STATE OF NEW YORK
________________________________________________________________________
1997--A
Cal. No. 628
2015-2016 Regular Sessions
IN SENATE
January 21, 2015
___________
Introduced by Sen. GOLDEN -- read twice and ordered printed, and when
printed to be committed to the Committee on Cities -- reported favora-
bly from said committee, ordered to first and second report, amended
on second report, ordered to a third reading, and to be reprinted as
amended, retaining its place in the order of third reading
AN ACT to amend the public health law, in relation to the protection of
private patient information by ambulance services
The People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and Assem-bly, do enact as follows:
1 Section 1. Section 3001 of the public health law is amended by adding
2 two new subdivisions 22 and 23 to read as follows:
3 22. "Individual identifying information" means information identifying
4 or tending to identify a patient.
5 23. "Marketing" means, but is not limited to, advertising, detailing,
6 marketing, promotion, or any activity that is intended to be or could be
7 used to influence business volume, sales or market share or evaluate the
8 effectiveness of marketing practices or personnel, regardless of whether
9 the beneficiary of the marketing is a governmental, for-profit, or not-
10 for-profit entity.
11 § 2. The public health law is amended by adding a new section 3006-a
12 to read as follows:
13 § 3006-a. Patient privacy. 1. No ambulance service, advanced life
14 support first response service, or employee, member or agent thereof
15 shall disclose, sell, transfer, exchange or use any individual identify-
16 ing information to any person or entity for the purpose of marketing.
17 2. Notwithstanding subdivision one of this section, and subject to
18 otherwise applicable law, individual identifying information may be
19 disclosed, sold, transferred or exchanged to:
20 (a) the patient who is the subject of the information, or a person
21 authorized to make health care decisions for the patient;
EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
[] is old law to be omitted.
LBD02344-02-5
S. 1997--A 2
1 (b) a health care provider providing care or treatment to the patient,
2 for the purpose of such care or treatment; or a health information
3 system subject to regulations of the department, for the purpose of such
4 care or treatment;
5 (c) an officer, inspector or investigator for a government health,
6 licensing or law enforcement agency acting under appropriate legal
7 authority;
8 (d) a person authorized by a court order to receive such information;
9 (e) the patient's health plan, insurer, or third party payer, or an
10 agent thereof, for the purpose of payment or reimbursement for health
11 care services, including determining compliance with the terms of cover-
12 age or medical necessity, or utilization review;
13 (f) a person or entity to whom, and for a purpose for which, disclo-
14 sure or transfer is otherwise explicitly authorized or required by law;
15 (g) a person or entity acting as an employee or agent of a person or
16 entity under any preceding paragraph of this subdivision, for the
17 purpose of and consistent with that paragraph; or
18 (h) a government entity as provided by law.
19 3. Nothing in this section shall prohibit the collection, use, trans-
20 fer, or sale of patient data by zip code, geographic region, or medical
21 specialty for marketing purposes, providing it does not contain individ-
22 ual identifying information.
23 4. This section shall not prevent a person from disclosing, selling,
24 transferring, or exchanging for value individual identifying information
25 pertaining to that person, for any purpose; provided that the informa-
26 tion does not include individual identifying information pertaining to
27 any other person.
28 5. This section does not prohibit a not-for-profit or governmental
29 ambulance service or advanced life support first response service, or
30 agent thereof, from using individual identifying information in
31 connection with fund-raising for such service; providing that such use
32 shall not include disclosing the individual's patient status.
33 6. No person or entity to whom or which individual identifying infor-
34 mation is disclosed, sold, transferred or exchanged shall disclose,
35 sell, transfer or exchange it to any person or entity other than for the
36 lawful purpose for which it was disclosed, sold, transferred or
37 exchanged to the person or entity, and without satisfactory assurance
38 that the recipient will safeguard the records from being disclosed or
39 used for marketing purposes.
40 7. This section does not authorize any disclosure, sale, transfer, or
41 exchange of individual identifying information that is not otherwise
42 authorized or required by law.
43 8. In addition to the commissioner's authority to enforce this section
44 under section three thousand twelve of this article, the attorney gener-
45 al shall have the authority to bring an action to enforce compliance
46 with this section without referral by the commissioner.
47 § 3. This act shall take effect on the one hundred eightieth day after
48 it shall become a law; provided that, effective immediately, the commis-
49 sioner of health may make regulations and take other actions reasonably
50 necessary to implement this act on such date.
