NY Pub Health L § 4310 (2021)
2021 New York Laws PBH - Public Health Article 43 - Anatomical Gifts 4310 - New York State Donate Life Registry for Organ, Eye and Tissue Donations.

§  4310. New York state donate life registry for organ, eye and tissue donations. 1. The department shall establish an organ, eye,  and  tissue donor  registry, which shall be called and be referred to as the "donate life registry", which shall provide a means to make and register a  gift of  organs,  eyes and tissues to take place after death pursuant to this article. The donate life registry shall contain a listing of all  donors who have declared their consent to make an anatomical gift.   2.  The  commissioner  may  enter  into  a multi-year contract for the operation and promotion of the donate  life  registry  subject  to  such terms  and  conditions  as  may be contained within such contract with a not-for-profit organization that has experience working with organ,  eye and tissue procurement organizations, has expertise in conducting organ, eye  and  tissue donor promotional campaigns, and is affiliated with the organ, eye and tissue  donation  community  throughout  the  state.  The contractor  may  subcontract  as needed for the effective performance of the contract. All such subcontractors and the terms of such subcontracts shall be subject to approval by the commissioner. Any  applicable  state agency, including, but not limited to, the department, the department of motor  vehicles  and  the  board  of  elections,  shall cooperate in the collection and transfer of registrant data to the donate life registry.   3. The duties of the contractor shall include, but not be limited  to, the following:  (a) the development, implementation and maintenance of the donate life registry  that includes online, mailed and other forms of organ, eye and tissue donor registration, verification, amendment and revocation;  (b) preparation and submission of a plan to encourage organ,  eye  and tissue  donation  through  education  and  marketing  efforts  and other recommendations that would streamline  and  enhance  the  cost-effective operation of the donate life registry;  (c) provision of written or electronic notification of registration in the  donate  life registry to an individual enrolling in the donate life registry; and  (d) preparation and submission of an  annual  written  report  to  the department. Such report shall include:  (i)  a  performance  matrix including the number of registrants on the donate  life  registry  and  an  analysis  of  the  registration  rates, including   but  not  limited  to,  location,  method  of  registration, demographic, and state comparisons;  (ii) the characteristics of registrants as determined from the  donate life registry information;  (iii)  the annual dollar amount of voluntary contributions received by the contractor for the purposes of maintaining the donate life  registry and/or educational and promotional campaigns and initiatives;  (iv)  a  description  of  the  promotional  campaigns  and initiatives implemented during the year; and  (v)  accounting  statements  of  expenditures  for  the  purposes   of maintaining  the  donate  life  registry  and  promotional campaigns and initiatives.   4. (a) For the period April first, two thousand fourteen through March thirty-first, two thousand fifteen, payments to the contractor shall  be paid by the department.  (b)  For  the  period  beginning April first, two thousand fifteen and thereafter, payments to the contractor shall be paid by  the  department from  funds available for these purposes, including, but not limited to, the funds deposited into the life pass it  on  trust  fund  pursuant  to section ninety-five-d of the state finance law.  (c)  In  addition,  the  contractor  may  receive  and  use  voluntary contributions.    5. (a) Such organ, eye and tissue registration of consent to  make  an anatomical  gift  can  be  made  through:  (i)  indication  made  on the application or renewal form of a driver's license, (ii) indication  made on  a  non-driver identification card application or renewal form, (iii) indication  made  on  a  voter registration form pursuant to subdivision five of section 5-210 of the election law, (iv) indication made  on  the application  for  health  care coverage offered through the state health benefit exchange,  (v)  enrollment  through  the  donate  life  registry website,  (vi)  paper  enrollment submitted to the donate life registry, (vii) indication made on the application or renewal form of  a  hunting, fishing  or  trapping  license issued pursuant to title seven of article eleven of the environmental conservation  law,  or  (viii)  through  any other  method  identified  by  the  commissioner.  The  department shall establish a means by which to register the consent given by  individuals who  are  sixteen or seventeen years of age in the donate life registry, and shall make registration available by any of the methods provided  in subparagraphs  (i),  (ii),  (iii),  (iv),  (v),  (vi)  and (vii) of this paragraph.  (b) (i) Where required by law  for  registration  forms  described  in subparagraphs  (i),  (ii) and (iv) of paragraph (a) of this subdivision, the commissioner shall ensure that space is provided on any registration form so that the applicant shall register or decline registration in the donate life registry for organ, eye  and  tissue  donations  under  this section  and  that  the  following  is  stated  on the form in clear and conspicuous type:   "You must fill out the following section: Would you like to  be  added to  the  Donate  Life  Registry?  Check  box  for  'yes'  or  'skip this question'."  (ii) The commissioner shall not maintain records  of  any  person  who checks  "skip  this  question".  Except where the application is made in person or electronically, failure to check a box shall  not  impair  the validity of an application, and failure to check "yes" or checking "skip this  question" shall not be construed to imply a wish not to donate. In the case of an applicant under eighteen years  of  age,  checking  "yes" shall  not constitute consent to make an anatomical gift or registration in the donate life registry, except as otherwise  provided  pursuant  to the   provisions   of  paragraph  (b)  of  subdivision  one  of  section forty-three  hundred  one  of  this  article.  Where  an  applicant  has previously  consented  to  make  an anatomical gift or registered in the donate life registry, checking "skip this question" or failing to  check a box shall not impair that consent or registration.  (c)  Enrollment  or  amendment  or  revocation through the donate life registry website through any of the means listed in this subdivision may be signed by electronic signature, in accordance with the provisions  of article  three  of  the  state  technology  law, supported by the use of suitable mechanisms including unique identifiers to  provide  confidence in  the  identity  of the person providing the electronic signature. The registration  shall  take  effect  upon  the  provision  of  written  or electronic notice of the registration to the individual enrolling in the donate life registry.  (d)  Amendments  or revocations from the donate life registry shall be made by the following, subject to the requirements of the commissioner:  (i) registrants submitting an amendment or revocation  in  writing  to the donate life registry; or  (ii)  registrants submitting an amendment or revocation electronically through the donate life registry website.  (e) Removal from the donate  life  registry  shall  not  be  deemed  a refusal of any other or future anatomical gift.  (f)  The  donate  life registry shall provide individuals enrolled the opportunity to specify which organs,  eyes  and  tissues  they  want  to donate and if the donation may be used for transplantation, research, or both.   6.  An  individual  registered in the donate life registry before July twenty-third, two thousand eight  shall  be  deemed  to  have  expressed intent  to  donate, until and unless he or she files an amendment to his or her registration or a new registration expressing consent to donate.   7. (a) The donate life registry shall be maintained in a  manner  that allows  immediate  access  to  organ,  eye  and  tissue donation records twenty-four hours a day, seven  days  a  week  to  the  contractor,  the department,   federally   designated  organ  procurement  organizations, licensed eye and tissue banks, and such  other  entities  which  may  be approved  by  the  department  for  access. Access shall be available to registrants to confirm the accuracy and validity of  their  registration and  to  amend  or  revoke  their  registration,  subject  to reasonable procedures to verify identity.  (b) Access to the donate life registry shall  have  security  measures set  forth  in the contract to protect the integrity of the identifiable data in the donate life registry, which may  only  be  accessed  by  the parties  described in paragraph (a) of this subdivision and only for the purposes of determining donor status at or near the time of death of  an individual,  by  the  department for any purpose, by the contractor only for purposes of quality assessment and  improvement,  technical  support and  donor  services,  or  by individual registrants for the purposes of confirming the accuracy and validity of their  registration  or  making, amending or revoking their registration.  (c)  De-identified  information may be accessed by the entities listed in paragraph (a) of this subdivision or their designees for purposes  of analysis,   promotion,  education,  quality  improvement  and  technical support for the donate life registry. The information contained  in  the registry  shall  not  be  released  to  any  person  except as expressly authorized by this section, solely for the purposes so authorized.   8. The commissioner is authorized to promulgate rules and  regulations necessary to implement the provisions of this section.   9.  An  interagency  work  group,  composed  of  the commissioner, the commissioner of the department of motor vehicles, a chair of  the  board of  elections,  or their designees, and such other individuals as may be designated by the commissioner, shall be established to  meet  with  the contractor  annually  and  as  needed to review the status of the donate life registry, to examine  the  steps  that  might  be  taken  by  state agencies  to  enhance its performance and to make recommendations to the contractor.