HB2640 - Relating to medical director certification and training requirements at certain nursing facilities.

  89R9353 LRM-D     By: Lalani H.B. No. 2640       A BILL TO BE ENTITLED   AN ACT   relating to medical director certification and training   requirements at certain nursing facilities.          BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:          SECTION 1.  Subchapter A, Chapter 242, Health and Safety   Code, is amended by adding Section 242.0155 to read as follows:           Sec.   242.0155.     MEDICAL DIRECTOR CERTIFICATION AND TRAINING   REQUIRED. (a)   A medical director who is subject to the   requirements of Section 242.151(a)(2) must possess a medical   director certification from the Post-Acute and Long-Term Care   Medical Association or an equivalent certification, as determined   by commission rule.           (b)     A medical director who is subject to the requirements of   Section 242.151(a)(2) shall complete a medical director training   course developed by the commission that includes instruction on:                 (1)     compliance with applicable local, state, and   federal laws;                 (2)  quality improvement processes;                 (3)  infection control protocols; and                 (4)  resident care management techniques.          SECTION 2.  Section 242.151, Health and Safety Code, is   amended by amending Subsection (a) and adding Subsection (a-1) to   read as follows:          (a)  An institution shall have at least one medical director   who :                 (1)   is licensed as a physician in this state ; and                 (2)     subject to Subsection (a-1), possesses the medical   director certification required under Section 242.0155 and has   completed the training course required under that section .           (a-1)     Notwithstanding Subsection (a)(2), an institution is   not required to have a medical director who is certified under   Section 242.0155 if the institution:                 (1)     is located in a medically underserved rural area,   as defined by commission rule; and                 (2)     demonstrates a good faith effort to comply with   Subsection (a)(2) but is unable to successfully recruit a medical   director who complies with that subsection.          SECTION 3.  Not later than January 1, 2026, the executive   commissioner of the Health and Human Services Commission shall:                (1)  adopt the rules necessary to implement Section   242.0155, Health and Safety Code, as added by this Act, and Section   242.151, Health and Safety Code, as amended by this Act; and                (2)  develop the medical director training course   required by Section 242.0155(b), Health and Safety Code, as added   by this Act.          SECTION 4.  The requirements of Section 242.0155, Health and   Safety Code, as added by this Act, and Section 242.151, Health and   Safety Code, as amended by this Act, apply only to a medical   director hired on or after March 1, 2026.  A medical director hired   before March 1, 2026, is governed by the law as it existed   immediately before the effective date of this Act, and that law is   continued in effect for that purpose.          SECTION 5.  This Act takes effect September 1, 2025.