2021 New York Laws
PBH - Public Health
Article 29CCCC - Care Act (Caregiver Advise, Record and Enable Act)
2994-JJ - Caregiver; Opportunity to Identify.

§  2994-jj.  Caregiver;  opportunity  to identify. 1. A hospital shall
provide each patient or, if applicable,  the  patient's  legal  guardian
with  at  least one opportunity to identify at least one caregiver under
this article following the patient's entry into a hospital and prior  to
the  patient's  discharge  or transfer to another facility. The hospital
shall inform the patient that the purpose of providing  the  caregiver's
identity  is to include that caregiver in discharge planning and sharing
of post-discharge care information or instruction.
  (a) In  the  event  that  the  patient  is  unconscious  or  otherwise
incapacitated  upon his or her entry into a hospital, the hospital shall
provide such patient or his/her legal guardian with  an  opportunity  to
identify  a  caregiver  following  the  patient's recovery of his or her
consciousness or capacity.
  (b) In the event that the patient  or  the  patient's  legal  guardian
declines  to identify a caregiver under this article, the hospital shall
promptly document this in the patient's medical record.
  (c) The hospital  shall  record  the  patient's  identification  of  a
caregiver if given by the patient or legal guardian, the relationship of
the identified caregiver to the patient, and the name, telephone number,
and  address  of  the  patient's  identified  caregiver in the patient's
medical record.
  (d) A patient may elect to change his or her identified  caregiver  at
any  time,  and  the  hospital  must record this change in the patient's
medical record.
  (e) (i) The hospital shall promptly request the written consent of the
patient or the patient's legal guardian to release  medical  information
to   the   patient's   designated  caregiver  following  the  hospital's
established procedure for releasing personal health information  and  in
compliance with all state and federal laws, including the federal Health
Insurance  Portability  and  Accountability  Act of 1996 as amended, and
related regulations.
  (ii) If the patient  or  the  patient's  legal  guardian  declines  to
consent  to  release  medical  information  to  the patient's designated
caregiver, the hospital shall not be required to provide notice  to  the
caregiver  under  section  twenty-nine  hundred  ninety-four-kk  of this
article or provide information contained in the patient's discharge plan
under section twenty-nine hundred ninety-four-ll of this article.
  2. An identification of a caregiver by a patient or a patient's  legal
guardian  under this section does not obligate any individual to perform
any after-care tasks for any patient.
  3. This section shall not be construed  to  require  a  patient  or  a
patient's  legal  guardian  to identify any individual as a caregiver as
defined by this article.