NEW YORK STATE ASSEMBLY MEMORANDUM IN SUPPORT OF LEGISLATION submitted in accordance with Assembly Rule III, Sec 1(f)
BILL NUMBER: A8117
SPONSOR: Solages TITLE OF BILL:
An act to amend the education law, in relation to requiring certain
health care providers to disclose certain facts in regards to probation
to current and new patients
PURPOSE:
The purpose of the bill is to require certain health care providers to
disclose the fact that the provider is on probation to current and new
patients.
SUMMARY:
Section 1. Amends the education law by adding a new section 6511-a.
Section 2. Sets the effective date.
JUSTIFICATION:
The bill aims to promote patient and provider trust while providing
patients with much better clarity when it comes to their chosen provid-
ers. In 2018, an experienced pediatric surgeon was charged with profes-
sional misconduct in the treatment of 5 children between 2010-2012.
According to the New York State Health Department, the provider "devi-
ated from accepted standards of care or failed to exercise the care that
a reasonably prudent pediatric surgeon would have exercised under simi-
lar circumstances." Despite having a series of negligent charges filed
against her, that provider still kept her positions as a surgeon and
associate professor at a hospital in Buffalo. The provider had her first
gross negligence case in 2010. Then she failed to perform a proper
colostomy on a 6-year-o Id. According to charges filed against her, she
brought out the wrong end of the patient's colon.
One of the following cases was filed against her reads as follows:
"respondent failed to timely and/or adequately evaluate and/or diagnose
and/or treat Patient E for signs and/or symptoms of bowel obstruction
and/or bowel stricture." Presently, there is not a law in the state of
New York that Mandates doctors to disclose their disciplinary actions to
their patients. Having patients look up their doctors through the OPM
website or www.nydoctorprofile.com can be time-consuming, and the
medical jargon itself is confusing. The patient should know if a doctor
has been disciplined before allowing him to operate their loved ones.
In this doctor's case, the patient's parents would have benefited from
such information. Probation does not automatically mean a doctor is no
longer qualified to practice medicine.
In 2017, the NYS. Department of Health, Office of Professional Medical
Conduct (OPM) stated 1396 licensees were being monitored; 480 for
impairment issues; 916 for probations other than impairments. Not all
licensees comply with the determinations of their Board orders. For
instance, in 2017, the Board for Professional medical Conduct had to
impose disciplinary action against a total of 9 physicians for failure
to comply with orders,7 of those physicians lost their licenses. The
other 3 physicians had to go to court hearings because of their failure
to comply with their probation orders.
This bill seeks to provide patients with a better understanding of their
doctors' medical license status and facilitate the trust between the two
parties.
RACIAL JUSTICE IMPACT:
TBD.
GENDER JUSTICE IMPACT:
TBD.
LEGISLATIVE HISTORY:
2022: A10010; referred to higher education.
FISCAL IMPLICATIONS:.
None.
EFFECTIVE DATE:
This act shall take effect on the one hundred eightieth day after it
shall have become a law and shall apply to all probationary orders
issued on or after January 1, 2024. Effective immediately, the addition,
amendment and/or repeal of any rule or regulation necessary for the
implementation of this act on its effective date are authorized to be
made and completed on or before such effective date.
STATE OF NEW YORK
________________________________________________________________________
8117
2023-2024 Regular Sessions
IN ASSEMBLY
October 13, 2023
___________
Introduced by M. of A. SOLAGES -- read once and referred to the Commit-
tee on Higher Education
AN ACT to amend the education law, in relation to requiring certain
health care providers to disclose certain facts in regards to
probation to current and new patients
The People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and Assem-bly, do enact as follows:
1 Section 1. The education law is amended by adding a new section 6511-a
2 to read as follows:
3 § 6511-a. Disclosure of probationary status. (1) The provisions of
4 this section shall apply to any person licensed under the following
5 articles of this title: one hundred thirty-one (medicine), one hundred
6 thirty-one-B (physician assistants), one hundred thirty-two (chiroprac-
7 tic), one hundred thirty-three (dentistry and dental hygiene), one
8 hundred thirty-four (licensed perfusionists), one hundred thirty-six
9 (physical therapy and physical therapist assistants), one hundred thir-
10 ty-nine (nursing), one hundred forty (professional midwifery practice),
11 one hundred forty-one (podiatry), one hundred forty-three (optometry),
12 one hundred fifty-five (massage therapy), one hundred fifty-six (occupa-
13 tional therapy), one hundred sixty (acupuncture), and one hundred
14 sixty-four (respiratory therapists and respiratory therapy technicians).
