Texas Administrative Code
Title 25 - HEALTH SERVICES
Part 1 - DEPARTMENT OF STATE HEALTH SERVICES
Chapter 97 - COMMUNICABLE DISEASES
Subchapter A - CONTROL OF COMMUNICABLE DISEASES
Section 97.2 - Who Shall Report

(a) A physician, dentist, veterinarian, chiropractor, advanced practice nurse, physician assistant, or person permitted by law to attend a pregnant woman during gestation or at the delivery of an infant shall report, as required by these sections, each patient (person or animal) he or she shall examine and who has or is suspected of having any notifiable condition, and shall report any outbreak, exotic disease, or unusual group expression of illness of any kind whether or not the disease is known to be communicable or reportable. An employee from the clinic or office staff may be designated to serve as the reporting officer. A physician, dentist, veterinarian, advanced practice nurse, physician assistant, or chiropractor who can assure that a designated or appointed person from the clinic or office is regularly reporting every occurrence of these diseases or health conditions in their clinic or office does not have to submit a duplicate report.

(b) The chief administrative officer of a hospital shall appoint one reporting officer who shall be responsible for reporting each patient who is medically attended at the facility and who has or is suspected of having any notifiable condition. Hospital laboratories may report through the reporting officer or independently in accordance with the hospital's policies and procedures.

(c) Except as provided in subsection (b) of this section, any person who is in charge of a clinical laboratory, blood bank, mobile unit, or other facility in which a laboratory examination of any specimen derived from a human body yields microscopic, bacteriologic, virologic, parasitologic, serologic, or other evidence of a notifiable condition, shall report as required by this section.

(d) School authorities, including a superintendent, principal, teacher, school health official, or counselor of a public or private school and the administrator or health official of a public or private institution of higher learning should report as required by these sections those students attending school who are suspected of having a notifiable condition. School administrators who are not medical directors meeting the criteria described in § 97.132 of this title (relating to Who Shall Report Sexually Transmitted Diseases) are exempt from reporting sexually transmitted diseases.

(e) Any person having knowledge that a person(s) or animal(s) is suspected of having a notifiable condition should notify the local health authority or the department and provide all information known to them concerning the illness and physical condition of such person(s) or animal(s).

(f) Sexually transmitted diseases including HIV and AIDS shall be reported in accordance with Subchapter F of this chapter (relating to Sexually Transmitted Diseases Including Acquired Immunodeficiency Syndrome (AIDS) and Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV)).

(g) Failure to report a notifiable condition is a Class B misdemeanor under the Texas Health and Safety Code, § 81.049.

(h) The Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) allows reporting without authorization for public health purposes and where required by law. Title 45 Code of Federal Regulations §164.512(a) and (b).