By: Paige Twenter Becker’s Hospital Review
The Texas House of Representatives approved a bill on May 22 that seeks to prevent healthcare providers from changing a patient’s sex in medical records, outside of some exceptions, by levying fines of up to $25,000 per incident.
If passed, the bill would require EHRs to list “an individual’s biological sex as either male or female based on the individual’s observed biological sex” at birth. EHRs would also need to include information on physical sexual development disorders.
The bill would not prohibit additional space in the EHR for recording other information on a patient’s sex or gender identity. However, healthcare employees would be banned from amending a patient’s sex information unless it is to fix a clerical error or the patient has a sexual development disorder.
Failure to comply with these provisions could result in medical license suspension and fines of up to $25,000.
To be enacted into law, the bill requires a formal House vote, a Senate vote and the governor’s signature, according to The Texas Tribune.
