(a) The council shall place a high priority on collecting and disseminating data on health professions demonstrating an acute shortage in this state, including:
(1) data concerning nursing personnel; and
(2) data concerning the health professions in which shortages occur in rural areas.
(b) To the extent possible, the council may collect the data from existing sources that the council determines are credible. The council may enter agreements with those sources that establish guidelines concerning the identification, acquisition, transfer, and confidentiality of the data.
(c) The Department of Information Resources, through the state electronic Internet portal and in consultation with the council and the Health Professions Council, shall add and label as "mandatory" the following fields on an application or renewal form for a license, certificate, or registration for a person subject to Subsection (c-2):
(1) full name and last four digits of social security number;
(2) full mailing address; and
(3) educational background and training, including basic health professions degree, school name and location of basic health professions degree, and graduation year for basic health professions degree, and, as applicable, highest professional degree obtained, related professional school name and location, and related graduation year.
(c-1) The Department of Information Resources, through the state electronic Internet portal and in consultation with the council and the Health Professions Council, shall add the following fields on an application or renewal form for a license, certificate, or registration for a person subject to Subsection (c-2):
(1) date and place of birth;
(2) sex;
(3) race and ethnicity;
(4) location of high school;
(5) mailing address of primary practice;
(6) number of hours per week spent at primary practice location;
(7) description of primary practice setting;
(8) primary practice information, including primary specialty practice, practice location zip code, and county; and
(9) information regarding any additional practice, including description of practice setting, practice location zip code, and county.
(c-2) The following health professionals are subject to this section:
(1) audiologists;
(2) chiropractors;
(3) licensed professional counselors;
(4) licensed chemical dependency counselors;
(5) dentists;
(6) dental hygienists;
(7) emergency medical services personnel;
(8) marriage and family therapists;
(9) medical radiologic technologists;
(10) licensed vocational nurses;
(11) registered nurses;
(12) certified nurse aides;
(13) occupational therapists;
(14) optometrists;
(15) pharmacists;
(16) physical therapists;
(17) physicians;
(18) physician assistants;
(19) psychologists;
(20) social workers; and
(21) speech-language pathologists.
(c-3) The relevant members of the Health Professions Council shall encourage each person described by Subsection (c-2) licensed, certified, or registered under that council's authority to submit application and renewal information under Subsections (c) and (c-1) through the system developed by the Department of Information Resources and the state electronic Internet portal.
(d) To the extent feasible, the council shall use a researcher with a doctorate in nursing to collect, analyze, and disseminate nursing data that may be used to predict supply and demand for nursing personnel in this state using appropriate federal or state supply-and-demand models. The nursing data must at least:
(1) include demographics, areas of practice, supply, demand, and migration; and
(2) be analyzed to identify trends relating to numbers and geographical distribution, practice setting, and area of practice and, to the extent possible, compare those trends with corresponding national trends.
(e) Data received under this section by the nursing resource section established under Section 105.002 that contains information identifying specific patients or health care facilities is confidential, is not subject to disclosure under Chapter 552 , Government Code, and may not be released unless all identifying information is removed.
(f) The relevant members of the Health Professions Council, in conjunction with the Department of Information Resources, shall ensure that the information collected under Subsections (c) and (c-1) is transmitted to the statewide health coordinating council. The council shall store the information as needed and conduct related workforce studies, including a determination of the geographical distribution of the reporting professionals.
(g) The relevant members of the Health Professions Council, in conjunction with the Department of Information Resources, shall ensure that the following information is submitted to the statewide health coordinating council for a person subject to Subsection (c-2):
(1) certification, registration, or license number;
(2) issuance date;
(3) method of certification, registration, or licensure; and
(4) certification, registration, or licensure status.
(h) The Department of Information Resources shall work with the health occupation regulatory agencies that are members of the Health Professions Council to minimize the costs to Health Professions Council members of obtaining the information under Subsections (c) and (c-1). The Department of Information Resources shall provide the Health Professions Council with the appropriate federal information processing standards code based on the information in Subsections (c-1)(8) and (9).
Added by Acts 1991, 72nd Leg., ch. 14, Sec. 40, eff. Sept. 1, 1991. Amended by Acts 1997, 75th Leg., ch. 1386, Sec. 5, eff. Sept. 1, 1997; Acts 2003, 78th Leg., ch. 728, Sec. 10, eff. June 20, 2003.
Acts 2011, 82nd Leg., R.S., Ch. 973 (H.B. 1504 ), Sec. 27, eff. June 17, 2011.
