What's happening
This bill requires health care providers on probation to disclose their probation status and related details to current and new patients.
Why it matters
Empowers patients to make informed choices. by requiring health care professionals on probation to disclose not just their status, but also the reasons for probation (e.g., gross negligence, substance abuse, sexual misconduct, repeated offenses), the length of probation, and any restrictions, before providing non-emergency care.
Includes a broad range of health care professions. not just doctors, but also nurses, dentists, physician assistants, physical therapists, optometrists, and others—helping ensure transparency across much of the health care system.
Protects patients from financial liability. if they choose to cancel an appointment after learning about a provider's probation status, removing a potential barrier to patient autonomy and informed decision-making.
Establishes real consequences for non-compliance,. including financial penalties and possible license suspension for repeated, willful violations, giving the law meaningful enforcement power and incentivizing providers to comply.
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
Physicians, nurses, dentists and other covered licensed providers
Those on probation under specified circumstances would have to give patients written disclosures and obtain signed receipts, with violations carrying penalties of up to $2,000 and subsequent willful violations triggering license suspension.
Patients, guardians and health care surrogates
They would receive details about qualifying probation, its causes and practice restrictions before examination or treatment, subject to a limited emergency-room exception.
State Education Department and professional licensing boards
They would be required to make covered licensees disclose qualifying probation and provide patients with the applicable board’s website address and telephone number.
Health insurers
They could not be charged for appointments canceled by a patient, guardian or health care surrogate after receiving the required disclosure.
Headline styles
Require Doctors Disclose Probation
Plain English, a few words. Used as the page title.
Sponsors
No co-sponsors yet.
History
- Referred to higher education
- Referred to higher education
Full text
3 pagesUnderlined is new[Struck] is removedOfficial text on nysenate.gov ↗
STATE OF NEW YORK
2635
2019-2020 Regular Sessions
IN SENATE
January 28, 2019
Introduced by Sen. KRUEGER -- read twice and ordered printed, and when printed to be committed to the Committee on Higher Education
AN ACT to amend the education law, in relation to requiring certain health care providers to disclose the fact that the provider is on probation to current and new patients
The People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and Assembly, do enact as follows:
Section 1. The education law is amended by adding a new section 6511-a to read as follows:
§ 6511-a. Disclosure of probationary status. (1) The provisions of this section shall apply to any person licensed under the following articles of this title: one hundred thirty-one (medicine), one hundred thirty-one-B (physician assistants), one hundred thirty-two (chiropractic), one hundred thirty-three (dentistry and dental hygiene), one hundred thirty-four (licensed perfusionists), one hundred thirty-six (physical therapy and physical therapist assistants), one hundred thirty-nine (nursing), one hundred forty (professional midwifery practice), one hundred forty-one (podiatry), one hundred forty-three (optometry), one hundred fifty-five (massage therapy), one hundred fifty-six (occupational therapy), one hundred sixty (acupuncture), and one hundred sixty-four (respiratory therapists and respiratory therapy technicians).
(2) As used in this section:
(a) "licensee" means any person licensed to practice a profession governed by the articles of this title listed in subdivision one of this section; and
(b) "state board" means the state board for each profession governed by the articles of this title listed in subdivision one of this section and appointed by the board of regents pursuant to section sixty-five hundred eight of this article.
(3) Except as provided by subdivision five of this section, the department and the applicable state board shall require a licensee to
EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
[ ] is old law to be omitted.
LBD08591-01-9
S. 2635 2
disclose the following on a separate document: his or her probationary status; the cause or causes for probation alleged in the accusation, the statement of the issues, or the legal conclusions of an administrative law judge; the length of the probation and the end date; all practice restrictions placed on the licensee by the board; the address of the applicable state board's internet website; and the applicable state board's telephone number to a current or new patient, the patient's guardian or the patient's health care surrogate prior to the patient's first visit following the probationary order while the licensee is on probation pursuant to a probationary order made after January first, two thousand nineteen, in any of the circumstances listed in paragraph (a), (b), (c) or (d) of this subdivision. Such written disclosure shall be provided to the patient, the patient's guardian or the patient's health care surrogate in the licensee's office prior to the time the patient enters the examination room and the examination or treatment commences. The licensee shall provide the disclosure under the following circumstances:
(a) An accusation against the licensee alleges, a complaint filed against the licensee indicates, or the legal conclusions of an administrative law judge find that the licensee is implicated in any of the following:
(i) gross negligence;
(ii) repeated negligent acts involving a departure from the standard of care with multiple patients;
(iii) drug or alcohol abuse that threatens to impair a licensee's ability to render patient care safely, including practicing under the influence of drugs or alcohol;
(iv) felony conviction arising from or occurring during patient care or treatment; or
(v) mental illness or other cognitive impairment that impedes a licensee's ability to safely render patient care.
