2023 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.