Requires hospitals and physicians to include certain information regarding military service of patients or persons close to patients on admission forms

Title of bill

An act to amend the public health law, in relation to requiring hospitals and physicians to include certain information regarding military service of patients or persons close to patients on admission forms

Purpose

This bill will help assure certain medical conditions and medical information is addressed by medical doctors with patients that may have been veterans and then using that information to better serve that particular patient.

Summary of provisions

Section 1. Subdivision 5 of section 2805-b of the public health law, as added by chapter 694 of the laws of 1986, is amended to read as follows:

5. The staff of a general hospital shall inquire whether or not the person admitted is a veteran, as defined in section eighty-five of the civil service law. The admissions form shall include information including, but not limited to, whether the patient or someone close to the patient has ever served in the military, who served in the military, when and where did the person serve, what was the person in the military's job description, whether the patient is currently registered with the veterans administration, and whether the patients currently receiving any benefits from the veterans administration. The staff shall notify any admittee who is a veteran of the possible availability of services at a hospital operated by the veterans administration, and, upon request by the admittee, such staff shall make arrangements for the individual's transfer to a veterans administration operated hospital. Transfers shall be authorized only after it has been determined, according to accepted clinical and medical standards, that the patient's condition has stabilized and transfer can be accomplished safely and without complication. The commissioner shall promulgate rules and regulations for notifying such admittees of possible available service s and for arranging a requested transfer.

§ 2. This act shall take effect immediately.

Existing law

No law currently addresses this issue

Justification

When a patient answers "no" to a single question, "Have you ever served in the military?" his or her service history has been completed. however the 21 million patients who answer "yes" will benefit because possible service-related causes will now be included in the differential diagnosis of their medical complaints, and statistical correlations between a risk like dioxin exposure and medical illness might be made years earlier. (Some Vietnam-era veterans might have received treatment and disability benefits 20 to 30 years sooner and others might not have died in the interim.) If every adult patient is asked this single question, pooled electronic health data could be used to detect association between illness and deployment. This will be especially important for female soldiers who require ongoing monitoring for possible complications of pregnancy and birth defects. And physicians might now refer underinsured veterans to Veterans Affairs Facilities for treatment they could not otherwise afford. Although teaching how and why to take a military health history should be taught in medical school curricula along with other medical history questions we can begin with simply asking these few questions to start a dialogue.

Legislative history

None

Fiscal implications

None to the state

Local fiscal implications

None EFFECTIVE DATE : act shall take effect immediately