Bill Text: TX SB2174 | 2023-2024 | 88th Legislature | Introduced
Bill Title: Relating to conducting certain medical examinations using telemedicine under the workers' compensation system.
Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Republican 1-0)
Status: (Introduced - Dead) 2023-03-22 - Referred to Business & Commerce [SB2174 Detail]
Download: Texas-2023-SB2174-Introduced.html
| By: Hall | S.B. No. 2174 | |
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| relating to conducting certain medical examinations using | ||
| telemedicine under the workers' compensation system. | ||
| BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS: | ||
| SECTION 1. Section 408.123, Labor Code, is amended by adding | ||
| Subsections (i) and (j) to read as follows: | ||
| (i) A medical examination conducted to certify maximum | ||
| medical improvement or assign an impairment rating may be performed | ||
| using telehealth services or telemedicine medical services, as | ||
| defined by Section 111.001, Occupations Code. Except as provided | ||
| by Subsection (j), a health care professional must be physically | ||
| present in the room in which the employee is located to assist the | ||
| certifying doctor in conducting the examination and administering | ||
| any necessary testing. For purposes of this subsection, "health | ||
| care professional" means an individual licensed, certified, or | ||
| otherwise authorized to administer health care, for profit or | ||
| otherwise, in the ordinary course of business or professional | ||
| practice. | ||
| (j) A health care professional is not required to be | ||
| physically present in the room in which the patient is located | ||
| during a medical examination performed using telehealth services or | ||
| telemedicine medical services as provided by Subsection (i) that is | ||
| conducted to assign an impairment rating if: | ||
| (1) a doctor certified maximum medical improvement | ||
| during an examination; and | ||
| (2) based on the examination described by Subdivision | ||
| (1), the doctor concluded there was no possibility of impairment. | ||
| SECTION 2. Sections 408.123(i) and (j), Labor Code, as | ||
| added by this Act, apply only to a medical examination to certify an | ||
| employee's maximum medical improvement or assign an employee's | ||
| impairment rating conducted on or after the effective date of this | ||
| Act. A medical examination conducted before the effective date of | ||
| this Act is governed by the law in effect on the date the | ||
| examination was conducted, and the former law is continued in | ||
| effect for that purpose. | ||
| SECTION 3. This Act takes effect September 1, 2023. | ||
