N.Y. Public Health Law § 2805-u: Credentialing and privileging of health care practitioners providing telemedicine services

§ 2805-u. Credentialing and privileging of health care practitioners

providing telemedicine services. 1. For purposes of this section:

(a) "Distant site hospital" means a hospital licensed pursuant to this

article or a hospital licensed by another state, that has entered into

an agreement with an originating hospital to make available one or more

health care practitioners that are members of its clinical staff to the

originating hospital for the purposes of providing telemedicine

services. To qualify as a distant site hospital for purposes of this

article, a hospital licensed by another state must comply with the

federal regulations governing participation by hospitals in Medicare.

(b) "Health care practitioner" shall mean a person licensed pursuant

to article one hundred thirty-one, one hundred thirty-one-B, one hundred

thirty-three, one hundred thirty-nine, one hundred forty, one hundred

forty-one, one hundred forty-three, one hundred forty-four, one hundred

fifty-three, one hundred fifty-four or one hundred fifty-nine of the

education law, or as otherwise authorized by the commissioner.

(c) "Originating hospital" means the hospital at which a patient is

located at the time telemedicine services are provided to him or her.

(d) "Telemedicine" means the delivery of clinical health care services

by means of real time two-way electronic audio-visual communications

which facilitate the assessment, diagnosis, consultation, treatment,

education, care management and self management of a patient's health

care while such patient is at the originating site and the health care

provider is at a distant site.

2. When telemedicine services are provided to an originating

hospital's patients pursuant to an agreement with a distant site

hospital, the originating hospital may, in lieu of satisfying the

requirements set forth in section twenty-eight hundred five-k of this

article, rely on the credentialing and privileging decisions made by the

distant site hospital in granting or renewing privileges to a health

care practitioner who is a member of the clinical staff of the distant

site hospital, provided that:

(a) the distant site hospital participates in Medicare and Medicaid;

(b) each health care practitioner providing telemedicine is licensed

to practice in this state;

(c) the distant site hospital, in accordance with requirements

otherwise applicable to that hospital, collects and evaluates all

credentialing information concerning each health care practitioner

providing telemedicine services, performs all required verification

activities, and acts on behalf of the originating site hospital for such

credentialing purposes;

(d) the distant site hospital reviews periodically, at least every two

years, and as otherwise warranted based on outcomes, complaints or other

circumstances, the credentials, privileges, physical and mental

capacity, and competence in delivering health care services of each

health care practitioner providing telemedicine services, consistent

with requirements otherwise applicable to that hospital; reports the

results of such review to the originating hospital; and notifies the

originating hospital immediately upon any suspension, revocation, or

limitation of such privileges;

(e) with respect to each distant site health care practitioner who

holds privileges at the originating hospital, the originating hospital

conducts a periodic internal review, at least every two years, of the

distant site practitioner's performance of these privileges and provides

the distant site hospital with such performance information for use in

the distant hospital's periodic appraisal of the distant site physician

or health care practitioner. Such information shall include, at a

minimum, all adverse events that result from the telemedicine services

provided by the distant site health care practitioner to the originating

hospital's patients, all complaints the originating hospital has

received about the distant site practitioner, and any revocation,

suspension or limitation of the distant site practitioner's privileges

by the originating hospital; and

(f) the agreement entered into between the originating site hospital

and distant site hospital shall be in writing and shall, at a minimum:

(i) provide the categories of health care practitioners that are

eligible candidates for appointment to the originating hospital's

clinical staff,

(ii) require the governing body of the distant site hospital to comply

with the Medicare conditions of participation governing the appointment

of medical staff with regard to the health care practitioners providing

telemedicine services,

(iii) itemize the credentialing information to be collected and the

required verification activities to be performed by the distant site

hospital and relied upon by the originating hospital in considering the

recommendations of the distant site hospital,

(iv) require each distant site health care practitioner providing

telemedicine services to be licensed to practice in this state and

privileged at the distant site hospital,

(v) require the distant site hospital to provide to the originating

hospital a current list of each distant site health care practitioner's

privileges at the distant site hospital, and

(vi) require the distant site hospital to conduct a periodic review

consistent with requirements otherwise applicable to that hospital, at

least every two years, and as otherwise warranted based on outcomes,

complaints or other circumstances, the credentials, privileges, physical

and mental capacity, and competence in delivering health care services

of each health care practitioner providing telemedicine services; to

provide the originating hospital with the results of such review; and to

notify the originating hospital immediately upon any suspension,

revocation, or limitation of such privileges.

3. Nothing in this section shall be construed as allowing an

originating hospital to delegate its authority over and responsibility

for decisions concerning the credentialing and granting staff membership

or professional privileges to health care practitioners providing

telemedicine services.

4. Notwithstanding any contrary provision of law, an originating

hospital shall not be required to provide a physical examination or to

maintain recorded medical history including immunizations for a health

care provider providing consultations solely through telemedicine from a

distant site hospital.