What's happening
This bill allows certain group medical practices to operate malpractice prevention programs with hospitals and share confidential information.
Why it matters
Albany, before your first meeting.
Every bill that moved yesterday, summarized in a sentence and ranked by impact. The Albany Scorecard follows on Sundays.
Free. Unsubscribe in one click. Want alerts on specific bills? Create an account.
Who cares
Headline styles
Define Qualified Medical Groups
Plain English, a few words. Used as the page title.
Sponsors
No co-sponsors yet.
History
- Referred to health
- Committed to rules
- Advanced to third reading
- 2nd report cal.
- 1st report cal.756
- 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.
Define Group Medical Practices
In Assembly Committee · Codes · Sponsor Richard Gottfried
Full text
1 pageUnderlined is new[Struck] is removedOfficial text on nysenate.gov ↗
STATE OF NEW YORK
1801
2019-2020 Regular Sessions
IN SENATE
January 16, 2019
Introduced by Sen. RIVERA -- 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 qualified group practices
The People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and Assembly, do enact as follows:
Section 1. The public health law is amended by adding a new section 2998-f to read as follows:
§ 2998-f. Qualified group practice. 1. For the purposes of this section, "qualified group practice" means a medical, dental or podiatric group practice or other lawful combination of such health care practitioners, licensed or certified pursuant to title eight of the education law, that meets the standards set forth in paragraphs (a) through (h) of subdivision one of section twenty-eight hundred five-j of this chapter, other than the governing board requirements of such paragraph (a).
2. A qualified group practice may operate a malpractice prevention program independently, or through an otherwise lawful collaborative arrangement with a hospital or accountable care organization program operated pursuant to section twenty-eight hundred five-j or twenty-nine hundred ninety-nine-r of this chapter, in which case the qualified group practice and the hospital or accountable care organization may share confidential information with each other for purposes of such practice without waiving confidentiality with respect to others.
3. A qualified group practice shall be deemed a hospital, and its malpractice prevention program shall be deemed a medical, dental and podiatric malpractice prevention program, for the purposes of subdivision two of section twenty-eight hundred five-j, subdivision four of section twenty-eight hundred five-k and section twenty-eight hundred five-m of this chapter, and subdivision three of section sixty-five hundred twenty-seven of the education law. Such provisions of law shall apply to its information, records, documentation and committee actions, and to participants in committee proceedings.
§ 2. This act shall take effect immediately.
EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
[ ] is old law to be omitted.
LBD03397-01-9
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 qualified group practices
Purpose
This bill would provide that a medical, dental or podiatric group prac- tice that operates a malpractice prevention program that meets same standards of a hospital malpractice prevention program will have the same confidentiality and immunity protections.
Summary of provisions
Creates a new section 2998-f to provide that a qualified group practice may operate a malpractice prevention program directly, or through a collaborative arrangement with a hospital or accountable care organiza- tion, and share confidential information for the purpose of peer review and quality improvement.
Justification
Group practices have become the norm for physicians, dentists and podia- trists and range in size from small groups to large organizations with hundreds of practitioners. As groups have grown in size and sophisti- cation, assuring quality of quality of care is no longer solely the obligation of an individual provider, but rather a group obligation to review outcomes and collaborate on improvements as a unified team.
Public Health Law 5 2805-j requires every general hospital to maintain a malpractice prevention program that meet specific requirements. PHL § 2805-m protects the confidentiality of information, materials, documen- tation, actions and statements relating to such program, including peer review committee information (with exceptions), and protects partic- ipants from liability. Education Law § 6527.3 restates this protection. In 2011, the Legislature granted accountable care organizations similar authority by deeming them to be a "hospital" solely for purposes of malpractice prevention programs under PHL § 2505-m and Education Law § 6527.3. See PHL § 2999-r.
The rationale for protecting the confidentiality of peer review informa- tion was explained by the NYS Court of Appeals in Logue V. Velez, 92 NY2d 13 (1998): "...The purpose of the discovery exclusion is to 'enhance the objectivity of the review process',and to assure that medical review committees 'may and objectively analyze the quality of health services rendered' by hospitals...."
That same rationale should apply to a medical, dental or podiatric group practice that establishes a malpractice prevention program that meets standards set forth in PHL § 2805-j(a)-(g): (a) a quality assurance committee; (b) sanction procedures; (c) review of credentials and compe- tence; (d) prompt resolution of patient grievances; (e) collection of information about negative outcomes, premiums, settlements, awards, etc.; (e) procedural recordkeeping; (g) education programs on patient safety, injury prevention, etc. Elsewhere, nearly half of states
protect the confidentiality of peer review activities by medical group practices other than hospitals.
This bill will encourage group practices to meet these rigorous stand- ards and improve patient care.
Legislative history
2015-2016: S.6080
Fiscal implications
None
Effective date
Immediately
Summaries, headlines and scores are AI-generated from the official bill text. How we score bills. Source: NYS Open Legislation.