S00991 Summary:

BILL NOS00991A
 
SAME ASNo same as
 
SPONSORPARKER
 
COSPNSR
 
MLTSPNSR
 
Add S31.38, amd S33.13, Ment Hyg L; amd S6527, Ed L
 
Creates mental health incident review panels.
Go to top    

S00991 Actions:

BILL NOS00991A
 
01/09/2013REFERRED TO MENTAL HEALTH AND DEVELOPMENTAL DISABILITIES
01/08/2014REFERRED TO MENTAL HEALTH AND DEVELOPMENTAL DISABILITIES
02/10/2014AMEND AND RECOMMIT TO MENTAL HEALTH AND DEVELOPMENTAL DISABILITIES
02/10/2014PRINT NUMBER 991A
Go to top

S00991 Floor Votes:

There are no votes for this bill in this legislative session.
Go to top

S00991 Text:



 
                STATE OF NEW YORK
        ________________________________________________________________________
 
                                         991--A
 
                               2013-2014 Regular Sessions
 
                    IN SENATE
 
                                       (Prefiled)
 
                                     January 9, 2013
                                       ___________
 
        Introduced  by  Sen.  PARKER -- read twice and ordered printed, and when
          printed to be committed to the Committee on Mental Health and Develop-
          mental Disabilities -- recommitted to the Committee on  Mental  Health
          and  Developmental Disabilities in accordance with Senate Rule 6, sec.

          8 -- committee discharged, bill amended, ordered reprinted as  amended
          and recommitted to said committee
 
        AN  ACT  to  amend  the  mental  hygiene  law  and the education law, in
          relation to creating mental health incident review panels
 
          The People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and  Assem-
        bly, do enact as follows:
 
     1    Section  1.  The mental hygiene law is amended by adding a new section
     2  31.38 to read as follows:
     3  § 31.38 Mental health incident review panels.
     4    (a) The commissioner is authorized to establish a mental health  inci-
     5  dent  review  panel  for the purposes of reviewing the circumstances and
     6  events related to a serious incident  involving  a  person  with  mental
     7  illness.   For purposes of this section, a "serious incident involving a

     8  person with mental illness" means an incident occurring in the community
     9  in which a person with a serious mental illness is physically injured or
    10  causes physical injury to another  person,  or  suffers  a  serious  and
    11  preventable medical complication or becomes involved in a criminal inci-
    12  dent  involving violence. A panel shall conduct a review of such serious
    13  incident in an attempt to identify problems or  gaps  in  mental  health
    14  delivery  systems  and to make recommendations for corrective actions to
    15  improve the provision of mental health or related services,  to  improve
    16  the  coordination,  integration and accountability of care in the mental
    17  health service system, and to enhance individual and public safety.

    18    (b) A mental health incident review panel shall include, but need  not
    19  be  limited to, representatives from the office of mental health and the
    20  local governmental unit where the serious incident  involving  a  person
 
         EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
                              [ ] is old law to be omitted.
                                                                   LBD02833-02-4

        S. 991--A                           2
 
     1  with  a  mental  illness occurred. A mental health incident review panel
     2  may also include, if deemed appropriate by the commissioner based on the
     3  nature of the serious incident being reviewed,  one  or  more  represen-

     4  tatives  from  mental  health  providers,  local  departments  of social
     5  services, human services programs, hospitals, local  schools,  emergency
     6  medical  or  mental  health services, the office of the county attorney,
     7  state or local law enforcement agencies, the office of the medical exam-
     8  iner or the office of the coroner, or other appropriate state  or  local
     9  officials.
    10    (c)  Notwithstanding any other provision of law to the contrary and to
    11  the extent consistent with federal law, a mental health incident  review
    12  panel  shall  have  access  to  those  client-identifiable mental health
    13  records, as well as all records, documentation and reports  relating  to
    14  the  investigation of an incident by a facility in accordance with regu-

    15  lations of the commissioner, which are necessary for  the  investigation
    16  of  the  incident  and  the  preparation of a report of the incident, as
    17  provided in subdivision (e) of this section. A  mental  health  incident
    18  review panel established pursuant to this section shall be provided with
    19  access  to  all  other records in the possession of state or local offi-
    20  cials or agencies, within twenty-one  days  of  receipt  of  a  request,
    21  except  those records protected by section 190.25 of the criminal proce-
    22  dure law.
    23    (d) Mental health incident review panels, members of the review panels
    24  and persons who present information to a review panel shall have immuni-
    25  ty from civil and criminal liability for all reasonable and  good  faith

    26  actions  taken  pursuant to this section, and shall not be questioned in
    27  any civil or criminal proceeding regarding  any  opinions  formed  as  a
    28  result  of a meeting of such review panel. Nothing in this section shall
    29  be construed to prevent a  person  from  testifying  as  to  information
    30  obtained  independently  of  a  mental  health incident review panel, or
    31  information which is public.
    32    (e) Notwithstanding any other provision of law to  the  contrary,  all
    33  meetings  conducted, all reports and records made and maintained and all
    34  books and papers obtained by a mental health incident review panel shall
    35  be confidential, and shall not be open  or  made  available,  except  by

    36  court  order  or  as  set forth in subdivision (g) of this section. Each
    37  mental health incident review panel shall develop a report of the  inci-
    38  dent  investigated. Such report shall not contain any individually iden-
    39  tifiable information, and it shall be provided to the office  of  mental
    40  health  upon  completion. Such reports must be approved by the office of
    41  mental health prior to becoming final.
    42    (f) If quality problems of particular mental health programs are iden-
    43  tified based on such reviews, the commissioner is  authorized,  pursuant
    44  to  the relevant provisions of this chapter, to take appropriate actions
    45  regarding the licensure of particular providers, to refer the  issue  to

    46  other  responsible parties for investigation, or to take other appropri-
    47  ate action.
    48    (g) In his or her discretion, the commissioner shall be authorized  to
    49  provide  the  final  report of a review panel or portions thereof to any
    50  individual or entity for  whom  the  report  makes  recommendations  for
    51  corrective or other appropriate actions that should be taken.
    52    (h)  The  commissioner shall submit an annual cumulative report to the
    53  governor and the legislature incorporating the data in the mental health
    54  incident review panel reports and including a summary  of  the  findings
    55  and  recommendations  made  by such review panels. The annual cumulative
    56  reports may thereafter be made available to the public.


