N.Y. Mental Hyg. Law § 31.27

* § 31.27 Comprehensive psychiatric emergency programs.\n (a) As used in this section:\n (1) "Commissioner" means the commissioner of mental health.\n (2) "Crisis intervention services" means psychiatric emergency\nservices provided in an emergency room located within a general\nhospital, which shall include psychiatric and medical evaluations and\nassessments; prescription or adjustment of medication, counseling, and\nother stabilization or treatment services intended to reduce symptoms of\nmental illness; extended observation beds; and other on-site psychiatric\nemergency services.\n (3) "Crisis outreach services" means psychiatric emergency services\nprovided outside an emergency room setting including evaluation,\nassessment and stabilization services; crisis reduction services;\nreferral services; and other psychiatric emergency services.\n (4) "Crisis residence services" means an outpatient service operating\ntwenty-four hours per day which provides residential, crisis\nstabilization and other necessary support services to persons who have\nrecently experienced a psychiatric crisis, who are in need of acute\npsychiatric symptom reduction, and who are in need of a controlled\nnon-inpatient residential setting in order to restore such person to\ntheir pre-crisis level of functioning. Such services may also be\nprovided to persons who are clinically determined to be at risk of an\nemerging psychiatric crisis and other persons deemed clinically\nappropriate pursuant to standards developed by the commissioner of\nmental health.\n (5) "Extended observation bed" means an inpatient bed which is in or\nadjacent to an emergency room located within a general hospital,\ndesigned to provide a safe environment for an individual who, in the\nopinion of the examining physician, requires extensive evaluation,\nassessment, or stabilization of the person's acute psychiatric symptoms,\nexcept that, if the commissioner determines that the program can provide\nfor the privacy and safety of all patients receiving services in a\nhospital, he or she may approve the location of one or more such beds\nwithin another unit of the hospital.\n (6) "General hospital" shall be defined as in article twenty-eight of\nthe public health law.\n (8) "Rural area" shall have the same meaning as defined in section\nfour hundred eighty-one of the executive law.\n (9) "Psychiatric emergency services" means services designed to\nstabilize and, when possible, reduce acute psychiatric symptoms of an\nindividual who appears to be mentally ill and in crisis.\n (10) "Triage and referral services" means services designed to provide\npreliminary diagnosis, assessment and evaluation of individuals served\nby a comprehensive psychiatric emergency program in order to direct such\nperson to those services which appropriately address their needs.\n (11) "Voluntary agency" shall be defined as in section 41.03 of this\nchapter.\n (b) (1) The commissioner may license the operation of comprehensive\npsychiatric emergency programs by general hospitals which are operated\nby state or local governments or voluntary agencies. The provision of\nsuch services in general hospitals may be located either within the\nstate or, with the approval of the commissioner and the director of the\nbudget and to the extent consistent with state and federal law, in a\ncontiguous state. The commissioner is further authorized to enter into\ninterstate agreements for the purpose of facilitating the development of\nprograms which provide services in another state. A comprehensive\npsychiatric emergency program shall serve as a primary psychiatric\nemergency service provider within a defined catchment area for persons\nin need of psychiatric emergency services including persons who require\nimmediate observation, care and treatment in accordance with section\n9.40 of this chapter. Each comprehensive psychiatric emergency program\nshall provide or contract to provide psychiatric emergency services\ntwenty-four hours per day, seven days per week, including but not\nlimited to: crisis intervention services, crisis outreach services,\ncrisis residence services, extended observation beds, and triage and\nreferral services.\n (2) The commissioner of mental health shall require that each\ncomprehensive psychiatric emergency program submit a plan. The plan must\nbe approved by the commissioner prior to the issuance of an operating\ncertificate pursuant to this article. Each plan shall include: (i) a\ndescription of the program's catchment area; (ii) a description of the\nprogram's psychiatric emergency services, including crisis intervention\nservices, crisis outreach services, crisis residence services, extended\nobservation beds, and triage and referral services, whether or not\nprovided directly or through agreement with other providers of services;\n(iii) agreements or affiliations with hospitals, as defined in section\n1.03 of this chapter, to receive and admit persons who require inpatient\npsychiatric services; (iv) agreements or affiliations with general\nhospitals to receive and admit persons who have been referred by the\ncomprehensive psychiatric emergency program and who require medical or\nsurgical care which cannot be provided by the comprehensive psychiatric\nemergency program; (v) a description of local resources available to the\nprogram to prevent unnecessary hospitalizations of persons, which shall\ninclude agreements with local mental health, health, substance abuse,\nalcoholism or alcohol abuse, developmental disabilities, or social\nservices agencies to provide appropriate services; (vi) a description of\nthe program's linkages with local police agencies, emergency medical\nservices, ambulance services, and other transportation agencies; (vii) a\ndescription of local resources available to the program to provide\nappropriate community mental health services upon release or discharge,\nwhich shall include case management services and agreements with state\nor local mental health and other human service providers; (viii) written\ncriteria and guidelines for the development of appropriate discharge\nplanning for persons in need of post emergency treatment or services;\n(ix) a statement indicating that the program has been included in an\napproved local services plan developed pursuant to article forty-one of\nthis chapter for each local government located within the program's\ncatchment area; and (x) any other information or agreements required by\nthe commissioner.\n (c) Each comprehensive psychiatric emergency program shall have at\nleast one physician, who is a member of the psychiatric staff of the\nprogram, on duty and available at all times, provided, however, the\ncommissioner may promulgate regulations to permit the issuance of a\nwaiver of this requirement when the volume of service of a program does\nnot require such level of staff coverage.\n (d) The commissioner shall promulgate regulations to establish a\nmaximum number and location of extended observation beds which may be\nprovided in a program, including provisions to maximize the privacy and\nsafety of all patients receiving services in the hospital in which such\nextended observation beds are located.\n (e) The commissioner may prevent new presentations and admissions from\nentering a comprehensive psychiatric emergency program when the\ncommissioner concludes that the ability of the program to deliver\nquality services would be jeopardized. Before reaching such a\nconclusion, the commissioner shall consider the effect presenting new\npresentations and admissions may have on other hospital emergency rooms\nwhich provide psychiatric emergency services, and the commissioner shall\nreview the continued necessity for such prevention at least once every\ntwenty-four hours.\n (f) The commissioner and the commissioner of health shall enter into a\ncooperative agreement to govern the operation of comprehensive\npsychiatric emergency programs including visitation, inspection and\nsupervision of such programs, enforcement of the conditions of operating\ncertificates issued by the office of mental health and the department of\nhealth, and the protection of the confidentiality of clinical\ninformation regarding patients at such programs.\n (g) The office of mental health, the department of social services and\nthe department of health shall establish a uniform system by which\ngeneral hospitals which operate comprehensive psychiatric emergency\nprograms shall report the cost of operating such programs.\n (h) Notwithstanding any other provision of law, nothing in this\nsection shall be interpreted to create an entitlement for any individual\nto receive psychiatric emergency services in a comprehensive psychiatric\nemergency program.\n (i) For the purpose of addressing unique rural service delivery needs\nand conditions, the commissioner shall provide technical assistance to\nassist in the establishment of comprehensive psychiatric emergency\nprograms otherwise approved under the provisions of this section,\nincluding technical assistance to promote and facilitate the\nestablishment of such programs in rural areas in the state or\ncombinations of rural counties.\n * NB Repealed July 1, 2020\n