Texas Occupations Code 159.002 – Confidential Communications
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(a) A communication between a physician and a patient, relative to or in connection with any professional services as a physician to the patient, is confidential and privileged and may not be disclosed except as provided by this chapter.
(b) A record of the identity, diagnosis, evaluation, or treatment of a patient by a physician that is created or maintained by a physician is confidential and privileged and may not be disclosed except as provided by this chapter.
Terms Used In Texas Occupations Code 159.002
- Evidence: Information presented in testimony or in documents that is used to persuade the fact finder (judge or jury) to decide the case for one side or the other.
- Medical records: means all records relating to the history, diagnosis, treatment, or prognosis of a patient. See Texas Occupations Code 151.002
- Person: means an individual, unless the term is expressly made applicable to a partnership, association, or corporation. See Texas Occupations Code 151.002
- Physician: means a person licensed to practice medicine in this state. See Texas Occupations Code 151.002
- Subpoena: A command to a witness to appear and give testimony.
(c) A person who receives information from a confidential communication or record as described by this chapter, other than a person listed in § 159.004 who is acting on the patient’s behalf, may not disclose the information except to the extent that disclosure is consistent with the authorized purposes for which the information was first obtained.
(c-1) No exception to the privilege of confidentiality under § 159.003 or 159.004 may be construed to create an independent duty or requirement to disclose the confidential information to which the exception applies.
(d) The prohibitions of this chapter continue to apply to a confidential communication or record relating to a patient regardless of when the patient receives the services of a physician, except for medical records at least 75 years old that are requested for historical research purposes.
(e) The privilege of confidentiality may be claimed by the patient or by the physician. The physician may claim the privilege of confidentiality only on behalf of the patient. The physician’s authority to claim the privilege is presumed in the absence of evidence to the contrary.
(f) Notwithstanding any other provision of this chapter other than Sections 159.003(a)(10) and (c), a communication or record that is otherwise confidential and privileged under this section may be disclosed or released by a physician without the patient’s authorization or consent if the disclosure or release is related to a judicial proceeding in which the patient is a party and the disclosure or release is requested under a subpoena issued under:
(1) the Texas Rules of Civil Procedure;
(2) the Code of Criminal Procedure; or
(3) Chapter 121, Civil Practice and Remedies Code.
(g) Subsection (f) does not prevent a physician from claiming, or otherwise limit the authority of a physician to claim, the privilege of confidentiality on behalf of a patient.