Texas Health and Safety Code - HEALTH & SAFETY § 324.001. Definitions

(1) “Average charge” means the mathematical average of facility charges for an inpatient admission or outpatient surgical procedure. The term does not include charges for a particular inpatient admission or outpatient surgical procedure that exceed the average by more than two standard deviations.

(2) “Billed charge” means the amount a facility charges for an inpatient admission, outpatient surgical procedure, or health care service or supply.

(3) “Costs” means the fixed and variable expenses incurred by a facility in the provision of a health care service.

(4) “Consumer” means any person who is considering receiving, is receiving, or has received a health care service or supply as a patient from a facility. The term includes the personal representative of the patient.

(5) “Department” means the Department of State Health Services.

(6) “Executive commissioner” means the executive commissioner of the Health and Human Services Commission.

(7) “Facility” means:

(8) “Facility-based physician” means a radiologist, an anesthesiologist, a pathologist, an emergency department physician, a neonatologist, or an assistant surgeon.