate state or federal agencies that are authorized to inspect, survey, or investigate hospital services;
(4)  law enforcement agencies; and
(5)  persons engaged in bona fide research, if all individual-identifying and hospital-identifying information has been deleted.
(e)  The following information is subject to disclosure in accordance with Chapter 552, Government Code, only to the extent that all personally identifiable information of a patient or health care provider is omitted from the information:
(1)  a notice of the hospital's alleged violation, which must include the provisions of law the hospital is alleged to have violated, and a general statement of the nature of the alleged violation;
(2)  the number of investigations the commission has conducted of the hospital;
(3)  the pleadings in any administrative proceeding to impose a penalty against the hospital for the alleged violation;
(4)  the outcome of each investigation the commission conducted of the hospital, including:
(A)  the issuance of a reprimand;
(B)  the denial or revocation of a license;
(C)  the adoption of a corrective action plan; or
(D)  the imposition of an administrative penalty and the penalty amount; and
(5)  a final decision, investigative report, or order issued by the commission to address the alleged violation.
(f)  Not later than the 90th day after the date the commission issues a final decision, investigative report, or order to address a hospital's alleged violation, the commission shall post on the commission's Internet website:
(1)  the notice of alleged violation described by Subsection (e)(1);
(2)  the name of the hospital;
(3)  the geographic location of the hospital;
(4)  the date the commission issued the final decision, investigative report, or order; and
(5)  the outcome of the commission's investigation of the hospital that includes the information described by Subsection (e)(4).
(g)  The commission may not remove information posted on the commission's Internet website under Subsection (f) before the second anniversary of the date the information is posted on the Internet website.
(h)  Nothing in this section precludes a hospital from releasing medical records in the hospital's possession:
(1)  on the request of the patient who is the subject of the record; or
(2)  to the patient, the parent or guardian of a patient who is a minor or incapacitated, or the personal representative of a patient who is deceased.
Acts 1989, 71st Leg., ch. 678, Sec. 1, eff. Sept. 1, 1989.  Amended by Acts 1993, 73rd Leg., ch. 584, Sec. 8, eff. Sept. 1, 1993;  Acts 1999, 76th Leg., ch. 1444, Sec. 15, eff. Aug. 30, 1999.
Amended by:
Acts 2015, 84th Leg., R.S., Ch. 1 (S.B. 219), Sec. 3.0576, eff. April 2, 2015.
Acts 2023, 88th Leg., R.S., Ch. 42 (H.B. 49), Sec. 1, eff. September 1, 2023.