2999-cc. Definitions. As used in this article, the following terms shall have the following meanings:
1. "Distant site" means a site at which a telehealth provider is located while delivering health care services by means of telehealth.
2. "Telehealth provider" means:
(a) a physician licensed pursuant to article one hundred thirty-one of the education law;
(b) a physician assistant licensed pursuant to article one hundred thirty-one-B of the education law;
(c) a dentist licensed pursuant to article one hundred thirty-three of the education law;
(d) a nurse practitioner licensed pursuant to article one hundred thirty-nine of the education law;
(e) 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;
(f) a podiatrist licensed pursuant to article one hundred forty-one of the education law;
(g) an optometrist licensed pursuant to article one hundred forty-three of the education law;
(h) a psychologist licensed pursuant to article one hundred fifty-three of the education law;
(i) a social worker licensed pursuant to article one hundred fifty-four of the education law;
(j) a speech language pathologist or audiologist licensed pursuant to article one hundred fifty-nine of the education law;
(k) a midwife licensed pursuant to article one hundred forty of the education law;
(l) a physical therapist licensed pursuant to article one hundred thirty-six of the education law;
(m) an occupational therapist licensed pursuant to article one hundred fifty-six of the education law;
(n) a person who is certified as a diabetes educator by the National Certification Board for Diabetes Educators, or a successor national certification board, or provided by such a professional who is affiliated with a program certified by the American Diabetes Association, the American Association of Diabetes Educators, the Indian Health Services, or any other national accreditation organization approved by the federal centers for medicare and medicaid services;
(o) a person who is certified as an asthma educator by the National Asthma Educator Certification Board, or a successor national certification board;
(p) a person who is certified as a genetic counselor by the American Board of Genetic Counseling, or a successor national certification board;
(q) a hospital as defined in article twenty-eight of this chapter;
(r) a home care services agency as defined in article thirty-six of this chapter;
(s) a hospice as defined in article forty of this chapter; and
(t) any other provider as determined by the commissioner pursuant to regulation.
3. "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, private physician's or dentist's offices located within the state of New York, 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, when a patient is receiving health care services by means of remote patient monitoring, 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.
4. "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.
5. "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.
6. "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.
7. "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 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.
Last modified: February 3, 2019