(a) In this section:
(1) “Department” means the Department of State Health Services.
(1-a) “Executive commissioner” means the executive commissioner of the Health and Human Services Commission.
(2) “Hospital” means a general or special hospital as defined by § 241.003. The term includes a hospital maintained or operated by this state.
(b) Repealed by Acts 2015, 84th Leg., R.S., Ch. 1, Sec. 3.1639(69), eff. April 2, 2015.

(c) Unless the department authorizes an exemption for the reason stated in Subsection (d), the department shall require each hospital to implement and enforce the statewide standardized patient risk identification system under which a patient with a specific medical risk may be readily identified through the use of the system to communicate to hospital personnel the existence of that risk.
(d) The department may exempt from the statewide standardized patient risk identification system a hospital that seeks to adopt another patient risk identification methodology supported by evidence-based protocols for the practice of medicine.
(e) The department shall modify the statewide standardized patient risk identification system in accordance with evidence-based medicine as necessary.
(f) The executive commissioner may adopt rules to implement this section.