The Texas Medical Disclosure Panel (TMDP) will take another run at amending its medical and surgical procedure form after the Texas Medical Association submitted strong objections to the form TMDP proposed in September.
TMDP notified TMA that the panel will republish the proposal after reviewing comments by TMA as well as the Texas Hospital Association (THA), and one individual. TMDP said it was making some of the changes TMA suggested in its comments.
The panel decides which risks and hazards related to medical care or surgical procedures practitioners must disclose to patients or their authorized representatives prior to a procedure.
“We picked up some of the changes from both TMA and THA,” Joanne Hopkins, vice chair of TMDP, told Texas Medicine Today. “We didn’t pick up all of them. But we just felt it would be better, because this is a big change, to republish the form with the changes that we’re picking up.”
The goal of amending the form is to make it more reader-friendly, Ms. Hopkins added. The panel hopes to have the proposed form republished in time to consider new comments at its April 2019 meeting, she said.
TMA’s objections to the proposed form included the use of the word “doctor” rather than “physician,” which could confuse a patient into believing it refers to a person who’s not a licensed physician; and proposed fill-in-the-blank language that TMA believed could cause confusion and increase litigation on informed consent.
Texas Medicine will report on the new proposed form when it’s republished. TMA President Doug Curran, MD’s letter objecting to the previous proposal can be found here. You can view the current medical and surgical procedure form here.
Last Updated On
December 14, 2018
Originally Published On
December 14, 2018