After reforming Texas Medical Board, newly-elected member of Congress eyes health care transparency

AUSTIN (KXAN) -- A newly-elected member of Congress — whose bipartisan bill-turned-law reformed the Texas Medical Board in 2023 in direct response to a KXAN investigation — previously said she wants to look into expanding patient protections on a national level.

"I'm sure that you and I can partner together just like we did with the [Texas] Medical Board (TMB)," Congresswoman-elect Julie Johnson told KXAN investigative reporter Matt Grant after announcing her bid for Congress. "Let's see what we can get done."

Johnson won her election on Tuesday.

As a Democratic state representative from Farmers Branch, Johnson successfully introduced House Bill 1998 after watching a 2022 KXAN investigation which found dozens of doctors practicing in Texas with clean records despite that not being the case. At the time, Johnson promised to "do something about it."

Under the new law, for which KXAN was asked to testify, doctors who've had their licenses revoked, restricted or suspended for cause in other states can't practice in Texas. The TMB must update public physician profiles within 10 business days when it's alerted to any out-of-state disciplinary actions. And, all physicians must undergo monthly monitoring with the National Practitioner Data Bank, or NPDB.

Earlier this year, during Patient Safety Awareness Week, our investigation was highlighted on Last Week Tonight with John Oliver on Max.

'Deep dive' into patient transparency

Johnson's bipartisan bill was sponsored by Republican Sen. Bob Hall of Edgewood. After it passed, she told KXAN it "will absolutely save lives." Reflecting back on how quickly she was able to enact major reform, Johnson said HB 1998 was "absolutely" one of her proudest accomplishments.

The new law not only gives patients more transparency to make informed health care decisions but also gives the TMB "stronger teeth in order to weed out bad doctors," she said.

A lawyer, now making history as the first member of the LGBTQ+ community to be elected to Congress from the U.S. South, Johnson said she "of course" wants to take a "deep dive" into the NPDB -- something she couldn't do as a member of the Texas Legislature. The Data Bank acts as a confidential clearinghouse for all physician complaints. It was established by Congress in 1986 and is sealed to the public.

In 2022, eight members of Congress declined to talk to KXAN about the NPDB or didn't respond to our request for comment. The executive director of the Center for Justice and Democracy at New York Law School said it would be "a long time" before Congress takes up patient access to medical malpractice records.

"It does serve a purpose for hospital credentialing, and we want to make sure that they're getting accurate information," Johnson said, while also noting a need to balance patient transparency.

'Committed to opening up health care'

"We all want the safest environment and everyone wants that," Johnson said. "Everyone who's committed to good medicine wants the safest environment to be a physician to practice as well as a patient to receive care. And so, from that lens, we will always look for opportunities to improve that."

That could potentially include looking at how states report and disclose physician discipline records to the public, she said. A KXAN investigation previously found health care transparency can depend on where you live. In one case, we found discipline records for a physician disclosed to the public by the North Carolina Medical Board, but not the TMB.

"We just need to look to see if there's a wide disparity among state laws about transparency issues to see if there's a federal transparency issue that we need to look at," Johnson said. "Or, is the Data Bank really covering that? But, I think we also just need to look at the health care process itself."

Johnson said she ran for Congress to improve the health care system, including access to care. Among her other priorities: making it easier for patients to get and afford prescription drugs and treatments, passing the Equality Act, and pushing for a law to restore abortion protections.

"I'm really committed to opening up health care," she said.

Kay Van Wey, who represented victims of the notorious Texas surgeon dubbed "Dr. Death," -- a case that highlighted how dangerous doctors can move through the hospital system -- praised Johnson's election victory and the potential for broader patient protections to make health care safer.

Van Wey worked with Johnson on HB 1998 following KXAN's investigation.

"I look forward to continuing to work with her on important and much-needed reforms on the national level," Van Wey said. "Patients need a champion and we have one."

Johnson will be sworn into office on Jan. 3, 2025.