In a long-awaited victory for Texas medicine, Gov. Greg Abbott signed a landmark bill to prevent serious or sensitive test results – like a cancer diagnosis – from being electronically transmitted to patients without physician review or clarification.
Texas Medical Association backed Senate Bill 922, championed by Kelly Hancock (R-North Richland Hills) in the Senate and Donna Campbell, MD, in the House of Representatives. It was signed into law after Texas physicians overwhelmingly testified that information-blocking provisions stemming from the 21st Century Cures Act have inadvertently allowed patients to view potentially life-changing test results on their own before their physicians have time to deliver the news.
Starting Sept. 1, Texas physicians will be given three days after the tests are finalized to review and communicate results to patients before they are made available via electronic health records. SB 922 is limited to two types of tests: a pathology or radiology report that has a reasonable likelihood of showing a finding of malignancy, or a test result that may reveal a genetic marker.
A similar measure cleared the 2023 Texas Legislature last session but fell victim to a last-minute veto.
David Gerber, MD, a Dallas oncologist who testified on behalf of the bill in March, sees firsthand what the immediate release of test results means “in terms of patients’ emotional trauma,” especially for those who may not understand potentially confusing medical jargon.
“We have to remember that test results getting sent to patients rarely are as black and white as saying that ‘yes, it's cancer,’ or ‘no, it’s not cancer,’” he said. “This bill will … improve the very important and potentially traumatic experience of when people find out that, for example, they have cancer.”
The Cures Act – a 2016 law that promotes health care technology innovation by delivering information more conveniently to patients and clinicians – requires physicians and other health care professionals to make a broad range of notes and test results available to patients without delay, including sensitive test results like those screening for cancer, genetic conditions, or other serious diagnoses.
Texas is now the second state, alongside Kentucky, to pass legislation allowing 72 hours to deliver sensitive test results. Texas physicians will still need to comply with the Cures Act’s provisions after the three-day pause. Under the information blocking rule, delaying the release of test results after three days – even to allow a physician more time to review with patients – is considered information blocking and carries penalties.
Dr. Gerber, who had not pursued medical advocacy until testifying on behalf of this bill and a similar one in 2023, is thankful his Dallas County Medical Society colleagues encouraged him to do so. He compares physicians’ legislative efforts to a “team-based science.”
“It's when you bring people together that you really make an impactful difference,” he said. “I am very glad to see this bill passed into law, and I’m really glad at this point in my career – almost 18 years out of training – that I had this chance to engage with TMA in a way that I never had before. I hope I get to again.”
For more details on information blocking, see TMA’s 21st Century Cures Act: Interoperability and Information Blocking webpage.
Alisa Pierce
Reporter, Division of Communications and Marketing
(512) 370-1469