What's happening
This bill requires New York hospitals to use procedural checklists for all intensive care unit medical procedures to improve patient safety.
Why it matters
Hospitals will be required to not just have, but actively use and complete procedural checklists for every ICU procedure. meaning changes in day-to-day clinical workflow and increased accountability for medical staff.
The law specifically targets the reduction of infections and related illnesses. , aiming to directly improve patient outcomes and reduce costly, preventable complications in intensive care settings.
Hospitals must ensure all necessary resources—equipment, supplies, facilities, and personnel—are verified before procedures. , which could help prevent errors linked to missing or inadequate support during critical care.
Rapid implementation is mandated, with rules to be in place within 180 days. , signaling a swift push for hospitals to update protocols and possibly invest in training and compliance systems.
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Who cares
Headline styles
Require ICU Procedure Checklists
Plain English, a few words. Used as the page title.
Sponsors
1 Co-sponsor
History
- Referred to health
- Referred to health
Companion bill
The same bill in the other chamber. A bill becomes law when one version passes both houses and the governor signs it, so either number can carry it.
Hospital ICU Checklist Required
In Assembly Committee · Health · Sponsor Aravella Simotas
Full text
1 pageUnderlined is new[Struck] is removedOfficial text on nysenate.gov ↗
STATE OF NEW YORK
1279
2019-2020 Regular Sessions
IN SENATE
January 14, 2019
Introduced by Sens. GIANARIS, KRUEGER -- read twice and ordered printed, and when printed to be committed to the Committee on Health
AN ACT to amend the public health law, in relation to requiring hospitals to establish and utilize procedural medical checklists for the provision of all intensive care unit medical procedures
The People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and Assembly, do enact as follows:
Section 1. Section 2803 of the public health law is amended by adding a new subdivision 12 to read as follows:
12. The commissioner shall by rule or regulation require every hospital to establish, utilize and complete a checklist for each intensive care unit medical procedure performed or occurring at such hospital. Such checklists shall be designed and used for the purposes of reducing infections and related illnesses, improving the health and safety of patients, and ensuring that the necessary equipment, supplies, facilities and personnel are available for the conduct of the intensive care medical procedure. All such rules and regulations shall be promulgated and implemented within one hundred eighty days of the effective date of this subdivision.
§ 2. This act shall take effect immediately.
EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
[ ] is old law to be omitted.
LBD01381-01-9
Reflowed for reading: line numbers and page breaks removed. Cite the official text.
Sponsor's memo
Title of bill
An act to amend the public health law, in relation to requiring hospi- tals to establish and utilize procedural medical checklists for the provision of all intensive care unit medical procedures
Purpose or general idea of bill
This bill will improve patient health and reduce system-wide health care costs by requiring the use of a proven patient safety checklist in intensive care unit (ICU) medical procedures.
Summary of specific provisions
Section 1 adds a new subdivision 11 to § 2803 of the Public Health Law, providing that the Commissioner of Health shall by role or regulation require every hospital to establish, utilize and complete a checklist for each ICU medical procedure occurring at such hospital. Such check- lists shall be designed and used for the purposes of reducing infections and related illnesses, improving the health and safety of patients, and ensuring that the necessary equipment, supplies, facilities and person- nel are available for the conduct of the ICU procedure. The rules and regulations shall be promulgated within 180 days of the subdivision's effective date.
Justification
Health care associated infections (HAIs) are one of the top ten leading causes of death in the United States, and they are estimated to add hundreds of millions of donors to the costs of healthcare. Central line associated blood stream infections (CLABSIs) can occur as a result of catheterization of patients in intensive care -- they are estimated to account for 15% of the roughly 1.7 million HAIs in the United States, but as many as 30% of the 99,000 annual infection-related deaths.
Most CLABSIs can be prevented through the use of a straightforward patient safety checklist that has been proven to be successful in the field. In a recent Michigan study, use of the checklist resulted in a 66% reduction in CLABSIs, reflected in an estimated savings of 1500 lives and $200 million in the first 18 months.
The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services is calling on hospitals to use this basic tool to reduce central line infections in ICUs. Howev- er, many hospitals have not yet adopted the checklist. This bill will ensure that patients receive the same high-quality health care regard- less of which hospital in New York State provides their treatment.
Prior legislative history
2018: Died in Health
2017: Died in Health
2016: Died in Health
2015: Died in Health 2014: Senate Bill 615(Gianaris)-Died in Senate Health Committee
2012: Senate Bill 2514(Gianaris)- Died in Senate Health Committee
2012: Assembly Bill 4908(Simotas)- Died in Assembly Health Committee
2010: Assembly Bill 10494 (Gianaris)- Died in Assembly Health Commit- tee
Fiscal implications for state and local governments
None.
Effective date
Immediately.
Summaries, headlines and scores are AI-generated from the official bill text. How we score bills. Source: NYS Open Legislation.