If your pro-rated initial registration is for less than 12 months, you are exempt from the CME requirement until your subsequent registration.

A PA may carry forward a maximum of 80 total excess CME credit hours (40 hours in each category) for up to two years.

There is no grace period if you do not register your license on time. Once a license becomes delinquent, it is considering practicing without a license to practice as a PA, which may be prosecuted by the local district attorney. The policy of the Board, however, is that the only administrative penalty is the payment of penalty fees required by statute.

The biennial registration fee for office-based anesthesia is a total of $210, per physician and should be combined with the biennial registration.

For off cycle OBA registration, please submit a hard copy registration form with the correct pro-rated fee.  Please note that payments for the incorrect OBA pro-rated fee will be voided, causing a delay in the registration process.  You may email us to request a pro-rated registration form at registrations@tmb.state.tx.us.

Yes. Physicians need to complete at least 24 hours of continuing medical education each year, at least half of which must be in formal courses. One hour of formal CME must be in medical ethics and/or professional responsibility. A physician must report on the registration form if she or he has completed the required CME. However, newly licensed physicians are exempt from the CME requirements the first time they register.

Yes. At any time a physician may request to cancel his or her license. However, once a license is cancelled, in order to reactivate it, a physician will be required to apply for relicensure and meet all requirements for licensure in effect at the time of application.

Yes. A physician on an official retired status is exempt from the registration fee. To be eligible for retired status, a physician's license cannot be under investigation, under a Board order, or be otherwise restricted. Physicians on a retired status must not engage in clinical activities or practice in any state, must not prescribe or administer drugs to anyone, nor may the physician possess a DEA or Texas controlled substance number. Additionally, the physician's license may not be endorsed to any state. A physician whose license has been placed on official retired status must obtain the approval of the board before returning to active status. The physician should contact the board for information on the approval procedure.

There is a 30-day grace period following expiration of a registration permit. Penalties are as follows: 30 days following expiration of permit - $0 Permit expired longer than 30 days, but less than 91 - $75 Permit expired longer than 90 days, but less than one year - $150 License is considered cancelled if not registered at one year.

Statutory regulations require the TMB to maintain a profile on each licensed physician. This profile information is gathered in conjunction with the license registration and is available to the public through our online verification database. The Texas Occupations Code, Chapter 154.006 requires that information be made available through the physician profile system. In addition to the statutorily required information, the TMB has adopted rules (Chapter 162) regarding the contents of the physician profile system. Due to concern expressed by licensees regarding identity theft and the public disclosure of exact dates of birth, the TMB no longer includes exact dates of birth in our data products, online verification databases or verbal verifications. We do however continue to include birth year.

Profile changes/corrections/updates must be submitted in writing, with a signature. Written changes can be sent to: TMB P.O. Box 2029 MC-906 Austin, TX 78768-2029 (f) 512-463-9416 or (888) 790-0621 Profile information is available on our website, or if you prefer, a copy of your profile information will be provided to you upon request.

Yes. A retired physician whose only clinical practice is the provision of voluntary charity care to indigent populations shall be exempt from the registration fee but must register the license as well as report CME. The physician's practice of medicine must not include the provision of medical services for either direct or indirect compensation which has monetary value of any kind and the physician's practice is limited to voluntary charity care to indigent populations and receives no direct or indirect compensation of any kind for medical services rendered. Also, the physician's practice cannot include the provision of medical services to family members or the self-prescribing of controlled substances or dangerous drugs. A physician who violates the provisions of this exemption may be subject to disciplinary action. Action may be based on unprofessional or dishonorable conduct likely to deceive, defraud, or injure the public if the physician engages in the compensated practice of medicine, provides medical services to members of the physician's family, or self-prescribes controlled substances or dangerous drugs. Additionally, a physician who attempts to obtain this exemption by submitting false or misleading statements shall be subject to disciplinary action pursuant to the Medical Practice Act, in addition to any civil or criminal actions provided for by the state or federal law.

A pain management clinic may not operate in Texas unless the clinic is owned and operated by a medical director who: • is a physician who practices in Texas • has an unrestricted medical license • holds a certificate of registration for that pain management clinic   In addition, the owner/operator of a pain management clinic, an employee of the clinic, or a person with whom a clinic contracts for services may not: • have been denied, by any jurisdiction, a license issued by the Drug Enforcement Agency or a state public safety agency under which the person may prescribe, dispense, administer, supply, or sell a controlled substance; • have held a license issued by the Drug Enforcement Agency or a state public safety agency in any jurisdiction, under which the person may prescribe, dispense, administer, supply, or sell a controlled substance, that has been restricted; or • have been subject to disciplinary action by any licensing entity for conduct that was a result of inappropriately prescribing, dispensing, administering, supplying, or selling a controlled substance   A pain management clinic may not be owned wholly or partly by a person who has been convicted of, pled nolo contendere to, or received deferred adjudication for: • an offense that constitutes a felony; or • an offense that constitutes a misdemeanor, the facts of which relate to the distribution of illegal prescription drugs or a controlled substance as defined by Texas Occupations Code Annotated §551.003(11)   The medical director of a pain management clinic must operate the clinic in compliance with Drug Prevention and Control Act, 21 U.S.C.A. 801 et.seq. and the Texas Controlled Substances Act, Chapter 481 of the Texas Health and Safety Code, relating to the prescribing and dispensing of controlled substances. The medical director of a pain management clinic must, on an annual basis, ensure that all personnel: • are properly licensed, if applicable, • are trained including 10 hours of continuing medical education related to pain management, and • are qualified for employment.

There is no grace period for the expiration date of this license. Once the expiration date has occurred, penalty fee equal to one half of the registration fee will be added.  After 90 days, the penalty fee will increase to equal a full registration fee. If a license has been expired for one year or longer it is automatically cancelled.

Yes.  You are required to provide a copy of the prescriptive authority agreement to the board that requested it within three business days.  Although SB 406 did not specifically note that facility-based protocols must also be submitted within this time frame, each licensing board has the authority to request this information.  Failure to provide the requested information could result in disciplinary action against the professional license.

A physician, advanced practice registered nurse, or physician assistant must have an active license to practice that is not suspended, delinquent, or otherwise subject to a disciplinary order that specifically prohibits the licensee from entering into a prescriptive authority agreement.    

Note that if a licensee’s authority to supervise, delegate, or prescribe devices is limited under a board order, the licensee may enter into a prescriptive authority agreement and practice under the agreement only to the extent permitted by the board order.