TREATMENT BY A PRIMARY CARE PHYSICIAN OR PROVIDER UNDER CHAPTER

843; RECOMMENDATIONS REGARDING USE OF PREFERRED PROVIDER PLAN. (a) Notwithstanding any other provision of this chapter, an injured employee required to receive health care services within a network may select as the employee's treating doctor a doctor who the employee selected, prior to injury, as the employee's primary care physician or provider under Chapter 843, as the terms "physician" and "provider" are defined in that chapter. (b) A doctor serving as an employee's treating doctor under Subsection (a) must agree to abide by the terms of the network's contract and comply with the provisions of this subchapter and Subchapters D and G. Services provided by such a doctor are considered to be network services and are subject to Subchapters H and I. (c) Any change of doctor requested by an employee being treated by a doctor under Subsection (a) must be to a network doctor and is subject to the requirements of this chapter. (d) In studying the adequacy of networks under this chapter, the department shall offer recommendations to the 80th Legislature regarding whether to make statutory changes to allow treatment by non-network providers through a preferred provider benefit plan, as defined by Chapter 1301.