DUTIES AND HOSPITAL POLICIES.

(a) A hospital that employs physicians under this subchapter shall:

(1) appoint a chief medical officer, who may be a member of the hospital's medical staff;

(2) adopt, maintain, and enforce policies to ensure that a physician employed by the hospital exercises the physician's independent medical judgment in providing care to patients at the hospital; and

(3) designate the chief medical officer as the contact for the Texas Medical Board for all matters relating to complaints regarding interference or attempted interference with a physician's independent medical judgment or any other matter under this section.

(b) The person appointed as chief medical officer shall report the person's appointment to the Texas Medical Board.

(c) The policies adopted under this section must include:

(1) policies relating to:

(A) credentialing;

(B) quality assurance;

(C) utilization review;

(D) peer review; and

(E) medical decision-making; and

(2) the implementation of a complaint mechanism to process and resolve complaints regarding interference or attempted interference with a physician's independent medical judgment.

(d) The policies adopted under this section must be approved by the chief medical officer.

(e) In the event of a conflict between a policy approved by the chief medical officer and any other policy of the hospital, a conflict management process shall be jointly developed and implemented to resolve the conflict.

(f) For all matters relating to the practice of medicine, each physician employed by a hospital under this subchapter shall ultimately report to the chief medical officer.

(g) The chief medical officer shall immediately report to the Texas Medical Board any action or event that the chief medical officer reasonably and in good faith believes constitutes a compromise of the independent medical judgment of a physician in caring for a patient.