HBA-TBM H.B. 606 77(R)BILL ANALYSIS Office of House Bill AnalysisH.B. 606 By: Smithee Insurance 7/3/2001 Enrolled BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE A recent development in managed care is the use of hospitalists. Hospitalists are physicians who practice primarily in the hospital setting and assume primary responsibility for the care of other physicians' patients during hospitalization. A hospitalist arrangement, if entered into voluntarily by a patient and a physician, may increase efficiency, reduce unnecessary services, and improve communication among the hospitalized patient, the attending physician, and the hospital staff. Mandatory hospitalist arrangements, however, may compromise the quality and continuity of care, decrease patient satisfaction, and erode an office-based physician's inpatient clinical skills. House Bill 606 prohibits an insurer or health maintenance organization from mandating a hospitalist program. RULEMAKING AUTHORITY It is the opinion of the Office of House Bill Analysis that this bill does not expressly delegate any additional rulemaking authority to a state officer, department, agency, or institution. ANALYSIS House Bill 606 amends the Insurance Code and the Texas Health Maintenance Organization Act to prohibit a contract between an insurer or health maintenance organization and a physician from requiring a physician to use a hospitalist for a hospitalized patient. EFFECTIVE DATE September 1, 2001.