NY Pub Health L § 2805-U (2021)
2021 New York Laws PBH - Public Health Article 28 - Hospitals 2805-U - Credentialing and Privileging of Health Care Practioners Providing Telemedicine Services.

§  2805-u.  Credentialing and privileging of health care practitioners providing telemedicine services. 1. For purposes of this section:  (a) "Distant site hospital" means a hospital licensed pursuant to this article or a hospital licensed by another state, that has  entered  into an  agreement with an originating hospital to make available one or more health care practitioners that are members of its clinical staff to  the originating   hospital   for  the  purposes  of  providing  telemedicine services. To qualify as a distant site hospital  for  purposes  of  this article,  a  hospital  licensed  by  another  state must comply with the federal regulations governing participation by hospitals in Medicare.  (b) "Health care practitioner" shall mean a person  licensed  pursuant to article one hundred thirty-one, one hundred thirty-one-B, one hundred thirty-three,  one  hundred  thirty-nine, one hundred forty, one hundred forty-one, one hundred forty-three, one hundred forty-four, one  hundred fifty-three,  one  hundred  fifty-four  or one hundred fifty-nine of the education law, or as otherwise authorized by the commissioner.  (c) "Originating hospital" means the hospital at which  a  patient  is located at the time telemedicine services are provided to him or her.  (d) "Telemedicine" means the delivery of clinical health care services by  means  of  real  time two-way electronic audio-visual communications which facilitate the  assessment,  diagnosis,  consultation,  treatment, education,  care  management  and  self management of a patient's health care while such patient is at the originating site and the  health  care provider is at a distant site.   2.   When   telemedicine  services  are  provided  to  an  originating hospital's patients  pursuant  to  an  agreement  with  a  distant  site hospital,  the  originating  hospital  may,  in  lieu  of satisfying the requirements set forth in section twenty-eight hundred  five-k  of  this article, rely on the credentialing and privileging decisions made by the distant  site  hospital  in  granting or renewing privileges to a health care practitioner who is a member of the clinical staff of  the  distant site hospital, provided that:  (a) the distant site hospital participates in Medicare and Medicaid;  (b)  each  health care practitioner providing telemedicine is licensed to practice in this state;  (c)  the  distant  site  hospital,  in  accordance  with  requirements otherwise  applicable  to  that  hospital,  collects  and  evaluates all credentialing  information  concerning  each  health  care  practitioner providing  telemedicine  services,  performs  all  required verification activities, and acts on behalf of the originating site hospital for such credentialing purposes;  (d) the distant site hospital reviews periodically, at least every two years, and as otherwise warranted based on outcomes, complaints or other circumstances,  the  credentials,  privileges,   physical   and   mental capacity,  and  competence  in  delivering  health care services of each health care practitioner  providing  telemedicine  services,  consistent with  requirements  otherwise  applicable  to that hospital; reports the results of such review to the originating  hospital;  and  notifies  the originating  hospital  immediately  upon  any suspension, revocation, or limitation of such privileges;  (e) with respect to each distant site  health  care  practitioner  who holds  privileges  at the originating hospital, the originating hospital conducts a periodic internal review, at least every two  years,  of  the distant site practitioner's performance of these privileges and provides the  distant  site hospital with such performance information for use in the distant hospital's periodic appraisal of the distant site  physician or  health  care  practitioner.  Such  information  shall  include, at a minimum, all adverse events that result from the  telemedicine  services  provided by the distant site health care practitioner to the originating hospital's   patients,  all  complaints  the  originating  hospital  has received about  the  distant  site  practitioner,  and  any  revocation, suspension  or  limitation of the distant site practitioner's privileges by the originating hospital; and  (f) the agreement entered into between the originating  site  hospital and distant site hospital shall be in writing and shall, at a minimum:  (i)  provide  the  categories  of  health  care practitioners that are eligible  candidates  for  appointment  to  the  originating  hospital's clinical staff,  (ii) require the governing body of the distant site hospital to comply with  the Medicare conditions of participation governing the appointment of medical staff with regard to the health care practitioners  providing telemedicine services,  (iii)  itemize  the  credentialing information to be collected and the required verification activities to be performed  by  the  distant  site hospital  and relied upon by the originating hospital in considering the recommendations of the distant site hospital,  (iv) require each distant  site  health  care  practitioner  providing telemedicine  services  to  be  licensed  to  practice in this state and privileged at the distant site hospital,  (v) require the distant site hospital to provide  to  the  originating hospital  a current list of each distant site health care practitioner's privileges at the distant site hospital, and  (vi) require the distant site hospital to conduct  a  periodic  review consistent  with  requirements otherwise applicable to that hospital, at least every two years, and as otherwise  warranted  based  on  outcomes, complaints or other circumstances, the credentials, privileges, physical and  mental  capacity, and competence in delivering health care services of each health care practitioner  providing  telemedicine  services;  to provide the originating hospital with the results of such review; and to notify   the  originating  hospital  immediately  upon  any  suspension, revocation, or limitation of such privileges.   3.  Nothing  in  this  section  shall  be  construed  as  allowing  an originating  hospital  to delegate its authority over and responsibility for decisions concerning the credentialing and granting staff membership or  professional  privileges  to  health  care  practitioners  providing telemedicine services.   4.  Notwithstanding  any  contrary  provision  of  law, an originating hospital shall not be required to provide a physical examination  or  to maintain  recorded  medical history including immunizations for a health care provider providing consultations solely through telemedicine from a distant site hospital.