(a) This subchapter does not apply to a health care information service that:
(1) provides its services to a consumer only by telephone communication on request initiated by the consumer and without charge to the consumer;
(2) provides information about health care providers to enable consumer selection of health care provider services without any direct influence by a health care provider on actual consumer selection of those services;
(3) in response to each consumer inquiry, on a nondiscriminatory basis, provides information identifying health care providers who substantially meet the consumer’s detailed criteria based on consumer responses to standard questions designed to elicit a consumer’s criteria for a health care provider, including criteria concerning location of the practice, practice specialties, costs and payment policies, acceptance of insurance coverage, general background and practice experience, and various personal characteristics;
(4) does not attempt through its standard questions for solicitation of consumer criteria or through any other means to lead a consumer to select or consider selection of a particular health care provider for health care provider services;
(5) identifies to a consumer:
(A) all health care providers substantially meeting the consumer’s stated criteria who are located within the zip code area in which the consumer elects to obtain services from a health care provider; or
(B) all health care providers substantially meeting the consumer’s stated criteria who are located in zip code areas in the closest proximity to the elected zip code area if no health care provider substantially meeting the consumer’s criteria is located within that zip code area;
(6) discloses to each consumer the relationship between the health care information service and health care providers participating in its services;
(7) does not provide or represent itself as providing diagnostic or counseling services or assessment of illness or injury and does not make any promise of cure or guarantee of treatment;
(8) does not provide or arrange for transportation of a consumer to or from the location of a health care provider;
(9) does not limit the scope of or direct its advertising or other marketing of its services to a particular health care provider specialty, to a particular segment of the population, or to persons suffering from a particular illness, condition, or infirmity;
(10) charges to and collects a fee from a health care provider participating in its services that is set in advance, is consistent with the fair market value for those information services, and is not based on the potential value of a patient to a health care provider or on the value of or a percentage of the value of a professional service provided by the health care provider;
(11) does not limit participation by a health care provider in its services to a particular health care specialty or to a particular service provided by a health care provider;
(12) does not limit participation by a health care provider in its services for a reason other than:
(A) failure to have a current license without limitation to practice in this state;
(B) failure to maintain professional liability insurance while participating in the service;
(C) significant dissatisfaction of consumers of the health care information service that is documented and can be proved;
(D) a decision by a peer review committee that the health care provider has failed to meet prescribed standards or has not acted in a professional or ethical manner; or
(E) termination of the contract between the health care provider and the health care information service by either party under the terms of the contract;
(13) maintains a customer service department to handle complaints and answer questions for consumers;
(14) maintains a customer follow-up system to monitor consumer satisfaction; and
(15) does not use, maintain, distribute, or provide for any purpose any information that will identify a particular consumer, such as a name, address, or telephone number, obtained from a consumer seeking its services other than for the purposes of:
(A) providing the information to the health care provider with whom an appointment is made;
(B) performing administrative functions necessary to operate the health care information service;
(C) providing directly to a consumer, at the request of that consumer on that consumer’s initial contact with the health care information service, information relating to health-related support groups or providers of health-care-related services or equipment within the area of interest requested by the consumer; or
(D) conducting analytical research on data obtained through provision of services and preparing statistical reports that generally analyze that data but do not in any manner identify one or more specific consumers.
(b) In this section:
(1) “Health care information service” means a person who provides information to a consumer regarding health care providers that can enable the consumer to select one or more health care providers to furnish health care services.
(2) “Health care provider” means a person licensed, certified, or registered by a state health care regulatory agency other than:
(A) a mental health facility as defined by Section 571.003, Health and Safety Code; or
(B) a treatment facility as defined by Section 464.001, Health and Safety Code.