2019 New York Laws
PBH - Public Health
Article 29-D - Health Information and Quality Improvement
Title 1 - Health Information
2995 - Structure and Definitions.

§  2995. Structure and definitions. 1. Structure. * (a) The department
shall undertake  an  initiative  for  the  purposes  of  increasing  the
information available to patients about health care providers and health
care  plans,  and improving the quality of health care in this state, by
creating  a  statewide  health  information  system,  collecting  health
information  for  dissemination  by  means  of such system, and studying
additional uses of such information. Such moneys as may be necessary  to
effect the purpose of this section may be appropriated to the department
for its expenses.
  * NB Effective until March 31, 2020
  * (a) The department shall undertake an initiative for the purposes of
increasing  the  information  available  to  patients  about health care
providers and health care plans, and improving  the  quality  of  health
care  in  this state, by creating a statewide health information system,
collecting health information for dissemination by means of such system,
and studying additional uses of such information. Such moneys as may  be
necessary  to  effect the purpose of this section may be appropriated to
the department for its expenses, but in no event shall funds be diverted
from existing uses of the office  of  professional  medical  conduct  in
order to fulfill the purposes of this section.
  * NB Effective March 31, 2020
  (b)   The  department  shall  promulgate  rules  for  the  purpose  of
implementing the provisions of this title.
  2. Definitions. For the purposes of this title:
  (a) "Health care plan" shall mean a health  maintenance  organization,
as  defined by subdivision one of section forty-four hundred one of this
chapter, a health  service  corporation  licensed  pursuant  to  article
forty-three  of  the  insurance  law,  a  prepaid  health  services plan
licensed pursuant to section forty-four hundred three-a of this chapter,
or an integrated delivery system licensed pursuant to section forty-four
hundred eight-a of this chapter.
  (b) "Health information" shall mean physician data, hospital data, and
health care plan data, to the extent such data is  disclosable  pursuant
to  any provision of law. Such term shall not include individual patient
data, except to the extent such data  is  disclosable  pursuant  to  any
other provision of law.
  (c) "Individual patient data" shall mean any information concerning an
individual  patient,  whether  held  orally  or  recorded in any form or
medium, including, but  not  limited  to,  information  derived  from  a
biological  sample  from  the  patient,  the  sample  itself  or genetic
information that:
  (i) relates to the physical or  mental  health  of  the  patient,  the
provision  of  health  care  to  the  patient,  or  the  payment for the
provision of health care to the patient; and
  (ii) (A) identifies the individual patient;
  (B) could forseeably be used or manipulated to identify the individual
patient; or
  (C) could forseeably be linked or matched  to  any  other  information
described in clause (A) or (B) of this subparagraph.
  (d)  "Statewide  health information system" shall mean a collection of
health information to be publicly available on an ongoing basis for  the
purpose of making statewide comparisons.
  (e)  "Preferred  provider organization data" shall mean data collected
from an insurance company subject to article thirty-two of the insurance
law, a corporation subject to article forty-three of the insurance  law,
or  a  municipal  cooperative  health benefit plan certified pursuant to
article forty-seven of the insurance  law,  with  respect  to  preferred

provider  organization (PPO) products, as defined by the commissioner in
consultation with the superintendent, offered by such entities.