Bill Text: NY A00282 | 2023-2024 | General Assembly | Introduced

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Bill Title: Requires every physician, physician assistant, specialist assistant, registered nurse and licensed practical nurse to complete course work or training regarding human immunodeficiency virus and sexually transmitted infections testing and the elements of sexual health including sexual orientation and gender identity.

Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 13-0)

Status: (Introduced) 2024-01-03 - referred to higher education [A00282 Detail]

Download: New_York-2023-A00282-Introduced.html

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                STATE OF NEW YORK
        ________________________________________________________________________

                                           282

                               2023-2024 Regular Sessions

                   IN ASSEMBLY

                                     January 4, 2023
                                       ___________

        Introduced  by  M. of A. L. ROSENTHAL, GALLAGHER, SIMON, GONZALEZ-ROJAS,
          JACKSON, BURDICK, SILLITTI, FORREST, SEAWRIGHT, CLARK, FAHY,  LUNSFORD
          -- read once and referred to the Committee on Higher Education

        AN ACT to amend the public health law and the education law, in relation
          to providing course work and training in HIV and STI testing

          The  People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and Assem-
        bly, do enact as follows:

     1    Section 1. The public health law is amended by adding  a  new  section
     2  239-c to read as follows:
     3    § 239-c. Course work or training in HIV and STI testing practices. (a)
     4  Every physician, physician assistant and specialist assistant practicing
     5  in  the  state  shall,  within  one  year  of the effective date of this
     6  section and every four years thereafter, complete course work or  train-
     7  ing, appropriate to the professional's practice, approved by the depart-
     8  ment regarding human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) and sexually transmit-
     9  ted  infections  (STI)  testing,  and  the  elements  of  sexual  health
    10  including sexual orientation and gender identity.  Such  training  shall
    11  include  best  practices  for discussing routes and risks of HIV and STI
    12  transmission, advising as to the benefits of  testing,  the  concept  of
    13  informed  consent,  working with allied health professionals and trained
    14  peer health educators to facilitate testing upon consent, and  providing
    15  respectful  and  dignified  care for patients of all sexual orientations
    16  and gender identities, including patients who are intersex.  The  train-
    17  ings  shall be conducted in accordance with regulatory standards promul-
    18  gated by the department in consultation with the  department  of  educa-
    19  tion,  to  facilitate  the  testing  of  HIV  and  STIs in the course of
    20  professional practice. Such  course  work  or  training  shall  also  be
    21  completed  by  every  medical  student,  medical  resident and physician
    22  assistant student in the state  as  part  of  the  orientation  programs
    23  conducted  by  medical schools, medical residency programs and physician
    24  assistant programs.

         EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
                              [ ] is old law to be omitted.
                                                                   LBD01344-01-3
        A. 282                              2

     1    (b)  Every  physician,  physician  assistant,  specialist   assistant,
     2  medical  student,  medical resident and physician assistant student must
     3  provide to the department documentation demonstrating the completion  of
     4  and competence in the course work or training required under subdivision
     5  (a)  of  this  section, provided however, that physicians subject to the
     6  provisions of paragraph (f) of subdivision one of  section  twenty-eight
     7  hundred  five-k  of  this  chapter shall not be required to provide such
     8  documentation to the department.
     9    (c) The department shall provide an exemption  from  the  requirements
    10  imposed  by  subdivision (a) of this section to anyone who requests such
    11  an exemption and who (i) clearly demonstrates to the department's satis-
    12  faction that there would be no need for him  or  her  to  complete  such
    13  course  work or training because of the nature of his or her practice or
    14  (ii) that he or she has completed course work or training deemed by  the
    15  department to be equivalent to the standards for course work or training
    16  approved  by  the  department  pursuant  to  this section. An individual
    17  granted an exemption must reapply to continue such exemption every  four
    18  years.
    19    (d)  The department shall consult with organizations representative of
    20  professions, institutions, persons living with HIV, persons of all sexu-
    21  al orientations and gender identities, persons  who  are  intersex,  and
    22  those  with  expertise  in  issues  of  consent  and medical ethics with
    23  respect  to  the  regulatory  standards  promulgated  pursuant  to  this
    24  section.  On  or  before  September  first, two thousand thirty-one, and
    25  periodically thereafter as determined necessary by the commissioner, the
    26  department, including its patient safety center,  in  consultation  with
    27  the  council  on graduate medical education, shall review and revise the
    28  content of the course work or training in HIV and STI testing  practices
    29  as  necessary  to  ensure  that  such  content: (i) reflects the current
    30  infection control practices and standards accepted and promoted  by  the
    31  medical and scientific communities; (ii) focuses particular attention on
    32  instruction  in standards of practice for which compliance is suboptimal
    33  based on the department's experience; and (iii)  emphasizes  the  impor-
    34  tance  of  working  with  allied  health  care  professionals and staff,
    35  including nurses, patient aides, and peer health  educators,  in  imple-
    36  menting best practices in testing and advising.
    37    §  2.  The  education law is amended by adding a new section 6505-e to
    38  read as follows:
    39    § 6505-e. Course work or training in HIV  testing  practices.    Every
    40  registered  nurse  and  licensed practical nurse practicing in the state
    41  shall, within one year of the effective date of this section  and  every
    42  four  years thereafter, complete course work or training, appropriate to
    43  the professional's practice, approved by the department regarding  human
    44  immunodeficiency  virus  (HIV) and sexually transmitted infections (STI)
    45  testing, and the elements of sexual health including sexual  orientation
    46  and gender identity, in accordance with regulatory standards promulgated
    47  by  the  department in consultation with the department of health, which
    48  shall be consistent, as far as appropriate, with such standards  adopted
    49  by  the department of health pursuant to section two hundred thirty-nine
    50  of the public health  law.  Each  professional  shall  document  to  the
    51  department at the time of registration, commencing with the first regis-
    52  tration  after  this  section  takes  effect  that such professional has
    53  completed the course work or training in accordance with  this  section,
    54  provided,  however,  that  a  professional  subject to the provisions of
    55  paragraph (f) of subdivision one of section twenty-eight hundred  five-k
    56  of  the public health law shall not be required to submit such document.
        A. 282                              3

     1  The department shall provide an exemption from the requirements  imposed
     2  by  this  section  to  anyone who requests such an exemption and who (i)
     3  clearly demonstrates to the department's satisfaction that  there  would
     4  be  no  need  for  him  or  her to complete such course work or training
     5  because of the nature of his or her practice or (ii) that he or she  has
     6  completed  course work or training deemed by the department to be equiv-
     7  alent to the standards for course  work  or  training  approved  by  the
     8  department  pursuant  to this section. The department shall consult with
     9  organizations  representative  of  professions,  institutions,   persons
    10  living  with  HIV, persons of all sexual orientations and gender identi-
    11  ties, persons who are intersex, and those with expertise  in  issues  of
    12  consent  and  medical  ethics  with  respect to the regulatory standards
    13  promulgated pursuant to this section.
    14    § 3. This act shall take effect immediately.