Administrators make sure the exam happens face to face.
The bill requires the administrator of an inpatient mental health facility to make sure any physical exam or assessment required at a patient's admission is done in person. It touches inpatient mental health facilities, their administrators, and patients being admitted. Starting with admissions on or after September 1, 2025, those admission physical exams can no longer be done remotely, such as by telemedicine.
Labels
Labels: GOT HALFWAY. Passed the Senate on May 12, 2025. Died in the House: never got out of the Public Health committee.
relating to physical examination requirements for patients
admitted to an inpatient mental health facility.
WHAT IT DOES
Administrators make sure the exam happens face to face.
The bill requires the administrator of an inpatient mental health facility to make sure any physical exam or assessment required at a patient's admission is done in person. It touches inpatient mental health facilities, their administrators, and patients being admitted. Starting with admissions on or after September 1, 2025, those admission physical exams can no longer be done remotely, such as by telemedicine.
CHARGES
[ ] NONE FOUND
TOTAL
No significant fiscal implication to the State is anticipated.
Names were not printed for yea. Only the named positions are included in member records.
Sources
Senator Campbell moved that Senate Rule 7.18 and the Constitutional Rule requiring bills to be read on three several days be suspended and that CSSB 1608 be placed on its third reading and final passage. The motion prevailed by the following vote: Yeas 30, Nays 0.
Published stock of positions for this vote, except where marked derived.
Yea: 30 (published)
Nay: 0 (published)
Present, not voting: Not printed
Absent: Not printed
Excused: 1 (derived from named list)
Senate journal. Source snapshot 2026-10-19, Central time.
House committee · Public Health · Final status: Died in committee
Senate committee · Health & Human Services · Committee vote 9 aye, 0 nay · Out of committee
Subjects
Health Care Providers
Mental Health & Substance Abuse
Text
The text as introduced · 193 words
89R8641 RAL-F
By: Campbell
S.B. No. 1608
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT
relating to physical examination requirements for patients
admitted to an inpatient mental health facility.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
SECTION 1. Subchapter A, Chapter 575, Health and Safety
Code, is amended by adding Section 575.004 to read as follows:
Sec. 575.004. IN-PERSON PHYSICAL EXAMINATION REQUIREMENTS.
The facility administrator of an inpatient mental health facility
shall ensure a physical examination or assessment of a patient
admitted to the facility that is required to be conducted on the
patient's admission is conducted in person.
SECTION 2. Section 575.004, Health and Safety Code, as
added by this Act, applies only to the admission of a patient to an
inpatient mental health facility that occurs on or after the
effective date of this Act. The admission of a patient to an
inpatient mental health facility that occurs before the effective
date of this Act is governed by the law in effect on the date the
admission occurred, and the former law is continued in effect for
that purpose.
SECTION 3. This Act takes effect September 1, 2025.
Monitoring 