15 (2) As used in this section:
16 (a) "licensee" means any person licensed to practice a profession
17 governed by the articles of this title listed in subdivision one of this
18 section; and
19 (b) "state board" means the state board for each profession governed
20 by the articles of this title listed in subdivision one of this section
21 and appointed by the board of regents pursuant to section sixty-five
22 hundred eight of this article.
23 (3) The department and the applicable state board shall require a
24 licensee or, in the event that the patient's appointment is at a
EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
[] is old law to be omitted.
LBD02593-01-3
A. 8117 2
1 location other than the licensee's practice, the licensee or the hospi-
2 tal or practice where the patient's appointment is occurring to disclose
3 the following on a separate document: the licensee's probationary
4 status; the cause or causes for probation in the statement of the issues
5 or the legal conclusions of an administrative law judge; the length of
6 the probation and the end date; all practice restrictions placed on the
7 licensee by the board; the address of the applicable state board's
8 internet website; and the applicable state board's telephone number to a
9 current or new patient, the patient's guardian or the patient's health
10 care surrogate prior to the patient's first visit following the proba-
11 tionary order while the licensee is on probation pursuant to a proba-
12 tionary order made after January first, two thousand twenty-four, in any
13 of the circumstances listed in paragraph (a), (b), (c) or (d) of this
14 subdivision. Such written disclosure shall be provided to the patient,
15 the patient's guardian or the patient's health care surrogate in the
16 licensee's office prior to the time the patient enters the examination
17 room and the examination or treatment commences. The licensee or, in
18 the event that the patient's appointment is at a location other than the
19 licensee's practice, the licensee or the hospital or practice where the
20 patient's appointment is occurring shall provide the disclosure under
21 the following circumstances:
22 (a) A complaint filed against the licensee indicates or the legal
23 conclusions of an administrative law judge find that the licensee is
24 implicated in any of the following:
25 (i) gross negligence;
26 (ii) repeated negligent acts involving a departure from the standard
27 of care with multiple patients;
28 (iii) felony conviction arising from or occurring during patient care
29 or treatment; or
30 (iv) mental illness or other cognitive impairment that impedes a
31 licensee's ability to safely render patient care.
32 (b) The applicable state board ordered any of the following in
33 conjunction with placing the licensee on probation:
34 (i) that a third-party chaperone be present when the licensee examines
35 patients as a result of sexual misconduct; and/or
36 (ii) that the licensee have a monitor.
37 (c) The licensee has not successfully completed a training program or
38 any associated examinations required by the board as a condition of
39 probation.
40 (d) The licensee has been on probation more than once.
41 (4) The licensee or, in the event that the patient's appointment is at
42 a location other than the licensee's practice, the licensee or the
43 hospital or practice where the patient's appointment is occurring shall
44 obtain from each patient a signed receipt following the disclosure
45 described in subdivision three of this section that includes a written
46 explanation of how the patient can find further information on the
47 licensee's probation on the applicable state board's internet website.
48 (5) If a patient, the patient's guardian, or the patient's health care
49 surrogate elects to cancel the patient's appointment with the licensee
50 upon being provided with the disclosure required by subdivision three of
51 this section, neither the patient nor the patient's insurance company
52 shall be charged for the appointment.
53 (6) Any person who violates the provisions of this section shall be
54 subject to a penalty not to exceed two thousand dollars. Any person who
55 commits subsequent, willful violations of the provisions of this section
A. 8117 3
1 shall have his or her license suspended for a period of time to be
2 determined by the commissioner.
3 § 2. This act shall take effect on the one hundred eightieth day after
4 it shall have become a law and shall apply to all probationary orders
5 issued on or after January 1, 2024. Effective immediately, the addition,
6 amendment and/or repeal of any rule or regulation necessary for the
7 implementation of this act on its effective date are authorized to be
8 made and completed on or before such effective date.
