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Pataki To Propose Measure To Increase Patient Safety Governor George E. Pataki last week announced that he will propose legislation to strengthen protections for patients and ensure that the background of each and every health professional providing their care has been thoroughly reviewed by the institution employing them. "Recent stories concerning nurse Charles Cullen’s admission to allegedly murdering as many as 40 patients under his care tragically underscores both the vulnerability of seriously ill patients and the tremendous amount of trust we place in the hands of the professionals who care for them," the Gov-ernor said. "Our medical facilities provide critical health care services to thousands of New York’s families, and we must take all necessary steps to ensure the dedicated men and women who work in our clinics, community health centers and hospitals are deserving of the trust we place in them." "Without question, nearly every sin-gle licensed medical professional works compassionately and diligently every day to provide the best care for their patients and their families," the Gov-ernor said. "This new measure will further strengthen the safeguards New York has in place to provide them with the peace of mind that the professional caring for them has nothing but their best interests at heart." The legislation would expand current law to require the credentialing of all licensed medical professionals providing direct patient care in New York’s health care facilities, including hospitals, nursing homes and health care clinics. State law now requires hospitals, nursing homes and health care clinics to credential the physicians, phy-sician’s assistants, dentists and podiatrists they employ. The Governor’s proposal would expand the list of those professionals to be & credentialed to include nurses, pharmacists and respiratory therapists, and others to be specified by the State Health Commissioner. The proposal will also bolster and expand the ability, of the State Health Department and State Education De-partment to share information with each other, and with health care providers. It will also increase penalties for violations of the law and provide for criminal sanctions for those that intentionally file false information or willfully ignore the credentialing process. By extending the credentialing re-quirement to direct care providers, the Governor’s proposal would provide hos-pitals, nursing homes and health care clinics with clear statutory authority to disclose relevant information regarding former employees. In addition, the legislation would provide hospitals, nursing homes and health care clinics and their employees with immunity from civil litigation for information disclosed in good faith. Concerns about confidentiality restrictions and the threat of litigation have deterred some employ- ers from fully responding to a potential employer’s request for references.
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