2023 New York Laws › PBH - Public Health › Article 5 - Laboratories › Title 6 - Laboratory Business Practices › 587 - Prohibited Practices.

§  587.  Prohibited  practices.  1.  No health services purveyor shall
solicit, receive, accept or agree to receive or accept  any  payment  or
other  consideration  in  any  form  to the extent such payment or other
consideration is given for the referral of services  or  participate  in
the  division, transference, assignment, rebate, splitting of fees, with
any clinical laboratory or its agent, employee  or  fiduciary,  or  with
another  health  services  purveyor  in  relation to clinical laboratory
services.  Specifically  prohibited  practices  shall  include,  without
limiting thereto, the following:
(a)  Acceptance of payments for rental of space for more than the fair
market value or where the rental amount is  affected  by  test  ordering
volume or value.
(b)  Acceptance  of rental payments for storage space for any supplies
provided by any clinical laboratory or its agent, employee or fiduciary.
(c) Acceptance of  payments  for  filling  in  proper  information  on
laboratory request forms for tests.
(d) Receipt or acceptance of employees, agents or other fiduciaries of
any  clinical  laboratory  to  perform any duties in the facility of any
health  services  purveyor  provided,  however,  that  nothing  in  this
subdivision shall prohibit a hospital as defined in article twenty-eight
of  this  chapter  or  a  health  maintenance  organization operating in
accordance with article forty-three of  the  insurance  law  or  article
forty-four  of  this  chapter and a clinical laboratory from contracting
for laboratory management services including the provision of  technical
services and employees for the performance of functions directly related
to clinical laboratory operations.
(e)  Receipt or acceptance of equipment, supplies or services provided
by any clinical laboratory or its agent, employee or fiduciary for  less
than  fair  market value or when the purchase price or rental payment is
in any way related to the reference of  patients  or  specimens  to  any
clinical laboratory.
(f)  Receipt  or  acceptance of any monies or other consideration from
any clinical laboratory or its agent, employee or fiduciary as a  bonus,
commission  or  fee  in the form of a fixed or percentage return for the
number or dollar value of laboratory tests performed or to be  performed
by  any  clinical laboratory to which patients or specimens are referred
or for the number of patients or specimens referred.
(g) The purchase of  prepayment  coupons,  tickets,  booklets  or  any
variation   of  such  prepayment  instruments  as  advance  payments  by
purveyors of health services for  clinical  laboratory  services  to  be
rendered by any clinical laboratory.
(h)  To accept payment of money or other consideration from anyone for
any clinical laboratory tests rendered or to be rendered on any specimen
for transference of the money or other consideration in whole or in part
to any clinical laboratory or to actually be kept by the health services
purveyor.
(i)  To  accept  or  use  directly  any  instrument  or  any  clinical
laboratory  form  marked "Invoice", "Receipt", "Payment Received" or any
other variation for issuance to patients as  if  the  patient  had  been
billed and paid the clinical laboratory.
(j)  Receipt  or  acceptance of any monies or other consideration from
any  clinical  laboratory  or  its  agent,  employee  or  fiduciary  for
influencing  any  person  to  refrain  from using or utilizing any other
clinical laboratory.
2. No clinical laboratory or its agent, employee  or  fiduciary  shall
make, offer, give, or agree to make, offer, or give any payment or other
consideration   in  any  form  to  the  extent  such  payment  or  other
consideration is given for the referral of services  or  participate  in

the  division, transference, assignment, rebate, splitting of fees, with
any health services  purveyor,  or  with  another  clinical  laboratory.
Specifically   prohibited  practices  shall  include,  without  limiting
thereto, the following:
(a) To offer or agree to give or give any payments for rental of space
for  more  than  the  fair  market  value  or where the rental amount is
affected by test ordering volume or value.
(b) To offer or agree to give or  give  rental  payments  for  storage
space for any supplies provided to any health services purveyor.
(c)  To  offer  or  agree  to give or give any payments for filling in
proper information on laboratory request forms for tests.
(d) To supply employees, agents or other fiduciaries of  any  clinical
laboratory  to perform any duties in the facility of any health services
purveyor provided, however,  that  nothing  in  this  subdivision  shall
prohibit  a  hospital as defined in article twenty-eight of this chapter
or a  health  maintenance  organization  operating  in  accordance  with
article  forty-three  of the insurance law or article forty-four of this
chapter and  a  clinical  laboratory  from  contracting  for  laboratory
management  services,  including the provision of technical services and
employees for the performance of functions directly related to  clinical
laboratory operations.
(e)  To  offer  or  agree  to  give or give any equipment, supplies or
services to any health services purveyor for less than fair market value
or when the purchase price or rental payment is in any  way  related  to
the reference of patients or specimens to any clinical laboratory.
(f)   To  offer  or  agree  to  give  or  give  any  monies  or  other
consideration to any health services purveyor as a bonus, commission  or
fee in the form of a fixed or percentage return for the number or dollar
value  of  laboratory tests performed or to be performed by any clinical
laboratory to which patients or specimens are referred or for the number
of patients or specimens referred.
(g) To sell any prepayment coupons, tickets, booklets or any variation
of such prepayment instrument as advance payments by purveyors of health
services for clinical laboratory services.
(h) To send a bill to or receive  payment  from  any  health  services
purveyor for clinical laboratory services rendered to any patient, where
such  bill  is  sent in code on blank paper, without name and address of
the clinical laboratory, without name or address of  the  addressee,  or
without  name or other identifying information of the person who was the
recipient of the laboratory service or in any other falsified manner.
(i) To utilize  any  health  services  purveyor  or  anyone  else  not
authorized  by  law  to collect money or other consideration from anyone
for any clinical laboratory tests rendered or  to  be  rendered  on  any
specimen  for  transference of the money or other consideration in whole
or in part to the clinical laboratory or to  be  actually  kept  by  the
health services purveyor.
(j)  To  supply  to any health services purveyor any printed form of a
clinical laboratory marked "Invoice", "Receipt", "Payment Received",  or
any other variation for use by any health services purveyor issuing same
to patients as if the patient had paid the clinical laboratory.
(k)   To  offer  or  agree  to  give  or  give  any  monies  or  other
consideration for influencing  any  person  to  refrain  from  using  or
utilizing any other clinical laboratory.
3.  This  section  shall  not  apply  to  any: (a) legally established
hospital group purchasing program approved by the commissioner,  or  (b)
any  arrangement  between  a  clinical laboratory and health maintenance
organization operating in accordance with  article  forty-three  of  the

insurance  law  or  article  forty-four  of this chapter approved by the
commissioner.
4.  Any  transaction  excluded  from  the  prohibition of section five
hundred eighty-six of  this  title  relating  to  payment  for  services
rendered  by  clinical  laboratories  shall  be  deemed  to be similarly
excluded from the application of this section.
5. No clinical laboratory or its agent, employee  or  fiduciary  shall
make,  offer,  give  or  agree  to  make,  offer  or give to any person,
partnership,  corporation  or  other  entity  any   payment   or   other
consideration  in  any  form  as a bonus, commission or fee for securing
referrals of services to the clinical  laboratory  except  for  payments
made to a person who is an employee of the clinical laboratory.
6.  The  public  health  council  shall  adopt  and  amend  rules  and
regulations, subject to approval by the commissioner, to effectuate  the
provisions and purposes of this section.