(b) The applicable state board ordered any of the following in conjunction with placing the licensee on probation:
(i) that a third-party chaperone be present when the licensee examines patients as a result of sexual misconduct;
(ii) that the licensee submit to drug testing as a result of drug or alcohol abuse; and/or
(iii) that the licensee have a monitor.
(c) The licensee has not successfully completed a training program or any associated examinations required by the board as a condition of probation.
(d) The licensee has been on probation more than once.
(4) The licensee shall obtain from each patient a signed receipt following the disclosure described in subdivision three of this section that includes a written explanation of how the patient can find further information on the licensee's probation on the applicable state board's internet website.
(5) The licensee shall not be required to provide the disclosure prior to the visit as required by subdivision three of this section if the visit occurs in an emergency room, the patient is incapacitated, and the patient's guardian or the patient's health care surrogate is not present.
(6) If a patient, the patient's guardian, or the patient's health care surrogate elects to cancel the patient's appointment with the licensee upon being provided with the disclosure required by subdivision three of
S. 2635 3
this section, neither the patient nor the patient's insurance company shall be charged for the appointment.
(7) Any person who violates the provisions of this section shall be subject to a penalty not to exceed two thousand dollars. Any person who commits subsequent, willful violations of the provisions of this section shall have his or her license suspended for a period of time to be determined by the commissioner.
§ 2. This act shall take effect on the one hundred eightieth day after it shall have become a law and shall apply to all probationary orders issued on or after January 1, 2020. Effective immediately, the addition, amendment and/or repeal of any rule or regulation necessary for the implementation of this act on its effective date are authorized and directed to be made and completed on or before such effective date.
Reflowed for reading: line numbers and page breaks removed. Cite the official text.
Sponsor's memo
Title of bill
An act to amend the education law, in relation to requiring certain health care providers to disclose the fact that the provider is on probation to current and new patients
Summary of specific provisions
Section one of the bill amends the education law by adding a new section 6511-a in relation to disclosure of probationary status. Section 6511-a details which health care providers this act concerns; provides defi- nitions; specifies under what circumstances disclosure of probationary status is required, as well as what information is to be disclosed to current and new patients; stipulates that patients and patients' insur- ance companies shall not be charged for appointments canceled upon being provided with the disclosure; and provides penalties for non-compliance.
Section two of the bill is the effective date.
Justification
The New York State Education Department (NYSED) and the New York State Department of Health (NYSDOH) have procedures in place to investigate reports of professional misconduct as well as to determine appropriate disciplinary measures of licensed health care providers. These proce- dures are designed to protect New Yorkers from licensee misconduct; however, a recent article (New York Allowed a Sexual Predator to Prac- tice Medicine for Decades) documented the case of a physician licensed in New York who, following multiple allegations of sexual misconduct with patients, violated his probationary terms with unsuspecting patients by examining female patients without a chaperone and committing additional acts of sexual misconduct. NYSED and NYSDOH post information on the license status of health care providers on their websites; howev- er, all New Yorkers do not have access to the internet, and may not be aware of the availability of this information. The purpose of this bill is to further protect New Yorkers by requiring that licensees who are on probation for specified reasons provide notification of their probation- ary status prior to the first visit of current and new patients follow- ing the probationary order.
Prior legislative history
2017-18: S.9132 - Rules
Fiscal implications for state and local governments
None.
Effective date
This act shall take effect on the one hundred eightieth day after it becomes law and shall apply to all probationary orders issued on or after January 1, 2020.
Summaries, headlines and scores are AI-generated from the official bill text. How we score bills. Source: NYS Open Legislation.