N.Y. Public Health Law § 2951: Definitions

§ 2951. Definitions. For the purposes of this article:

1. "Rural area" shall mean any county with less than two hundred

thousand population or any town which has a population of less than two

hundred persons per square mile or, if approved by the commissioner, any

town which has a population of less than two hundred fifty persons per

square mile.

2. "Rural health network" shall mean an affiliation of health care

providers serving a rural area, pursuant to a contract, joint or

cooperative agreement, or organized pursuant to the not-for-profit

corporation law and approved pursuant to subdivision fourteen of section

twenty-eight hundred one-a of this chapter, which provides or arranges

for the provision of health care services pursuant to a network plan to

residents of a rural area or the provision of administrative or

management services among such health care providers. Such health care

services may include, but need not be limited to: acute and tertiary

care; medical/surgical care; pre-hospital emergency services; swing bed

care; mental health and substance abuse services; physical medicine and

rehabilitation; primary and preventive care; home health and skilled

nursing care; laboratory, radiological or other diagnostic services;

hospice; respite care; illness prevention; or any other outpatient or

related services responding to community need or for the purpose of

improving community health status. Such administrative and management

services may include, but need not be limited to: emergency medical

services or other professional training; credentialing, payroll,

purchasing and billing services; recruitment of qualified professionals;

information management services; medical transportation; quality

assurance; risk management; peer review; electronic data sharing; and

managed care systems; performance of studies; planning; and solicitation

and acceptance of grants, and receipt of reimbursement for planning and

coordination of services and coordination of experimental and other

payment methods, such as global budget, pooling arrangements, or

capitation payments for inpatient hospital services and ambulatory care

services provided by the component entities of the network.

3. "Network plan" shall mean a written plan prepared by a rural health

network or rural providers planning to form a rural health network, with

the involvement of consumers, submitted initially and updated

periodically as needed, to the commissioner for approval to receive

grant funds pursuant to section twenty-nine hundred fifty-two of this

article.

4. "Upgraded diagnostic and treatment center" shall mean a diagnostic

and treatment center established pursuant to article twenty-eight of

this chapter which has received such designation pursuant to section

twenty-nine hundred fifty-six of this article.