Bill Text: NY S05477 | 2019-2020 | General Assembly | Introduced

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Bill Title: Relates to telepsychiatry and requires a study, report and recommendations regarding geriatric social isolation.

Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Republican 2-0)

Status: (Introduced - Dead) 2020-01-08 - REFERRED TO MENTAL HEALTH AND DEVELOPMENTAL DISABILITIES [S05477 Detail]

Download: New_York-2019-S05477-Introduced.html

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                STATE OF NEW YORK
        ________________________________________________________________________
                                          5477
                               2019-2020 Regular Sessions
                    IN SENATE
                                       May 2, 2019
                                       ___________
        Introduced  by  Sen.  SERINO -- read twice and ordered printed, and when
          printed to be committed to the Committee on Mental Health and Develop-
          mental Disabilities
        AN ACT to amend the mental hygiene law, in relation to telepsychiatry
          The People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and  Assem-
        bly, do enact as follows:
     1    Section  1.  Subdivision (b) of section 7.41 of the mental hygiene law
     2  is amended by adding a new paragraph 10 to read as follows:
     3    (10)  Telepsychiatry.  Programs  which  offer  homebound  or  socially
     4  isolated  geriatric  patients with the use of two-way real-time interac-
     5  tive audio and video equipment access  to  provide  and  support  mental
     6  health services at a distance.
     7    §  2.  Subdivision  (c)  of  section 7.41 of the mental hygiene law is
     8  relettered subdivision (d) and a new subdivision (c) is added to read as
     9  follows:
    10    (c) The commissioner, in consultation with the state  office  for  the
    11  aging  and  the  department of health, shall conduct a study to consider
    12  the incidence of geriatric social isolation, mental health consequences,
    13  and their treatment and prevention across the  state.  The  study  shall
    14  include, but not be limited to an assessment of at-risk populations, the
    15  mental  health  impacts  of social isolation, life stages that may put a
    16  person at a higher risk of social isolation, and community supports that
    17  may be developed to help address these concerns. The study shall provide
    18  recommendations on effective identification of social isolation, includ-
    19  ing specific recommendations for health care practitioners, intervention
    20  techniques, and the development of telehealth, telemedicine,  and  tele-
    21  psychiatry programs to meet the needs of homebound and socially isolated
    22  geriatric patients who may be suffering from depression, mental illness,
    23  or other health consequences. The study shall also consider the develop-
    24  ment  of  public  awareness  information  materials  that the office may
    25  distribute to raise awareness of social isolation in  older  adults  and
         EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
                              [ ] is old law to be omitted.
                                                                   LBD11429-01-9
        S. 5477                             2
     1  the  health  consequences.  The commissioner shall deliver the report to
     2  the governor, the temporary president of the senate and the  speaker  of
     3  the assembly no later than October first, two thousand twenty.
     4    § 3. This act shall take effect immediately.