Bill Text: NY A07379 | 2017-2018 | General Assembly | Introduced

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Bill Title: Directs the commissioner of health to develop screening tools and procedures to be used by health care providers to detect elder abuse or maltreatment in their patients.

Spectrum: Moderate Partisan Bill (Democrat 24-5)

Status: (Introduced - Dead) 2018-01-03 - referred to health [A07379 Detail]

Download: New_York-2017-A07379-Introduced.html

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                STATE OF NEW YORK
        ________________________________________________________________________
                                          7379
                               2017-2018 Regular Sessions
                   IN ASSEMBLY
                                     April 25, 2017
                                       ___________
        Introduced  by M. of A. LUPARDO -- read once and referred to the Commit-
          tee on Health
        AN ACT to amend the public health law,  in  relation  to  screening  for
          elder abuse and maltreatment
          The  People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and Assem-
        bly, do enact as follows:
     1    Section 1. The public health law is amended by adding a new article 19
     2  to read as follows:
     3                                 ARTICLE 19
     4                   ELDER ABUSE AND MALTREATMENT SCREENING
     5  Section 1900. Legislative purpose.
     6          1901. Elder abuse and maltreatment screening.
     7    § 1900. Legislative purpose. The correlation between elder  abuse  and
     8  maltreatment  with  increased hospitalizations, admissions and mortality
     9  highlights the need for increased medical interventions, particularly as
    10  New York continues to implement national healthcare reform  initiatives.
    11  A  screening  tool, to be utilized by medical professionals at important
    12  junctures in the lives of those sixty years of age and older, presents a
    13  significant opportunity for trusted medical providers to  help  identify
    14  high risk patients and help to ensure their continued health and safety.
    15    §  1901.  Elder  abuse and maltreatment screening. 1. The commissioner
    16  shall establish a screening tool to identify abuse in  elderly  individ-
    17  uals.  Physicians,  physician assistants and nurse practitioners may use
    18  the tool to assist in identifying abuse or maltreatment in their elderly
    19  patients during the course of treatment including, but not  limited  to,
    20  annual  physical exams or as part of patient screening under the uniform
    21  assessment system for long term care as established by the department.
    22    2. The screening tool shall include, but not be limited to:
    23    a. a uniform intervention questionnaire with a common scale  that  can
    24  be used across health care environments and populations to assist in the
    25  identification of high risk patients;
         EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
                              [ ] is old law to be omitted.
                                                                   LBD04888-01-7
        A. 7379                             2
     1    b.  questions  that can be used for both cognitively intact as well as
     2  cognitively impaired individuals;
     3    c. standardized intervention protocols including specific language and
     4  uniform  definitions  of  physical, sexual, emotional, and psychological
     5  abuse, in addition  to,  neglect,  abandonment,  financial  or  material
     6  exploitation, self-neglect and unwarranted control;
     7    d.  a list of resources to address the needs of patients identified as
     8  being victims of abuse; and
     9    e. documentation in a reportable format that may be used by the  prac-
    10  titioner  to  report suspected elder abuse and maltreatment cases to the
    11  department for the purposes of tracking prevalence.
    12    3. The screening tool shall be culturally and linguistically appropri-
    13  ate in accordance with rules and regulations promulgated by the  commis-
    14  sioner.
    15    4.  Patients  shall not be required to be subject to screening if they
    16  refuse to participate or are in an urgent or emergent situation.
    17    5. This section shall not affect the scope of practice of  any  health
    18  care  practitioner  or  diminish  any authority or legal or professional
    19  obligations of any health care practitioner.
    20    6. The commissioner shall promulgate any rules and regulations  neces-
    21  sary to implement the provisions of this section.
    22    § 2. This act shall take effect immediately.