§ 3006 — Quality improvement program

New York § 3006

• Jurisdiction: New York
• Law PBH: Public Health
• Art. 30: Emergency Medical Services

Text

§ 3006. Quality improvement program. 1. By January first, nineteen\nhundred ninety-seven, every ambulance service and advanced life support\nfirst response service shall establish or participate in a quality\nimprovement program, which shall be an ongoing system to monitor and\nevaluate the quality and appropriateness of the medical care provided by\nthe ambulance service or advanced life support first response service,\nand which shall pursue opportunities to improve patient care and to\nresolve identified problems. The quality improvement program may be\nconducted independently or in collaboration with other services, with\nthe appropriate regional council, with an EMS program agency, with a\nhospital, or with another appropriate organization approved by the\ndepartment. Such program shall include a committee of at least five\nmembers, at least three of whom do not participate in the provision of\ncare by the service. At least one member shall be a physician, and the\nothers shall be nurses, or emergency medical technicians, or advanced\nemergency medical technicians, or other appropriately qualified allied\nhealth personnel. The quality improvement committee shall have the\nfollowing responsibilities:\n (a) to review the care rendered by the service, as documented in\nprehospital care reports and other materials. The committee shall have\nthe authority to use such information to review and to recommend to the\ngoverning body changes in administrative policies and procedures, as may\nbe necessary, and shall notify the governing body of significant\ndeficiencies;\n (b) to periodically review the credentials and performance of all\npersons providing emergency medical care on behalf of the service;\n (c) to periodically review information concerning compliance with\nstandard of care procedures and protocols, grievances filed with the\nservice by patients or their families, and the occurrence of incidents\ninjurious or potentially injurious to patients. A quality improvement\nprogram shall also include participation in the department's prehospital\ncare reporting system and the provision of continuing education programs\nto address areas in which compliance with procedures and protocols is\nmost deficient and to inform personnel of changes in procedures and\nprotocols. Continuing education programs may be provided by the service\nitself or by other organizations; and\n (d) to present data to the regional medical advisory committee and to\nparticipate in system-wide evaluation.\n 2. The information required to be collected and maintained, including\ninformation from the prehospital care reporting system which identifies\nan individual, shall be kept confidential and shall not be released\nexcept to the department or pursuant to section three thousand four-a of\nthis article.\n 3. Notwithstanding any other provisions of law, none of the records,\ndocumentation, or committee actions or records required pursuant to this\nsection shall be subject to disclosure under article six of the public\nofficers law or article thirty-one of the civil practice law and rules,\nexcept as hereinafter provided or as provided in any other provision of\nlaw. No person in attendance at a meeting of any such committee shall be\nrequired to testify as to what transpired thereat. The prohibition\nrelated to disclosure of testimony shall not apply to the statements\nmade by any person in attendance at such a meeting who is a party to an\naction or proceeding the subject of which was reviewed at the meeting.\nThe prohibition of disclosure of information from the prehospital care\nreporting system shall not apply to information which does not identify\na particular ambulance service or individual.\n 4. Any person who in good faith and without malice provides\ninformation to further the purpose of this section or who, in good faith\nand without malice, participates on the quality improvement committee\nshall not be subject to any action for civil damages or other relief as\na result of such activity.\n