On August 5, 2008, New York Governor Paterson signed into law legislation designed to improve patient safety, enhance the State’s authority in medical investigations, and help to prevent future transmissions of infections. The new law, which amends the State’s Public Health, Education, and Criminal Procedure Laws, strengthens and improves the physician disciplinary process, makes information about particular professional misconduct proceedings available to the public, and enhances infection control practices and training.  Most sections of the new law will take effect 90 days after enactment. Key provisions in the new law are: 

• Formal charges brought against a physician may now be made public upon service of the charges when an Office of Professional Medical Conduct (OPMC) investigation committee has unanimously voted to proceed with a hearing.  Moreover, all findings of a hearing committee, including its conclusions, determinations, and order, shall also become public upon issuance.
• Copies of the charges and notice of the hearing must now be served on the physician at least 30 days prior to a hearing (previously the law required service only 20 days before the hearing) or to make the charges public. Moreover, OPMC counsel must, as soon as practicable after service of charges, and on a continuing basis, provide the physician with any information or documents in its possession that tends to prove the physician’s innocence.
• Each physician must update his or her profile information within six months prior to the expiration date of the physician’s registration period as a condition of registration renewal. In addition, each physician must attest under penalty of perjury that he or she has, within the six months prior to the submission of re-registration, updated his or her profile. This latter provision is effective January 1, 2009. 
• As part of their medical school orientation, every medical student, medical resident, and physician assistant student must complete course work or training in infection control practices, and such training must now include practices to prevent the transmission of HCV. Moreover, the law requires that all categories of practitioners subject to the training requirement provide to DOH documentation demonstrating the completion of and competence in the required coursework or training.
• Moreover, on or before September 1, 2008, and periodically thereafter (as the Commissioner of Health deems necessary), Department of Health (DOH) will review and revise coursework and training content in infection control in order to reflect current infection control standards and practices.
• OPMC, in consultation with DOH’s Patient Safety Center, will review on a continuous basis medical malpractice claims and dispositions reported to DOH in order to identify potential misconduct. OPMC must then begin an investigation if potential misconduct is identified as a result of such review.

GNYHA has prepared a detailed summary of the new law, which is available on its Web site (see member letter bulletin ML-85, dated August 11, 2008).