Bill Text: NY A02266 | 2023-2024 | General Assembly | Introduced
Bill Title: Expands confidentiality provisions relating to certain investigations of medical or quality assurance or a medical or dental malpractice prevention program, to include statements made by any persons at such reviews who are a party to an action which was reviewed at such proceedings.
Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 1-0)
Status: (Introduced) 2024-01-03 - referred to higher education [A02266 Detail]
Download: New_York-2023-A02266-Introduced.html
STATE OF NEW YORK ________________________________________________________________________ 2266 2023-2024 Regular Sessions IN ASSEMBLY January 25, 2023 ___________ Introduced by M. of A. SEPTIMO -- read once and referred to the Commit- tee on Higher Education AN ACT to amend the education law and the public health law, in relation to confidentiality of certain investigations and proceedings relating to a medical or a quality assurance review or a medical or dental malpractice prevention program The People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and Assem- bly, do enact as follows: 1 Section 1. Subdivision 3 of section 6527 of the education law, as 2 amended by chapter 257 of the laws of 1987, is amended to read as 3 follows: 4 3. No individual who serves as a member of (a) a committee established 5 to administer a utilization review plan of a hospital, including a 6 hospital as defined in article twenty-eight of the public health law or 7 a hospital as defined in subdivision ten of section 1.03 of the mental 8 hygiene law, or (b) a committee having the responsibility of the inves- 9 tigation of an incident reported pursuant to section 29.29 of the mental 10 hygiene law or the evaluation and improvement of the quality of care 11 rendered in a hospital as defined in article twenty-eight of the public 12 health law or a hospital as defined in subdivision ten of section 1.03 13 of the mental hygiene law, or (c) any medical review committee or 14 subcommittee thereof of a local, county or state medical, dental, podia- 15 try or optometrical society, any such society itself, a professional 16 standards review organization or an individual when such committee, 17 subcommittee, society, organization or individual is performing any 18 medical or quality assurance review function including the investigation 19 of an incident reported pursuant to section 29.29 of the mental hygiene 20 law, either described in clauses (a) and (b) of this subdivision, 21 required by law, or involving any controversy or dispute between (i) a 22 physician, dentist, podiatrist or optometrist or hospital administrator 23 and a patient concerning the diagnosis, treatment or care of such EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets [] is old law to be omitted. LBD05667-01-3A. 2266 2 1 patient or the fees or charges therefor or (ii) a physician, dentist, 2 podiatrist or optometrist or hospital administrator and a provider of 3 medical, dental, podiatric or optometrical services concerning any 4 medical or health charges or fees of such physician, dentist, podiatrist 5 or optometrist, or (d) a committee appointed pursuant to section twen- 6 ty-eight hundred five-j of the public health law to participate in the 7 medical and dental malpractice prevention program, or (e) any individual 8 who participated in the preparation of incident reports required by the 9 department of health pursuant to section twenty-eight hundred five-l of 10 the public health law, or (f) a committee established to administer a 11 utilization review plan, or a committee having the responsibility of 12 evaluation and improvement of the quality of care rendered, in a health 13 maintenance organization organized under article forty-four of the 14 public health law or article forty-three of the insurance law, including 15 a committee of an individual practice association or medical group 16 acting pursuant to a contract with such a health maintenance organiza- 17 tion, shall be liable in damages to any person for any action taken or 18 recommendations made, by him or her within the scope of his or her func- 19 tion in such capacity provided that (a) such individual has taken action 20 or made recommendations within the scope of his or her function and 21 without malice, and (b) in the reasonable belief after reasonable inves- 22 tigation that the act or recommendation was warranted, based upon the 23 facts disclosed. 24 Neither the proceedings nor the records relating to performance of a 25 medical or a quality assurance review function or participation in a 26 medical and dental malpractice prevention program nor any report 27 required by the department of health pursuant to section twenty-eight 28 hundred five-l of the public health law described herein, including the 29 investigation of an incident reported pursuant to section 29.29 of the 30 mental hygiene law, shall be subject to disclosure under article thir- 31 ty-one of the civil practice law and rules except as hereinafter 32 provided or as provided by any other provision of law. No person in 33 attendance at a meeting when a medical or a quality assurance review or 34 a medical and dental malpractice prevention program or an incident 35 reporting function described herein was performed, including the inves- 36 tigation of an incident reported pursuant to section 29.29 of the mental 37 hygiene law, shall be required to testify as to what transpired thereat. 38 The prohibition relating to discovery of testimony shall [not] apply to 39 the statements made by any person in attendance at such a meeting who is 40 a party to an action or proceeding the subject matter of which was 41 reviewed at such meeting. 42 § 2. Subdivision 2 of section 2805-m of the public health law, as 43 amended by chapter 808 of the laws of 1987, is amended to read as 44 follows: 45 2. Notwithstanding any other provisions of law, none of the records, 46 documentation or committee actions or records required pursuant to 47 sections twenty-eight hundred five-j and twenty-eight hundred five-k of 48 this article, the reports required pursuant to section twenty-eight 49 hundred five-l of this article nor any incident reporting requirements 50 imposed upon diagnostic and treatment centers pursuant to the provisions 51 of this chapter shall be subject to disclosure under article six of the 52 public officers law or article thirty-one of the civil practice law and 53 rules, except as hereinafter provided or as provided by any other 54 provision of law. No person in attendance at a meeting of any such 55 committee shall be required to testify as to what transpired thereat. 56 The prohibition relating to discovery of testimony shall [not] apply toA. 2266 3 1 the statements made by any person in attendance at such a meeting who is 2 a party to an action or proceeding the subject matter of which was 3 reviewed at such meeting. 4 § 3. This act shall take effect on the one hundred eightieth day after 5 it shall have become a law.
