House Bill No. 3588 seeks to strengthen patients' rights and enhance consumer protection in Texas health care services. It introduces a new section, 166.012, to the Health and Safety Code, allowing competent adults to create a written directive that requires any diagnosis or treatment to be provided exclusively by a physician. This directive must be signed in the presence of two witnesses or acknowledged before a notary public, and the attending physician is required to be notified and include the directive in the patient's medical record. The bill also establishes that this directive will take precedence over any conflicting directives unless it is explicitly revoked.

Additionally, the bill adds Subtitle K to the Health and Safety Code, which encompasses the Texas Patients' Bill of Rights, detailing various rights for patients, including the right to be informed about health care practitioners' qualifications and the ability to decline services from nonphysician practitioners. It prohibits deceptive advertising practices regarding providers' qualifications and mandates that advertisements disclose the applicable licenses or authorizations. The bill also amends existing disciplinary action provisions, allowing for penalties for violations, and requires state regulatory agencies to implement these changes by January 1, 2026, with the new regulations taking effect on September 1, 2025.

Statutes affected:
Introduced: Occupations Code 102.008 (Occupations Code 102)