Bill Text: NY A08888 | 2017-2018 | General Assembly | Amended

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Bill Title: Relates to telepsychiatry and requires a study, report and recommendations regarding geriatric social isolation.

Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 2-0)

Status: (Engrossed - Dead) 2018-06-14 - REFERRED TO RULES [A08888 Detail]

Download: New_York-2017-A08888-Amended.html

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                STATE OF NEW YORK
        ________________________________________________________________________
                                         8888--A
                   IN ASSEMBLY
                                     January 5, 2018
                                       ___________
        Introduced  by M. of A. GUNTHER -- read once and referred to the Commit-
          tee on Mental Health -- committee discharged,  bill  amended,  ordered
          reprinted as amended and recommitted to said committee
        AN ACT to amend the mental hygiene law, in relation to telepsychiatry
          The  People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and Assem-
        bly, do enact as follows:
     1    Section 1. Subdivision (b) of section 7.41 of the mental  hygiene  law
     2  is amended by adding a new paragraph 10 to read as follows:
     3    (10)  Telepsychiatry.  Programs  which  offer  homebound  or  socially
     4  isolated geriatric patients with the use of two-way  real-time  interac-
     5  tive  audio  and  video  equipment  access to provide and support mental
     6  health services at a distance.
     7    § 2. Subdivision (c) of section 7.41 of  the  mental  hygiene  law  is
     8  relettered subdivision (d) and a new subdivision (c) is added to read as
     9  follows:
    10    (c)  The  commissioner,  in consultation with the state office for the
    11  aging and the department of health, shall conduct a  study  to  consider
    12  the incidence of geriatric social isolation, mental health consequences,
    13  and  their  treatment  and  prevention across the state. The study shall
    14  include, but not be limited to an assessment of at-risk populations, the
    15  mental health impacts of social isolation, life stages that  may  put  a
    16  person at a higher risk of social isolation, and community supports that
    17  may be developed to help address these concerns. The study shall provide
    18  recommendations on effective identification of social isolation, includ-
    19  ing specific recommendations for health care practitioners, intervention
    20  techniques,  and  the development of telehealth, telemedicine, and tele-
    21  psychiatry programs to meet the needs of homebound and socially isolated
    22  geriatric patients who may be suffering from depression, mental illness,
    23  or other health consequences. The study shall also consider the develop-
    24  ment of public awareness  information  materials  that  the  office  may
    25  distribute  to  raise  awareness of social isolation in older adults and
    26  the health consequences. The commissioner shall deliver  the  report  to
    27  the  governor,  the temporary president of the senate and the speaker of
    28  the assembly no later than October first, two thousand nineteen.
    29    § 3. This act shall take effect immediately.
         EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
                              [ ] is old law to be omitted.
                                                                   LBD13687-07-8