§ 2509 — Maternal mortality review board

§ 2509. Maternal mortality review board. 1. (a) There is hereby\nestablished in the department the maternal mortality review board for\nthe purpose of reviewing maternal deaths and maternal morbidity and\ndeveloping and disseminating findings, recommendations, and best\npractices to contribute to the prevention of maternal mortality and\nmorbidity. The board shall assess the cause of death, factors leading to\ndeath and preventability for each maternal death reviewed and, in the\ndiscretion of the board, cases of severe maternal morbidity, and shall\ndevelop and disseminate strategies for reducing the risk of maternal\nmortality and morbidity, including risk resulting from racial, economic,\nor other disparities. The commissioner may delegate the authority to\nconduct maternal mortality reviews.\n (b) The commissioner may enter into an agreement with the city of New\nYork providing:\n (i) that the functions of the state board relating to maternal deaths\nand severe maternal morbidity occurring within the city of New York\nshall be conducted by the city board;\n (ii) the city board shall provide to the state board the results of\nits reviews, relevant information in the possession of the city board,\nand the recommendations of the city board; and\n (iii) the department and the state board shall provide information and\nassistance to the city board for the performance of its functions.\n (c) Nothing in this section shall prevent the city of New York from\nestablishing, without an agreement with the commissioner, a board\nrelating to maternal deaths and severe maternal morbidity occurring\nwithin the city of New York.\n 2. As used in this section, unless the context requires otherwise:\n (a) "Advisory council" and "council" mean the advisory council on\nmaternal mortality and morbidity, established under this section.\n (b) "Board" means a maternal mortality review board established by\nthis section, referred to in this section as the "state board", or a\nboard operating under this section established by the city of New York,\nwith or without an agreement with the commissioner, referred to in this\nsection as the "city board".\n (c) "Maternal death" means the death of a woman during pregnancy or\nwithin a year from the end of pregnancy.\n (d) "Severe maternal morbidity" or "morbidity" means unexpected\noutcomes of pregnancy, labor, or delivery that result in significant\nshort- or long-term consequences to a woman's health.\n (e) "City commissioner" means the commissioner of the New York city\ndepartment of health and mental hygiene.\n 3. (a) The members of the state board shall be comprised of\nmultidisciplinary experts in the field of maternal mortality, women's\nhealth and public health, and shall include health care professionals or\nother experts who serve and are representative of the racial, ethnic,\nand socioeconomic diversity of the women and mothers of the state and,\nto the extent possible, the medically underserved areas of the state or\nareas of the state with disproportionately high occurrences of maternal\nmortality or morbidity.\n (b) The state board shall be composed of at least fifteen members, all\nof whom shall be appointed by the commissioner.\n (c) The terms of the state board members shall be three years. The\ncommissioner may choose to reappoint state board members to additional\nthree year terms.\n (d) A majority of the appointed membership of the state board, no less\nthan three, shall constitute a quorum.\n (e) When any member of the state board fails to attend three\nconsecutive regular meetings, unless such absence is for good cause,\nthat membership may be deemed vacant for purposes of the appointment of\na successor.\n (f) Meetings of the state board shall be held at least twice a year\nbut may be held more frequently as deemed necessary, subject to request\nof the department.\n (g) Members of the state and city boards shall be indemnified under\nsection seventeen of the public officers law or section fifty-k of the\ngeneral municipal law, as the case may be.\n (h) Members of the state board shall not be compensated for their\nparticipation on the board but shall receive reimbursement for their\nordinary and necessary expenses of participation.\n (i) Membership on a board shall not disqualify any person from holding\nany public office or employment.\n 4. (a) The commissioner may request and shall receive upon request\nfrom any department, division, board, bureau, commission, local health\ndepartments or other agency of the state or political subdivision\nthereof or any public authority, such information, including but not\nlimited to death records, medical records, autopsy reports, toxicology\nreports, hospital discharge records, birth records and any other\ninformation that will help the department under this section to properly\ncarry out its functions, powers and duties. The commissioner, or the\ncity commissioner for the maternal deaths or maternal morbidity\noccurring within the vital statistics registration district of the city\nof New York may request and shall receive upon request from any\ndepartment, division, board, commission or other agency under the\nauthority of the city of New York as well as hospitals established\npursuant to article twenty-eight of this chapter, birthing facilities,\nmedical examiners, coroners and coroner physicians and any other\nfacility providing services associated with maternal mortality or\nmaternal morbidity, such information, including, but not limited to,\ndeath records, medical records, autopsy reports, toxicology reports,\nhospital discharge records, birth records and any other information that\nwill help the department under this section to properly carry out its\nfunctions, powers and duties.\n (b) The commissioner and the city commissioner shall receive and may\nsolicit voluntary information, including oral or written statements,\nrelating to any maternal death and case of severe maternal morbidity,\nfrom any family member or other interested party (including the patient\nin a case of severe maternal morbidity) relating to any case that may\ncome before the board. Oral statements received under this paragraph\nshall be transcribed or summarized in writing. The commissioner and the\ncity commissioner shall transmit that information to the board\nconsidering the case.