Requires every physician, physician assistant, specialist assistant, registered nurse and licensed practical nurse to complete course work or training regarding human immunodeficiency virus and sexually transmitted infections testing and the elements of sexual health including sexual orientation and gender identity.
STATE OF NEW YORK
________________________________________________________________________
725
2025-2026 Regular Sessions
IN ASSEMBLY(Prefiled)
January 8, 2025
___________
Introduced by M. of A. ROSENTHAL, GALLAGHER, SIMON, GONZALEZ-ROJAS,
JACKSON, BURDICK, FORREST, SEAWRIGHT, CLARK, LUNSFORD, RAGA -- read
once and referred to the Committee on Higher Education
AN ACT to amend the public health law and the education law, in relation
to providing course work and training in HIV and STI testing
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 section
2 239-c to read as follows:
3 § 239-c. Course work or training in HIV and STI testing practices. (a)
4 Every physician, physician assistant and specialist assistant practicing
5 in the state shall, within one year of the effective date of this
6 section and every four years thereafter, complete course work or train-
7 ing, appropriate to the professional's practice, approved by the depart-
8 ment regarding human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) and sexually transmit-
9 ted infections (STI) testing, and the elements of sexual health
10 including sexual orientation and gender identity. Such training shall
11 include best practices for discussing routes and risks of HIV and STI
12 transmission, advising as to the benefits of testing, the concept of
13 informed consent, working with allied health professionals and trained
14 peer health educators to facilitate testing upon consent, and providing
15 respectful and dignified care for patients of all sexual orientations
16 and gender identities, including patients who are intersex. The train-
17 ings shall be conducted in accordance with regulatory standards promul-
18 gated by the department in consultation with the department of educa-
19 tion, to facilitate the testing of HIV and STIs in the course of
20 professional practice. Such course work or training shall also be
21 completed by every medical student, medical resident and physician
22 assistant student in the state as part of the orientation programs
EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
[] is old law to be omitted.
LBD02264-01-5
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1 conducted by medical schools, medical residency programs and physician
2 assistant programs.
3 (b) Every physician, physician assistant, specialist assistant,
4 medical student, medical resident and physician assistant student must
5 provide to the department documentation demonstrating the completion of
6 and competence in the course work or training required under subdivision
7 (a) of this section, provided however, that physicians subject to the
8 provisions of paragraph (f) of subdivision one of section twenty-eight
9 hundred five-k of this chapter shall not be required to provide such
10 documentation to the department.
11 (c) The department shall provide an exemption from the requirements
12 imposed by subdivision (a) of this section to anyone who requests such
13 an exemption and who (i) clearly demonstrates to the department's satis-
14 faction that there would be no need for such person to complete such
15 course work or training because of the nature of such person's practice
16 or (ii) that such person has completed course work or training deemed by
17 the department to be equivalent to the standards for course work or
18 training approved by the department pursuant to this section. An indi-
19 vidual granted an exemption must reapply to continue such exemption
20 every four years.
21 (d) The department shall consult with organizations representative of
22 professions, institutions, persons living with HIV, persons of all sexu-
23 al orientations and gender identities, persons who are intersex, and
24 those with expertise in issues of consent and medical ethics with
25 respect to the regulatory standards promulgated pursuant to this
26 section. On or before September first, two thousand thirty-three, and
27 periodically thereafter as determined necessary by the commissioner, the
28 department, including its patient safety center, in consultation with
29 the council on graduate medical education, shall review and revise the
30 content of the course work or training in HIV and STI testing practices
31 as necessary to ensure that such content: (i) reflects the current
32 infection control practices and standards accepted and promoted by the
33 medical and scientific communities; (ii) focuses particular attention on
34 instruction in standards of practice for which compliance is suboptimal
35 based on the department's experience; and (iii) emphasizes the impor-
36 tance of working with allied health care professionals and staff,
37 including nurses, patient aides, and peer health educators, in imple-
38 menting best practices in testing and advising.
39 § 2. The education law is amended by adding a new section 6505-f to
40 read as follows:
41 § 6505-f. Course work or training in HIV testing practices. Every
42 registered nurse and licensed practical nurse practicing in the state
43 shall, within one year of the effective date of this section and every
44 four years thereafter, complete course work or training, appropriate to
45 the professional's practice, approved by the department regarding human
46 immunodeficiency virus (HIV) and sexually transmitted infections (STI)
47 testing, and the elements of sexual health including sexual orientation
48 and gender identity, in accordance with regulatory standards promulgated
49 by the department in consultation with the department of health, which
50 shall be consistent, as far as appropriate, with such standards adopted
51 by the department of health pursuant to section two hundred thirty-nine
52 of the public health law. Each professional shall document to the
53 department at the time of registration, commencing with the first regis-
54 tration after this section takes effect that such professional has
55 completed the course work or training in accordance with this section,
56 provided, however, that a professional subject to the provisions of
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1 paragraph (f) of subdivision one of section twenty-eight hundred five-k
2 of the public health law shall not be required to submit such document.
3 The department shall provide an exemption from the requirements imposed
4 by this section to anyone who requests such an exemption and who (i)
5 clearly demonstrates to the department's satisfaction that there would
6 be no need for such person to complete such course work or training
7 because of the nature of such person's practice or (ii) that such person
8 has completed course work or training deemed by the department to be
9 equivalent to the standards for course work or training approved by the
10 department pursuant to this section. The department shall consult with
11 organizations representative of professions, institutions, persons
12 living with HIV, persons of all sexual orientations and gender identi-
13 ties, persons who are intersex, and those with expertise in issues of
14 consent and medical ethics with respect to the regulatory standards
15 promulgated pursuant to this section.
16 § 3. This act shall take effect immediately.
