Assembly Passes Three-Way Legislation
To Improve Patient Safety

Agreement Will Strengthen Physician Investigation and
Enhance Infection Control Requirements

Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver and Health Committee Chair Richard N. Gottfried announced that the Assembly passed legislation last week, as part of an agreement with the Governor and the Senate, to improve patient safety, increase the State's role in medical investigations and help to prevent future infection control violations.

The bill (A.11136), sponsored by Gottfried, will enhance the physician disciplinary system and increase the authority of the Department of Health (DOH) in investigations while also giving patients access to more information about physicians, particularly those charged with misconduct. Physician information is available, including a profile of the doctor, by accessing the Department of Heath's website at www.health.state.ny.us.

"The Assembly Majority has been a strong advocate for improving patient safety. This legislation will offer greater protection from unfit physicians by strengthening the physician disciplinary process while ensuring appropriate due process protections, and bring a new level of safety to our patients by making information about particular professional misconduct proceedings available to consumers," said Silver. "By passing this landmark measure, New York will have stronger infection control standards and improved patient safety measures. We will continue to work to ensure our state provides the best care possible for patients all across New York."

"The bill strengthens regulation and enforcement to protect patient safety and builds important due-process safeguards into the physician discipline system," said Gottfried.

This landmark legislation will:

• Require the State Board for Professional Medical Conduct, upon a consensus ruling, to make any information about a physician being brought up on charges available to the public within five business days;
• Require physicians to update their physician profiles on a more regular basis. Profiles contain information such as educational background, practice area, and legal actions and are available to the public at www.nydoctorprofile.com;
• Allow the Office for Professional Medical Conduct to obtain a physician's own personal medical records if there is reason to believe that he or she may be impaired by alcohol, drugs, physical disability or mental disability; and
• Extend the current requirement for physicians, physician assistants and specialist assistants to include infection control training to every medical student, medical resident and physician assistant student.