Health and Human Services Commission (HHSC) • Texas Medical Disclosure Panel
01
Compliance Analysis
Key implementation requirements and action items for compliance with this legislation
Implementation Timeline
Effective Date: June 20, 2025 (Immediate effect due to supermajority vote).
Compliance Deadline: January 1, 2026 (Statutory deadline for HHSC to seat the new panel; provider compliance with new forms will follow subsequent rulemaking).
Agency Rulemaking: The Health and Human Services Commission (HHSC) must appoint new members by January 1, 2026. Expect a "regulatory gray zone" in Q1 2026 as the new panel convenes to review existing List A and List B disclosure requirements.
Immediate Action Plan
1.Hold Current Forms: Do not alter your current Informed Consent documents based on this bill passage. Continue using existing TMDP forms to maintain your rebuttable presumption of non-negligence.
2.Calendar the Change: Set a compliance alert for January 15, 2026, to check the Texas Register for the announcement of the new panel members.
3.Submit Nominations: If your organization wishes to influence the panel's makeup, submit nominations for the attorney and physician seats to the HHSC Executive Commissioner before Q4 2025.
4.Review "List A" Procedures: Identify your high-volume procedures currently on "List A." These will likely be the first targets for language revision by the new panel.
Operational Changes Required
Contracts
Informed Consent Documents: No immediate changes are required for standard admission or procedure consent forms. However, General Counsel should prepare for a mandatory revision of these documents in 2026. The new panel composition makes it highly probable that current "legalese" in consent forms will be challenged.
Hiring/Training
Risk Management Monitoring: Designate a Risk Management Officer or Compliance Lead to monitor TMDP meeting minutes starting January 2026. No new certifications are required for clinical staff.
Reporting & Record-Keeping
Internal Audits: Providers should audit their current utilization of TMDP disclosure forms. Ensure your facility is using the most current version *now*, so that when the panel updates the requirements, you are not two cycles behind.
Fees & Costs
Budget Neutral: There are no new state fees or licensure costs associated with this legislation.
Strategic Ambiguities & Considerations
"Health Literacy" Interpretation: The law mandates the appointment of a member with a background in "health literacy." The statute does not define the metric for this (e.g., 6th-grade reading level vs. 8th-grade). If the new panel adopts a strict health literacy standard, entire libraries of standard consent forms may need to be rewritten and reprinted to maintain the liability shield.
Public Interest vs. Provider Expertise: The law prohibits public members from having ties to healthcare or insurance industries. This creates a potential adversarial dynamic within the panel. While the "physician quorum" rule protects against clinical errors, the "public interest" mandate may lead to broader, more cumbersome disclosure lists.
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Under current law, the Texas Medical Disclosure Panel has nine members licensed to practice law or medicine in Texas, and its purpose is to determine which risks and hazards related to medical care and surgical procedures must be disclosed by health care providers or physicians to their patients or to persons authorized to consent for their patients. However, due to the panel's composition, it does not currently allow public participation or patient advocates who could provide critical input. According to the Sunset Advisory Commission, one-third of board members for state agencies that protect the health, welfare, and safety of Texans should be members representing the general public. C.S.H.B. 923 seeks to align the panel with that recommendation by adding public representatives to the panel and by including additional requirements for members who are attorneys to either have experience representing patients or representing physicians or health care providers.
CRIMINAL JUSTICE IMPACT
It is the committee's opinion that this bill does not expressly create a criminal offense, increase the punishment for an existing criminal offense or category of offenses, or change the eligibility of a person for community supervision, parole, or mandatory supervision.
RULEMAKING AUTHORITY
It is the committee's opinion that this bill does not expressly grant any additional rulemaking authority to a state officer, department, agency, or institution.
ANALYSIS
C.S.H.B. 923 amends the Civil Practice and Remedies Code to increase the number of members of the Texas Medical Disclosure Panel from nine to 13 by increasing the number of members licensed to practice medicine in Texas from six to seven and by adding three members representing the public. With respect to the appointment of these three members representing the public, the bill does the following:
·requires at least one of the three to have a background in health literacy;
·prohibits the appointment of a registered lobbyist, a health care provider or the spouse of a health care provider, or a person who works in any health care-related field, including health insurance; and
·requires preference to be given to persons with experience in advocating for the public interest.
The bill requires at least one of the three panel members appointed on the basis of being licensed to practice law in Texas to have experience representing patients and at least one of those three members to have experience representing physicians or health care providers. The bill prohibits the panel from taking any action requiring a vote of the panel unless a majority of the members appointed to serve on the panel as members licensed to practice medicine are in attendance at the meeting when the vote is taken.
C.S.H.B. 923 establishes that the panel is not authorized to take any action that changes the scope of practice authority of any physician or health care provider. The bill requires the executive commissioner of the Health and Human Services Commission, not later than January 1, 2026, to appoint new members to the panel in accordance with the bill's provisions.
EFFECTIVE DATE
September 1, 2025.
COMPARISON OF INTRODUCED AND SUBSTITUTE
While C.S.H.B. 923 may differ from the introduced in minor or nonsubstantive ways, the following summarizes the substantial differences between the introduced and committee substitute versions of the bill.
While both the introduced and the substitute revise the composition of the Texas Medical Disclosure Panel, the bill versions differ as follows:
·whereas the introduced increased the total number of members of the panel from nine to 11, the substitute increases that number from nine to 13;
·whereas the introduced added two members representing the public, the substitute adds three such members; and
·whereas the introduced required at least one of the three panel members appointed on the basis of being licensed to practice law in Texas to be board certified in personal injury trial law by the Texas Board of Legal Specialization and at least one of those three members to be board certified in health law by that board, the substitute requires at least one of those three members to have experience representing patients and at least one of those three members to have experience representing physicians or health care providers.
The substitute also increases from six to seven the number of members licensed to practice medicine in Texas, whereas the introduced did not.
The substitute includes a provision that was not in the introduced prohibiting the panel from taking any action requiring a vote of the panel unless a majority of the members appointed to serve on the panel as members licensed to practice medicine in Texas are in attendance at the meeting when the vote is taken.
Whereas the introduced established that the panel is not authorized to take any action that may be interpreted as changing the scope of practice authority of any physician or health care provider, the substitute establishes that the panel is not authorized to take any action that changes the scope of that practice authority.
HB923 fundamentally restructures the Texas Medical Disclosure Panel (TMDP) effective June 20, 2025, expanding its membership from 9 to 13 to include patient advocates and health literacy experts. While this does not invalidate current informed consent forms immediately, healthcare providers must anticipate a regulatory shift toward "plain language" disclosures and stricter patient-centric requirements beginning in 2026. Implementation Timeline Effective Date: June 20, 2025 (Immediate effect due to supermajority vote).
Q
Who authored HB923?
HB923 was authored by Texas Representative Cassandra Garcia Hernandez during the Regular Session.
Q
When was HB923 signed into law?
HB923 was signed into law by Governor Greg Abbott on June 20, 2025.
Q
Which agencies enforce HB923?
HB923 is enforced by Health and Human Services Commission (HHSC) and Texas Medical Disclosure Panel.
Q
How urgent is compliance with HB923?
The compliance urgency for HB923 is rated as "low". Businesses and organizations should review the requirements and timeline to ensure timely compliance.
Q
What is the cost impact of HB923?
The cost impact of HB923 is estimated as "low". This may vary based on industry and implementation requirements.
Q
What topics does HB923 address?
HB923 addresses topics including health care providers, health, health--general, physicians and health & human services commission.
Legislative data provided by LegiScanLast updated: November 25, 2025
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