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New York General Telehealth Law

Definitions

As used in this article, the following terms shall have the following meanings:

"Distant site" means a site  at  which  a  telehealth  provider  is located while delivering health care services by means of telehealth.

"Telehealth provider" means:

    • A physician licensed pursuant to article one hundred thirty-one of the education law;
    • A physician assistant licensed pursuant to article one hundred thirty-one-B of the education law;
    • A dentist licensed pursuant to article one hundred thirty-three of the education law;
    • A nurse practitioner licensed pursuant to article one hundred thirty-nine of the education law;
    • A registered professional nurse licensed pursuant to article one hundred thirty-nine of  the  education  law  only  when such nurse is receiving  patient-specific health information  or  medical  data at a distant site by means of remote patient monitoring;
    • A podiatrist licensed pursuant to article one hundred forty-one of the education law;
    • An optometrist licensed pursuant to article one hundred forty-three of the education law;
    • A psychologist licensed pursuant to article one hundred fifty-three of the education law;
    • A social worker licensed pursuant to article one hundred fifty-four of the education law;
    • A speech language pathologist or audiologist licensed pursuant to article one hundred fifty-nine of the education law;
    • A midwife licensed pursuant to article one hundred forty  of  the education law;
    • A physical therapist licensed pursuant to article one hundred thirty-six of the education law;
    • An occupational therapist licensed pursuant to article one hundred fifty-six of the education law;

"Originating site" means a site at which a patient is located at the time health care services are delivered to him or her by means of telehealth. Originating sites shall be limited to: 

    • Facilities licensed under articles twenty-eight and forty of this chapter;
    • Facilities as defined in subdivision six of section 1.03 of the mental hygiene law; 
    • Certified and non-certified day and residential programs funded or operated by the office for people with developmental disabilities; 
    • Private physician's or dentist's offices located within the state of New York;  (e)  any  type  of  adult care facility licensed  under  title  two of article seven of the social services law;
    • Public, private and charter elementary and secondary schools, school age child care programs, and child day care centers within the state of New York; and 
    • The patient's place of residence located within the state of New York or other temporary location located within or outside the state of New York.

"Telehealth" means the use of electronic information and communication technologies by telehealth providers to deliver health care services, which shall include the assessment, diagnosis, consultation, treatment, education, care management and/or self-management of a patient.

Telehealth shall not include delivery of health care services by means of audio-only telephone  communication, facsimile  machines,  or electronic messaging alone, though use of these technologies is not precluded if used in conjunction with  telemedicine, store and forward technology, or remote patient monitoring.

For purposes of this section, telehealth shall be limited to telemedicine, store and forward technology, and remote patient monitoring.  This subdivision shall not preclude the  delivery  of health care services by means of "home telehealth" as used in section thirty-six hundred fourteen of this chapter.

"Telemedicine" means the use of synchronous, two-way electronic audio visual communications to deliver clinical health care services, which shall include the  assessment,  diagnosis, and treatment of a patient, while such patient is at the originating site and a telehealth provider is at a distant site.

"Store and forward technology" means the asynchronous, electronic transmission of a patient's health information in the form of patient-specific digital images and/or pre-recorded videos from a provider at an originating site to a telehealth provider at a distant site.

"Remote patient monitoring"  means  the  use  of  synchronous  or  asynchronous  electronic  information  and communication technologies to collect personal health information and medical data from a  patient at an  originating site  that is transmitted to a telehealth provider at a distant site for use in the treatment and management of medical conditions  that  require  frequent  monitoring.  Such technologies may include additional interaction triggered by previous transmissions, such as interactive queries conducted through communication technologies or by telephone.  Such conditions shall include, but not be limited to, congestive heart failure, diabetes,  chronic obstructive  pulmonary disease, wound care, polypharmacy, mental or behavioral  problems, and technology-dependent  care  such  as continuous oxygen, ventilator care, total parenteral nutrition or enteral feeding.

Remote patient monitoring shall be ordered by a physician licensed pursuant to article one hundred thirty-one of the education law, a nurse practitioner licensed pursuant to  article  one  hundred thirty-nine of the education law, or a midwife licensed pursuant to article one hundred forty  of  the  education  law,  with which the patient has a substantial and ongoing relationship.

Reference

N.Y. Public Health Law §2999 G

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