January 30, 2012

Ms. Neera Chatterjee

Office of General Counsel

The University of Texas System

201 West Seventh Street

Austin, Texas 78701

OR2012-01500

Dear Ms. Chatterjee:

You ask whether certain information is subject to required public disclosure under the Public Information Act (the "Act"), chapter 552 of the Government Code. Your request was assigned ID# 444109 (OGC No. 140840).

The University of Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio (the "university") received a request for a specified accreditation report. You claim that the submitted information is excepted from disclosure under section 552.101 of the Government Code. We have considered the exception you claim and reviewed the submitted information. You also state, and provided documentation demonstrating, that you notified the Liaison Committee on Medical Education (the "LCME") of the request for information and of its rights to submit arguments to this office as to why its submitted information should not be released. See Gov't Code § 552.305(d); see also Open Records Decision No. 542 (1990) (statutory predecessor of section 552.305 permits governmental body to rely on interested third party to raise and explain applicability of exception in the Act in certain circumstances).

Section 552.101 of the Government Code excepts from disclosure "information considered to be confidential by law, either constitutional, statutory, or by judicial decision." Gov't Code § 552.101. Section 552.101 encompasses information protected by other statutes, such as section 161.032 of the Health and Safety Code, which provides in part:

(a) The records and proceedings of a medical committee are confidential and are not subject to court subpoena.

. . .

(c) Records, information, or reports of a medical committee . . . and records, information, or reports provided by a medical committee . . . to the governing body of a public hospital . . . are not subject to disclosure under Chapter 552, Government Code.

. . .

(f) This section and Subchapter A, Chapter 160, Occupations Code, do not apply to records made or maintained in the regular course of business by a hospital, health maintenance organization, medical organization, university medical center or health science center, hospital district, hospital authority, or extended care facility.

Health & Safety Code § 161.032(a), (c), (f). Section 161.031(a) defines a "medical committee" as "any committee . . . of . . . (3) a university medical school or health science center[.]" Id. § 161.031(a)(3). Section 161.0315 provides, in relevant part, that "[t]he governing body of a hospital [or] university medical school or health science center . . . may form . . . a medical committee, as defined by Section 161.031, to evaluate medical and health care services[.]" Id. § 161.0315(a).

The precise scope of the "medical committee" provision has been the subject of a number of judicial decisions. See, e.g., Memorial Hosp.--The Woodlands v. McCown, 927 S.W.2d 1 (Tex. 1996); Barnes v. Whittington, 751 S.W.2d 493 (Tex. 1988); Jordan v. Fourth Supreme Judicial Dist., 701 S.W.2d 644 (Tex. 1986). These cases establish that "documents generated by the committee in order to conduct open and thorough review" are confidential. This protection extends "to documents that have been prepared by or at the direction of the committee for committee purposes." Jordan, 701 S.W.2d at 647-48. Protection does not extend to documents "gratuitously submitted to a committee" or "created without committee impetus and purpose." Id. at 648; see also Open Records Decision No. 591 (1991) (construing, among other statutes, statutory predecessor to section 161.032).

You state the submitted information was created for the LCME, which is a national organization responsible for accrediting medical education programs. You inform us that the LCME develops and sets the standards for medical school education programs and monitors these programs for compliance. Based on your arguments, we find that the LCME is a medical committee for purposes of subchapter D of chapter 161 of the Health and Safety Code. See Health & Safety Code § 161.031(c); see also Humana Hosp. Corp. v. Spears-Petersen, 867 S.W.2d 858 (Tex. App.--San Antonio 1993, no pet.) (finding that Joint Commission on Accreditation of Healthcare Organizations is medical committee under section 161.031(a)(2) and its accreditation report of hospital is confidential under section 161.032). Therefore, the submitted information is confidential under section 161.032 of the Health and Safety Code and must be withheld under section 552.101 of the Government Code.

This letter ruling is limited to the particular information at issue in this request and limited to the facts as presented to us; therefore, this ruling must not be relied upon as a previous determination regarding any other information or any other circumstances.

This ruling triggers important deadlines regarding the rights and responsibilities of the governmental body and of the requestor. For more information concerning those rights and responsibilities, please visit our website at http://www.oag.state.tx.us/open/index_orl.php, or call the Office of the Attorney General's Open Government Hotline, toll free, at (877) 673-6839. Questions concerning the allowable charges for providing public information under the Act must be directed to the Cost Rules Administrator of the Office of the Attorney General, toll free at (888) 672-6787.

Sincerely,

Cynthia G. Tynan

Assistant Attorney General

Open Records Division

CGT/em

Ref: ID# 444109

Enc. Submitted documents

c: Requestor

(w/o enclosures)

Ms. Barbara Barzansky

Council on Medical Education

American Medical Association

515 North State Street

Chicago, Illinois 60654

(w/o enclosures)

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