NY Ment Hygiene L § 31.01 (2021)
2021 New York Laws MHY - Mental Hygiene Title E - General Provisions Article 31 - Regulation and Quality Control of Services for the Mentally Disabled 31.01 - Evaluation of Services for the Mentally Disabled.

§ 31.01 Evaluation of services for the mentally disabled.  (a)  The  commissioner shall ensure that all services for the mentally disabled, whether provided by the department, by  a  local  governmental unit  or  by a provider of services, are periodically evaluated and that departmental budget requests reflect such evaluations.  (b) In order to ensure that such evaluations and the resulting reports and data generated are comparable  for  all  services  to  the  mentally disabled  throughout  the state, the commissioner shall promulgate rules and regulations requiring the development  of  evaluation  criteria  and methods which shall include, but not be limited to:  (1) uniform definitions of services for the mentally disabled;  (2) uniform financial and clinical reporting procedures;  (3)  requirements  for  the generation and maintenance of uniform data for all individuals receiving services from any provider of services;  (4) uniform criteria for evaluating categories of need; and  (5) uniform standards for all comparable services and programs.  (c) A timetable  for  development  and  implementation  of  evaluation criteria  and methods shall be included in such rules and regulations to ensure the orderly and adequate compliance by  the  department  and  its facilities,  local  governmental  units  and providers of services. Such timetable shall also include specific dates  by  which  such  evaluation criteria and methods, and the evaluation reports and data developed with such  criteria  and  methods  shall  be  included  in the budget request submitted  to  the  department  by  the  department  facilities,   local governmental units and providers of services.  (d)  (1) Notwithstanding any other provision of law, the commissioner, or his designee, may require from any hospital, as defined under article twenty-eight of the public  health  law,  any  information,  report,  or record  necessary  for the purpose of carrying out the functions, powers and duties of the commissioner related to the  investigation  of  deaths and  complaints  of  abuse, mistreatment, or neglect concerning mentally disabled individuals  who  receive  services,  or  had  prior  to  death received  services,  in  a  facility  as defined in section 1.03 of this chapter, and have been treated at such hospitals.  (2) Any information, report, or record requested by  the  commissioner or  his  designee  pursuant to this subdivision shall be limited to that information  that  the  commissioner  determines   necessary   for   the completion of his investigation.  (3)  The information, report or record received by the commissioner or his designee pursuant to this subdivision shall be  subject  to  section two thousand eight hundred five-m, section eighteen, as added by chapter four hundred ninety-seven of the laws of nineteen hundred eighty-six and article  twenty-seven-F  of the public health law, section 33.13 of this chapter, and any applicable federal statute or regulation.