        S. 991--A                           3
 
     1    § 2. Subdivision (c) of section 33.13 of the  mental  hygiene  law  is
     2  amended by adding a new paragraph 17 to read as follows:
     3    17.  to  a  mental  health  incident review panel, or members thereof,
     4  established by the commissioner pursuant to section 31.38 of this title,
     5  in connection with incident reviews conducted by such panel.
     6    § 3. Subdivision 3 of section 6527 of the education law, as amended by
     7  chapter 257 of the laws of 1987, is amended to read as follows:
     8    3. No individual who serves as a member of (a) a committee established
     9  to administer a utilization review  plan  of  a  hospital,  including  a
    10  hospital  as defined in article twenty-eight of the public health law or
    11  a hospital as defined in subdivision ten of section 1.03 of  the  mental

    12  hygiene  law, or (b) a committee having the responsibility of the inves-
    13  tigation of an incident reported pursuant to section 29.29 of the mental
    14  hygiene law or the evaluation and improvement of  the  quality  of  care
    15  rendered  in a hospital as defined in article twenty-eight of the public
    16  health law or a hospital as defined in subdivision ten of  section  1.03
    17  of  the  mental  hygiene  law,  or  (c)  any medical review committee or
    18  subcommittee thereof of a local, county or state medical, dental, podia-
    19  try or optometrical society, any such  society  itself,  a  professional
    20  standards  review  organization  or  an  individual when such committee,
    21  subcommittee, society, organization  or  individual  is  performing  any
    22  medical or quality assurance review function including the investigation
    23  of  an incident reported pursuant to section 29.29 of the mental hygiene

    24  law, either described in  clauses  (a)  and  (b)  of  this  subdivision,
    25  required  by  law, or involving any controversy or dispute between (i) a
    26  physician, dentist, podiatrist or optometrist or hospital  administrator
    27  and  a  patient  concerning  the  diagnosis,  treatment  or care of such
    28  patient or the fees or charges therefor or (ii)  a  physician,  dentist,
    29  podiatrist  or  optometrist  or hospital administrator and a provider of
    30  medical, dental,  podiatric  or  optometrical  services  concerning  any
    31  medical or health charges or fees of such physician, dentist, podiatrist
    32  or  optometrist,  or (d) a committee appointed pursuant to section twen-
    33  ty-eight hundred five-j of the public health law to participate  in  the
    34  medical and dental malpractice prevention program, or (e) any individual
    35  who  participated in the preparation of incident reports required by the

    36  department of health pursuant to section twenty-eight hundred five-l  of
    37  the  public  health  law, or (f) a committee established to administer a
    38  utilization review plan, or a committee  having  the  responsibility  of
    39  evaluation  and improvement of the quality of care rendered, in a health
    40  maintenance organization  organized  under  article  forty-four  of  the
    41  public health law or article forty-three of the insurance law, including
    42  a  committee  of  an  individual  practice  association or medical group
    43  acting pursuant to a contract with such a health  maintenance  organiza-
    44  tion,  or (g) a mental health incident review panel convened pursuant to
    45  section 31.38 of the mental hygiene law, shall be liable in  damages  to
    46  any  person  for any action taken or recommendations made, by him or her

    47  within the scope of his or her function in such capacity  provided  that
    48  (a)  such individual has taken action or made recommendations within the
    49  scope of his or her function and without malice, and (b) in the  reason-
    50  able  belief  after reasonable investigation that the act or recommenda-
    51  tion was warranted, based upon the facts disclosed.
    52    Neither the proceedings nor the records relating to performance  of  a
    53  medical  or  a  quality  assurance review function or participation in a
    54  medical  and  dental  malpractice  prevention  program  nor  any  report
    55  required  by  the  department of health pursuant to section twenty-eight
    56  hundred five-l of the public health law described herein, including  the

        S. 991--A                           4
 
     1  investigation  of  an incident reported pursuant to section 29.29 of the

     2  mental hygiene law or reviewed pursuant to section 31.38 of  the  mental
     3  hygiene  law, shall be subject to disclosure under article thirty-one of
     4  the  civil  practice  law and rules except as hereinafter provided or as
     5  provided by any other provision of law. No person  in  attendance  at  a
     6  meeting  when  a  medical or a quality assurance review or a medical and
     7  dental malpractice prevention program or an incident reporting  function
     8  described  herein was performed, including the investigation of an inci-
     9  dent reported pursuant to section 29.29 of the mental hygiene law or  an
    10  incident  reviewed  pursuant to section 31.38 of the mental hygiene law,
    11  shall be required to testify as to what transpired thereat. The prohibi-
    12  tion relating to discovery of testimony shall not apply  to  the  state-

    13  ments  made by any person in attendance at such a meeting who is a party
    14  to an action or proceeding the subject matter of which was  reviewed  at
    15  such meeting.
    16    §  4.  This  act shall take effect on the thirtieth day after it shall
    17  have become a law.
Go to top