N.Y. PBH Law § 2780 — New York Code / Act PBH / Article 27-F / Section 2780
Definitions
Status: in_force

§ 2780. Definitions. As used in this article, the following terms\nshall have the following meanings:\n  1. "AIDS" means acquired immune deficiency syndrome, as may be defined\nfrom time to time by the centers for disease control of the United\nStates public health service.\n  2. "HIV infection" means infection with the human immunodeficiency\nvirus or any other related virus identified as a probable causative\nagent of AIDS.\n  3. "HIV related illness" means any illness that may result from or may\nbe associated with HIV infection.\n  4. "HIV related test or HIV related testing" means any laboratory\ntest, tests or series of tests approved for the diagnosis of HIV.\n  4-a. "Rapid HIV test or testing" means any laboratory screening test\nor tests approved for detecting antibodies to HIV, that produce results\nin sixty minutes or less, and encompasses a confirmatory HIV related\ntest if the screening test is reactive.\n  5. "Capacity to consent" means an individual's ability, determined\nwithout regard to the individual's age, to understand and appreciate the\nnature and consequences of a proposed health care service, treatment, or\nprocedure, or of a proposed disclosure of confidential HIV related\ninformation, as the case may be, and to make an informed decision\nconcerning the service, treatment, procedure or disclosure.\n  6. "Protected individual" means a person who is the subject of an HIV\nrelated test or who has been diagnosed as having HIV infection, AIDS or\nHIV related illness.\n  7. "Confidential HIV related information" means any information, in\nthe possession of a person who provides one or more health or social\nservices or who obtains the information pursuant to a release of\nconfidential HIV related information, concerning whether an individual\nhas been the subject of an HIV related test, or has HIV infection, HIV\nrelated illness or AIDS, or information which identifies or reasonably\ncould identify an individual as having one or more of such conditions,\nincluding information pertaining to such individual's contacts.\n  8. "Health or social service" means any public or private care,\ntreatment, clinical laboratory test, counseling or educational service\nfor adults or children, and acute, chronic, custodial, residential,\noutpatient, home or other health care provided pursuant to this chapter\nor the social services law; public assistance or care as defined in\narticle one of the social services law; employment-related services,\nhousing services, foster care, shelter, protective services, day care,\nor preventive services provided pursuant to the social services law;\nservices for the mentally disabled as defined in article one of the\nmental hygiene law; probation services, provided pursuant to articles\ntwelve and twelve-A of the executive law; parole services, provided\npursuant to article eight of the correction law; corrections and\ncommunity supervision, provided pursuant to the correction law;\ndetention and rehabilitative services provided pursuant to article\nnineteen-G of the executive law; and the activities of the health care\nworker HIV/HBV advisory panel pursuant to article twenty-seven-DD of\nthis chapter.\n  9. "Release of confidential HIV related information" means a written\nauthorization for disclosure of confidential HIV related information\nwhich is signed by the protected individual, or if the protected\nindividual lacks capacity to consent, a person authorized pursuant to\nlaw to consent to health care for the individual. Such release shall be\ndated and shall specify to whom disclosure is authorized, the purpose\nfor such disclosure and the time period during which the release is to\nbe effective. A general authorization for the release of medical or\nother information shall not be construed as a release of confidential\nHIV related information, unless such authorization specifically\nindicates its dual purpose as a general authorization and an\nauthorization for the release of confidential HIV related information\nand complies with the requirements of this subdivision.\n  10. "Contact" means an identified spouse or sex partner of the\nprotected individual, a person identified as having shared hypodermic\nneedles or syringes with the protected individual or a person who the\nprotected individual may have exposed to HIV under circumstances that\npresent a risk of transmission of HIV, as determined by the\ncommissioner.\n  11. "Person" includes any natural person, partnership, association,\njoint venture, trust, public or private corporation, or state or local\ngovernment agency.\n  12. "Health facility" means a hospital as defined in section two\nthousand eight hundred one of this chapter, blood bank, blood center,\nsperm bank, organ or tissue bank, clinical laboratory, or facility\nproviding care or treatment to persons with a mental disability as\ndefined in article one of the mental hygiene law.\n  13. "Health care provider" means any physician, nurse, provider of\nservices for the mentally disabled as defined in article one of the\nmental hygiene law, or other person involved in providing medical,\nnursing, counseling, or other health care or mental health service,\nincluding those associated with, or under contract to, a health\nmaintenance organization or medical services plan.\n  14. "Child" means any protected individual actually or apparently\nunder eighteen years of age.\n  15. "Authorized agency" means any agency defined by section three\nhundred seventy-one of the social services law and, for the purposes of\nthis article, shall include such corporations incorporated or organized\nunder the laws of the state as may be specifically authorized by their\ncertificates of incorporation to receive children for the purposes of\nadoption or foster care.\n  16. "Insurance institution" means any corporation, association,\npartnership, reciprocal exchange, interinsurer, fraternal benefits\nsociety, agent, broker or other entity including, but not limited to,\nany health maintenance organization, medical service plan, or hospital\nplan which: (a) is engaged in the business of insurance; (b) provides\nhealth services coverage plans; or (c) provides benefits under,\nadministers, or provides services for, an employee welfare benefit plan\nas defined in 29 U.S.C. 1002(1).\n  17. "Insurance support organization" means any person who regularly\nengages, in whole or in part, in the practice of assembling or\ncollecting information about natural persons for the primary purpose of\nproviding the information to an insurance institution for insurance\ntransactions, including: (a) the furnishing of consumer reports or\ninvestigative consumer reports to an insurance instititution for use in\nconnection with an insurance transaction; or (b) the collection of\npersonal information from insurance institutions or other insurance\nsupport organizations for the purpose of detecting or preventing fraud,\nmaterial misrepresentation, or material non-disclosure in connection\nwith insurance underwriting or insurance claim activity. The following\npersons shall not be considered "insurance-support organizations" for\nthe purposes of this article: government institutions, insurance\ninstitutions, health facilities and health care providers.\n