Materials do not circulate, but may be used in the State Archives search room (Room 100). Materials will be retrieved from and returned to storage areas by staff members.
Most records created by Texas state agencies are not copyrighted and may be freely used in any way. State records also include materials received by, not created by, state agencies. Copyright remains with the creator. The researcher is responsible for complying with U.S. Copyright Law (Title 17 U.S.C.).
None.
The Texas Health Professions Council (HPC) was created in 1993 (Senate Bill 674, 73rd Texas Legislature, Regular Session) on the recommendation of the Texas Sunset Commission, to achieve the potentially desirable outcomes of consolidation of small independent health licensing and regulatory agencies (i.e., efficiency and effectiveness), without sacrificing the quality, independence, accessibility and accountability of individual boards, also avoiding the creation of a new bureaucracy. The Council has a membership currently representing 35 professional licensing boards, certification programs, documentation programs, permit programs or registration programs. The Council consists of one representative (often the executive director) from each of the twelve agencies, plus the Governor’s office and the Attorney General's office. The Council elects from its members a presiding officer and an assistant presiding officer, who serve two-year terms. Although member agencies license and regulate health professionals, the Health Professions Council does not. A list of these member agencies (plus categories of professionals regulated by these boards) follows:
Texas Board of Chiropractic Examiners (chiropractors, chiropractic radiological technologists)
Texas State Board of Dental Examiners (dentists, dental hygienists, dental assistants, dental laboratories)
Texas State Board of Medical Examiners (physicians, physician assistants, acupuncturists)
Texas State Board of Podiatric Medical Examiners (podiatrists)
Board of Nurse Examiners for the State of Texas (advanced nurse practitioners, registered nurses, licensed vocational nurses)
Texas Optometry Board (optometrists, therapeutic optometrists)
Texas State Board of Pharmacy (pharmacists, pharmacies, pharmacy technicians)
Executive Council of Physical Therapy and Occupational Therapy Examiners (physical therapists, physical therapy assistants, occupational therapists, occupational therapy assistants)--each of these two fields provides a representative on the board
Texas State Board of Examiners of Psychologists (licensed psychologists, provisional licensed psychologists, licensed psychological associates and licensed specialist in school psychology)
Texas State Board of Veterinary Medical Examiners (veterinarians)
Texas Funeral Service Commission (funeral homes, commercial embalming facilities)
Texas Department of State Health Services Professional Licensing and Certification Unit (athletic trainers, code enforcement officers, contact lens dispensers, dietitians, fitters and dispensers of hearing instruments, general sanitarians, licensed professional counselors, licensed social workers, marriage family therapists, massage therapists, medical laboratory practitioners, medical physicists, medical radiological technologists, midwives, opticians, orthotists and prosthetists, perfusionists, respiratory care practitioners, sex offender treatment providers, speech-language pathologists and audiologists).
Mandated tasks of the HPC include developing the following: a complaint system, which allows consumers to file complaints against any state-licensed health professional by calling one toll-free number; a training program for the governing bodies (boards) of member agencies; an annual report that includes a statistical compilation of numbers of licensees, numbers of complaints and enforcement actions taken by member agencies/boards; a shared document imaging system; a study of the process by which complaints are compiled, handled, adjudicated, and the extent to which complaint information is made available to the public; a short-lived Office of Patient Protection; and the development of a consistent set of policies for the health professions licensure boards to adopt in order to eliminate fraud in government programs.
(Sources include:
The Texas Health Professions Council was created to coordinate regulatory efforts among the various health care licensing boards represented on the council (Chiropractic Examiners, Dental Examiners, Medical Examiners, Podiatric Medical Examiners, Nurse Examiners, Optometry, Pharmacy, Physical Therapy and Occupational Therapy Examiners, Examiners of Psychologists, Veterinary Medical Examiners, Funeral Service Commission, and Department of State Health Services Professional Licensing and Certification Unit). Mandated tasks of the council include, among other things, development of a complaint system, a training program, and policies for fraud prevention. These records reflect that work, consisting of copies of the minutes of the Texas Health Professions Council, dating 1994-2006. These minutes document in summary fashion the meetings of the council.
The Texas Health Professions Council website
To prepare this inventory, the described materials were cursorily reviewed to delineate series, to confirm the accuracy of contents lists, to provide an estimate of dates covered, and to determine record types.
These records are arranged by the creating council chronologically.
(Identify the item), Texas Health Professions Council minutes. Archives and Information Services Division, Texas State Library and Archives Commission.
Tony Black, September 2005, May 2006, October 2006
Accession numbers: 2002/192, 2004/225, 2005/188, 2006/018, 2006/364, 2007/028
These records were transferred to the Archives and Information Services Division of the Texas State Library and Archives Commission by the Texas Health Professions Council on August 30, 2005; September 20, 2005; April 26, 2006; and September 27, 2006; and by the Texas Legislative Reference Library on August 12, 2002; and August 18, 2004.
The record copies of minutes are maintained by the Texas Health Professions Council.
The Texas Health Professions Council transfers minutes to the Texas State Archives on a regular basis.