What's happening
This bill clarifies what constitutes patient abandonment by primary care physicians and establishes strict notification and penalty requirements for violations.
Why it matters
Clearly defines what constitutes "patient abandonment". by primary care physicians, removing ambiguity and establishing that failing to make reasonable arrangements for ongoing care or not providing adequate notice now meets the threshold for medical misconduct.
Imposes strict notification requirements. Primary care physicians must give patients at least 90 days’ notice before ending the physician-patient relationship, with clear instructions on how to access or transfer medical records, and must document the notification process in the patient’s record for three years.
Establishes specific, mandatory penalties for violations. First-time offenders face a 90-day license suspension and a $10,000 fine; repeat violations trigger the same minimum penalties, with potential for harsher consequences as determined by the medical board.
Strengthens patient protections and continuity of care. By formalizing the process and penalties, the bill aims to prevent abrupt loss of access to healthcare, safeguard patient well-being, and ensure accountability among primary care providers.
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Who cares
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Require Doctors Notify Patients
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History
- Referred to higher education
Full text
2 pagesUnderlined is new[Struck] is removedOfficial text on nysenate.gov ↗
STATE OF NEW YORK
10336
IN ASSEMBLY
April 29, 2020
Introduced by M. of A. PERRY -- read once and referred to the Committee on Higher Education
AN ACT to amend the education law and the public health law, in relation to clarifying what constitutes abandonment of a patient by a physician for purposes of a medical misconduct allegation, and requiring a physician practicing as a patient's primary care physician who opts to no longer treat the patient to provide notice to such patient
The People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and Assembly, do enact as follows:
Section 1. Subdivision 30 of section 6530 of the education law, as added by chapter 606 of the laws of 1991, is amended and a new subdivision 51 is added to read as follows:
30. Abandoning or neglecting a patient under [and] the physician's care including, but not limited to, patients in need of immediate professional care, without making reasonable arrangements for the continuation of such care, or abandoning a professional employment by a group practice, hospital, clinic or other health care facility, without reasonable notice and under circumstances which seriously impair the delivery of professional care to patients or clients;
51. Failing to comply with the provisions of subdivision nine of section sixty-five hundred twenty-seven of this title.
§ 2. Section 6527 of the education law is amended by adding a new subdivision 9 to read as follows:
9. (a) If a licensed physician having established a primary care relationship with a patient chooses to no longer treat the patient in the capacity as the patient's primary care physician, such physician shall provide notice to the patient not less than ninety days prior to the cessation of the provision of services. Such notice shall include information as to how the patient can obtain his or her medical records or how the records can be transferred to another physician. The physician may include in the notice information identifying other physicians or medical groups which he or she recommends the patient consider as his or her next primary care physician. The notice shall be considered a formal action and shall be provided to the individual in the form of
EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
[ ] is old law to be omitted.
LBD15713-07-0
A. 10336 2
mail, email or phone; provided that a written record noting when and how the patient was contacted shall be maintained for a period of not less than three years, and shall be noted in such patient's medical records. If the patient was contacted by phone, the record shall reflect whether the physician was successful in speaking with the patient.
(b) For the purposes of this subdivision:
(i) the term "primary care physician" shall mean a physician duly licensed to practice medicine and who consents to being a patient's first contact when such patient has a health concern, who provides continuing care to such patient for various medical conditions, and who, having established a relationship with the patient in which the physician treats such patient during regularly scheduled doctor-patient visits, provides services, including, but not limited to, an annual physical.
(ii) a "primary care relationship" between a patient and a physician shall be deemed to exist where (1) a verbal or written agreement exists between a patient and a physician, under which such physician has agreed to serve as such patient's primary care physician; or (2) the physician seeing the patient has developed a relationship wherein such physician provides the patient medical care that includes, but is not limited to, diagnostic services, prescribing medication, and treating illness during non-hospital visits for medical services.
§ 3. The public health law is amended by adding a new section 230-a-1 to read as follows:
§ 230-a-1. Specific penalties for professional misconduct. Notwithstanding the provisions of section two hundred thirty-a of this title, or any other provision of law to the contrary, the state board for professional medical conduct shall impose on a present or former licensee found guilty of a violation of subdivision thirty or fifty-one of section sixty-five hundred thirty of the education law the following penalties:
1. For a first violation, a ninety-day suspension of the license of such licensee, as applicable, and a fine of ten thousand dollars.
2. For each subsequent violation, the penalty shall be determined by the state board for professional medical misconduct, but shall not be less than a ninety-day suspension of the license of such licensee, as applicable, and a fine of not less than ten thousand dollars.
§ 4. This act shall take effect on the one hundred twentieth day after it shall have become a law.
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