\n (c) Before transmitting any information to the board, the commissioner\nor the city commissioner shall remove all personal identifying\ninformation of the woman, health care practitioner or practitioners or\nanyone else individually named in such information, as well as the\nhospital or facility that treated the woman, and any other information\nsuch as geographic location that may inadvertently identify the woman,\npractitioner or facility. This paragraph shall not preclude the\ntransmitting of information to the board that is reasonably necessary to\nenable the board to perform an appropriate review under this section.\n 5. Each board:\n (a) shall make and report findings and recommendations to the\ncommissioner, and in the case of the city board to the commissioner and\nthe city commissioner regarding the cause of death, factors leading to\ndeath, and preventability of each maternal death case, and each case of\nsevere maternal morbidity reviewed by the board, by reviewing relevant\ninformation for each case in the state or the city of New York, as the\ncase may be, and consulting with experts as needed to evaluate the\ninformation for each death; and shall provide such findings and\nrecommendations, including best practices and strategies for reducing\nthe risk of maternal mortality and morbidity, to the advisory council;\nprovided that material provided to the advisory council shall not\ninclude any information that would be confidential under this section;\n (b) shall develop recommendations to the commissioner, and in the case\nof the city board to the commissioner and the city commissioner for\nareas of focus, including issues of severe maternal morbidity and issues\nof racial, economic or other disparities in maternal outcomes;\n (c) may, in addition to the findings and recommendations made under\nthis subdivision, and consistent with all applicable confidentiality\nprotections, bring any particular matter to the attention of the\ncommissioner or the city commissioner, and in the case of the city board\nto the commissioner and the city commissioner;\n (d) shall issue a report on its findings and recommendations every two\nyears, and may also issue reports more frequently. The reports shall be\npublic documents; and\n (e) may request and shall receive the assistance of the commissioner\nin the instance of the state board and the city commissioner in the\ninstance of the city board in carrying out its functions.\n 6. The commissioner and the city commissioner and the state and city\nboards shall each keep confidential any information collected or\nreceived under this section that includes personal identifying\ninformation of the woman, health care practitioner or practitioners or\nanyone else individually named in such information, as well as the\nhospital or facility that treated the woman, and any other information\nsuch as geographic location that may inadvertently identify the woman,\npractitioner or facility, and shall use the information provided or\nreceived under this section solely for the purposes of improvement of\nthe quality of health care of women and to prevent maternal mortality\nand morbidity. This subdivision shall not preclude the transmitting of\ninformation to the board that is reasonably necessary to enable the\nboard to perform an appropriate review under this section. All records\nreceived, meetings conducted, reports, except those reports required to\nbe issued by the board by this section, and records made and maintained\nand all books and papers obtained by the board shall be confidential and\nshall not be made open or available, including under article six of the\npublic officers law, and shall be limited to board members as well as\nthose authorized by the commissioner or city commissioner. Such\ninformation shall not be discoverable or admissible as evidence in any\naction in any court or before any other tribunal, board, agency or\nperson.\n 7. The commissioner and the city commissioner, within their respective\nlegal authority, may use the recommendations and findings of the boards\nto develop guidance and other actions relating to best practices, and\nshall disseminate information relating to that guidance and other\nactions to appropriate health care providers.\n 8. (a) There is hereby established in the department an advisory\ncouncil on maternal mortality and morbidity.\n (b) The advisory council:\n (i) may review the findings of the boards;\n (ii) may develop recommendations on policies, best practices, and\nstrategies to prevent maternal mortality and morbidity;\n (iii) may hold public hearings on those matters;\n (iv) may make findings and issue reports, including an annual report,\non such matters; and\n (v) may request and shall receive the assistance of the commissioner,\nthe city commissioner, and the boards in carrying out its functions.\n (c) The advisory council shall consist of at least twenty members to\nbe determined by the commissioner. The commissioner shall appoint the\nmembers of the council, at least ten of whom shall be on the\nrecommendation of the city commissioner. The commissioner shall appoint\nthe chair of the council.\n (d) The members of the council shall be comprised of multidisciplinary\nexperts and lay persons knowledgeable in the field of maternal\nmortality, women's health and public health and shall include members\nwho serve and are representative of the racial, ethnic, and\nsocioeconomic diversity of the women and mothers of the state, and to\nthe extent possible, the medically underserved areas of the state or\nareas of the state with disproportionately high occurrences of maternal\nmortality or morbidity.\n (e) The terms of the council members shall be three years. The\ncommissioner may choose to reappoint council members to additional\nthree-year terms. Vacancies on the council shall be filled by\nappointment by the commissioner, consistent with paragraph (c) of this\nsubdivision. A majority of the appointed membership of the council shall\nconstitute a quorum. When any member of the council fails to attend\nthree consecutive regular meetings, unless such absence is for good\ncause, that membership may be deemed vacant for purposes of the\nappointment of a successor.\n (f) Meetings of the council shall be held at least twice a year.\n (g) Members of the council shall be indemnified under section\nseventeen of the public officers law. Members of the council shall not\nbe compensated for their participation on the council but shall receive\nreimbursement for their ordinary and necessary expenses of\nparticipation. Membership on the council shall not disqualify any person\nfrom holding any public office or employment.\n