BILL NUMBER: S8925

SPONSOR: STAVISKY
 
TITLE OF BILL:

An act to amend the education law, in relation to requiring certain
professionals to provide and the state education department to collect
information about the practice of their professions; and repealing
certain provisions of such law relating thereto

 
PURPOSE OR GENERAL IDEA OF BILL:

This bill would require certain professionals to provide, and the State
Education Department (SED) to collect, information about the practice of
their professions.

 
SUMMARY OF PROVISIONS:

Section 1: This bill would require professions certified, licensed,
registered or authorized pursuant to Title 8 of education law, except
those licensed or registered pursuant to article 131, to provide SED
              

with information and documentation, as deemed necessary by SED, in
consultation with the Department of Health (DOH), to enable DOH to eval-
uate access to needed services in this state. The provisions of this act
shall be effective only if and for so long as an appropriation is made
for the purposes of its implementation.

Section 2: Repeals Paragraph e of subdivision 3 of section 6902 of
education law. Section 3: Provides the effective date.

 
JUSTIFICATION:

A research brief from October 2018 by the Center for Healthcare Work-
force Studies (CHWS) found that the lack of data on New York's health-
care workforce has limited the effectiveness of workforce development
strategies and has resulted in major geographic healthcare disparities.
The intent of this legislation is to provide a more accurate gauge of
healthcare workforce demands in New York State.

A research brief from October 2018 by the Center for Healthcare Work-
force Studies (CHWS) found that for registered patient care nurse prac-
titioners (NP) the concentration of NPs varies widely across New York's
regions. The Finger Lakes region leads the State with 86.9 NPs per
100,000 people; while Hudson Valley trails behind with only 45.3 NPs per
100,000 people. In the same study CHWS found that 44.7% of NPs work in
outpatient services while followed by the next largest demographic work-
ing in inpatient services accounting for only 16.1%.  These findings
were replicated across medical specialties, demonstrating a clear need
for a deeper understanding of the healthcare workforce so that New York
may meet the state's healthcare needs.

It is imperative that the state provides excellent workforce development
data to fully equip the healthcare industry with accurate results so
that appropriate action can be taken to bridge gaps in need for health-
care professionals. This bill avoids creating a large administrative
burden by requiring healthcare practitioners answer a short survey about
how they use their license triennially in conjunction with their license
renewal.

 
PRIOR LEGISLATIVE HISTORY:

None

 
FISCAL IMPLICATIONS FOR STATE AND LOCAL GOVERNMENTS:

None.

 
EFFECTIVE DATE:
This act shall take effect immediately; provided, however, that amend-
ments to paragraph of subdivision 3 of section 6902 of the education law
made by section two of this act shall not affect the expiration or
repeal of such subdivision and shall expire or be deemed repealed there-
with.