• Kevin W. Klein, MD, The University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center
Ask the TMA Knowledge Center Trust the answer
Q: How should our practice handle patient overpayments and/ or patient credit balances?
A. No person, physician or otherwise, may retain property that does not belong to him or her. To keep an overpayment for personal use may be a criminal act. A physician must use best efforts to return the overpayment. Moreover, the Texas Legisla- ture in 2007 passed a law that requires physicians to return any overpayment to a patient within 30 days. A practice risks Texas Medical Board action by continually refusing to refund overpay- ments, by requiring a patient’s personal appearance for refund of an overpayment, or by insisting the overpayment amount be retained as credit against future services.
Q: What if we are unable to find the patient to return the overpayment?
A. The physician must contact the Office of the Texas Comptrol- ler for procedures on how the overpayment can be deposited in its unclaimed funds account. Failure to timely send money or assets to the state can incur a penalty of the value of the asset plus 10-percent interest. For questions or assistance, contact the Holder Reporting Section at (800) 321-2274, ext. 66246, or (512) 936-6246, or email
up.holder@cpa.state.tx.us.
Note: The Texas Medical Association provides this information with the express understanding that no attorney-client relation- ship exists, neither TMA nor its attorneys are engaged in provid- ing legal advice, and the information is of a general character. This is not a substitute for the advice of an attorney. While every effort is made to ensure that content is complete, accurate, and timely, TMA cannot guarantee the accuracy and totality of the information contained in this publication and assumes no legal responsibility for loss or damages resulting from the use of this content. You should not rely on this information when dealing with personal legal matters; rather, legal advice from retained legal counsel should be sought.
12 TEXAS MEDICINE July 2013
• Kenneth L. Mattox, MD, Baylor Col- lege of Medicine/Ben Taub General Hospital*
• Evan G. Pivalizza, MBChB, The Uni- versity of Texas Health Science Center at Houston
• Rajam S. Ramamurthy, MD, The Uni- versity of Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio
• TMA Immediate Past President Mi- chael E. Speer, MD, Baylor College of Medicine*
• V.O. Speights Jr., DO, Texas A&M Health Science Center/Scott & White Healthcare
2012 Silver level achievement recipients
• Christian T. Cable, MD, Texas A&M Health Science Center/Scott & White Healthcare
• John J. Fraser Jr., MD, The University of Texas Medical Branch*
• Wendy B. Kang, MD, The University of Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio
• Benjamin Lee, MD, Children’s Medical Center Dallas/The University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center
• Jeffrey L. Levin, MD, The University of Texas UT Health Northeast, Tyler
• Michael E. Speer, MD, Baylor College of Medicine*
2012 Bronze level achievement recipient
• Dana Sprute, MD, The University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center, Austin
* Two award levels received.
Physician philanthropist receives Distinguished Service Award
Retired Austin otolaryngologist Ernest C. Butler, MD, received the TMA Distin- guished Service Award from the TMA House of Delegates at TexMed 2013 in San Antonio. In 2003, Dr. Butler and his wife, Sar-
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