Posts Archives - Page 18 of 65

February 02, 2020Posts

5 Ways to Protect Your Professional License

Even when a practitioner—be they medical professional, teacher, podiatrist or architect—under investigation based on a claim is perfectly certain that the accusation is baseless, the licensing board under whose competence the claim falls is utterly in the dark on the matter. The fact is, most of these licensing boards have been charged by the legislature with protecting the public, not the licensees under their purview. Therefore, any complaint, however baseless, must be treated with complete...

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February 01, 2020Posts

Why Did My Patient File a Complaint Against Me?

It is not uncommon for patients to file complaints against physicians before the Texas Medical Board. In fact, doctors are among the most second-guessed of the licensed professions, due to the make-or-break nature of their work. People are unforgiving when they put their health in another person’s hands. The Board receives in excess of 7,000 complaints in a given year. While the most common forms of complaints against doctors are things like misdiagnosis and delayed...

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January 31, 2020Posts

Disciplinary Action Against Professional Counselors in Texas

Professional counselors in Texas are governed by the Texas State Board of Examiners of Professional Counselors – a subsidiary of the Department of State Health Services. Counselors are considered to be any professional who practices at the application of mental health services, psychotherapeutic services, and services using human development principles to aid people at any stage of life. The sorts of mental health intervention treatments offered by these professionals are categorized by law into four...

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January 29, 2020Posts

Criminal History Evaluation Letters for the TDLR

In order to ease the potential burden of time and money wasted for those with criminal conviction backgrounds—many of whom previously had to go through extensive training and license examination before knowing whether they would, in fact, be denied the license they seek for that preexisting reason—the Texas Legislature in 2009 put in place provisions to help people know before they undertook such burdens whether their criminal conviction backgrounds would end up being cause for...

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January 28, 2020Posts

The Self Report Rule for Texas Dentists

Texas dentists are regulated by the Texas State Board of Dental Examiners (TSBDE), which has the power to take disciplinary action against dentists who are found to violate the standard of care, the Dental Practice Act (DPA), or TSBDE Rules. Dental hygienists, registered dental assistants, and dental laboratories in Texas are also regulated by TSBDE. As part of this regulation, Texas dentists are subject to Texas Administrative Code Rule Sec. 108.6, which contains what is...

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January 27, 2020Posts

Optional Reports to the Texas Board of Nursing

The Texas Board of Nursing has enacted a Nurse Reporting System designed to further the Legislature’s initiatives on patient safety conducted under Texas Occ. Code Sec 301.1606. To do this, the Board has instituted its own set of rules that define the circumstances under which nurses are considered to have a duty to report various forms of malfeasance or error that are undermining health care systems. In Sec.301.4025, the Board allowed for a nurse to...

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January 26, 2020Posts

New Regulations for Texas Podiatrists

New TLDR rules governing the practice of podiatry in Texas, adopted under 15 TAC, Chapter 130, went into effect on September 1, 2019. These rules are wide-ranging and have an effect on a number of different elements of practice. Perhaps the change most apparent to practitioners is the implementation of a shift from a one-year term to a two-year term for a license. Among other requirements, the new rules also: Make certain changes to ease...

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January 25, 2020Posts

Informal Settlement Conference with the Texas Medical Board

When a medical professional enters an informal settlement conference with the Texas Medical Board (pursuant to Board rule sec. 187.11), they at times arrive less prepared than they ought to be. This is likely because, given the use of the term “informal,” these professionals get the wrong impression: this informal settlement conference will be more like a trial than the word implies to the untrained ear, and will certainly proceed in a less fair fashion...

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January 24, 2020Posts

Important Rule Change for Texas Physician Assistants

At its October 2019 meeting, the Texas Medical Board adopted a new rule detailing certain significant changes to licensure requirements for particular temporary physician assistants in the state of Texas. Physician assistant licensing is governed by the Texas Physician Assistant Board, which is a subdivision of the Texas Medical Board. Rule §185.33, concerning the “Exemption from Licensure for Certain Military Spouses (Physician Assistants),” permits spouses of military personnel who are stationed at a military base...

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January 23, 2020Nursing License Defense,Posts

Texas Nursing License Law: Defending Against a Complaint

When faced with a complaint to the Texas Board of Nursing, a licensed nurse is up against a difficult situation from the start, as the identity of the complainant remains confidential in every case. It can be difficult to mount a response when one’s accuser is unknown. But it is not impossible. At least the Board—which, it must be emphasized, was not created for the benefit of nurses but for their regulation on behalf of...

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