N.Y. Public Health Law 238-D – Practitioner disclosure requirements
§ 238-d. Practitioner disclosure requirements. 1. With respect to referrals not prohibited pursuant to this title, and except as provided in subdivision three of this section, a practitioner may not make a referral to a health care provider for the furnishing of any health or health related items or services where such practitioner or immediate family member of such practitioner has any of the following financial relationships without disclosing to the patient such financial relationship:
Terms Used In N.Y. Public Health Law 238-D
- Clinical laboratory services: shall mean the microbiological, serological, chemical, hematological, biophysical, cytological or pathological examination of materials derived from the human body, for the purposes of obtaining information for the diagnosis, prevention, or treatment of disease or the assessment of health condition. See N.Y. Public Health Law 238
- Financial relationship: shall mean an ownership interest, investment interest or compensation arrangement. See N.Y. Public Health Law 238
- Health care provider: shall mean a practitioner in an individual practice, group practice, partnership, professional corporation or other authorized form of association, a hospital or other health care institution issued an operating certificate pursuant to this chapter or the mental hygiene law, a certified home health agency or a licensed home care services agency, and any other purveyor of health or health related items or services including but not limited to a clinical laboratory, a physiological laboratory, a pharmacy, a purveyor of x-ray or imaging services, a purveyor of physical therapy services, a purveyor of health or health related supplies, appliances or equipment, or an ambulance service. See N.Y. Public Health Law 238
- Health or health related items or services: shall include , but not be limited to, items and services available under the medical assistance program pursuant to title eleven of Article 5 of the social services law. See N.Y. Public Health Law 238
- Immediate family member: shall include spouse; birth and adoptive parents, children and siblings; stepparents, stepchildren and stepsiblings; fathers-in-law, mothers-in-law, brothers-in-law, sisters-in-law, sons-in-law and daughters-in-law; and grandparents and grandchildren. See N.Y. Public Health Law 238
- Pharmacy services: shall mean the preparing, compounding, preserving or, the dispensing of drugs, medicines and therapeutic devices on the basis of prescriptions or other legal authority. See N.Y. Public Health Law 238
- Physical therapy services: means physical therapy as defined by § 6731 of the education law. See N.Y. Public Health Law 238
- Practitioner: shall mean a licensed or registered physician, dentist, podiatrist, chiropractor, nurse, midwife, physician assistant or specialist assistant, physical therapist, or optometrist. See N.Y. Public Health Law 238
- Public health council: shall mean the public health and health planning council. See N.Y. Public Health Law 238
- Radiation therapy services: shall mean the use of high energy x-rays, particles, or radiation materials for the treatment of cancer and other diseases. See N.Y. Public Health Law 238
- X-ray or imaging services: shall mean diagnostic imaging techniques which shall include but not be limited to the following:
(a) Conventional x-ray or radiology. See N.Y. Public Health Law 238
(a) an ownership or investment interest, as defined in subdivision three of section two hundred thirty-eight-a of this title, with such health care provider; or
(b) a compensation arrangement, as defined in subdivision five of section two hundred thirty-eight-a of this title, with such health care provider which is in excess of fair market value or which provides for compensation that varies directly or indirectly based on the volume or value of any referrals of business between the parties.
2. The disclosure shall provide notice of any such financial relationship and shall also inform the patient of his or her right to utilize a specifically identified alternative health care provider if any such alternative is reasonably available, and shall be provided in a brief and reasonable form and manner specified in regulations proposed by the commissioner in consultation with consumer and physician organizations and adopted by the public health council, subject to approval by the commissioner.
3. Disclosure pursuant to this section shall not be required for a referral for the furnishing of any health or health related items or services under circumstances for which a referral of clinical laboratory services, pharmacy services, radiation therapy services, physical therapy services or x-ray or imaging services would not be prohibited pursuant to section two hundred thirty-eight-a of this title, provided that any disclosure required by section two hundred thirty-eight-a of this title remains applicable.