§ 238. Definitions. As used in this title, the following terms shall
have the following meanings, unless the context clearly requires
otherwise:

1. "Clinical laboratory services" shall mean the microbiological,
serological, chemical, hematological, biophysical, cytological or
pathological examination of materials derived from the human body, for
the purposes of obtaining information for the diagnosis, prevention, or
treatment of disease or the assessment of health condition.

2. "Fair market value" shall mean the value in arms length
transactions, consistent with the general market value, and, with
respect to rentals or leases, the value of rental property for general
commercial purposes, not taking into account its intended use, and, in
the case of a lease of space, not adjusted to reflect the additional
value the prospective lessee or lessor would attribute to the proximity
or convenience to the lessor where the lessor is a potential source of
patient referrals to the lessee.

3. "Financial relationship" shall mean an ownership interest,
investment interest or compensation arrangement.

4. "General hospital" shall have the same meaning as is set forth in
subdivision ten of section twenty-eight hundred one of this chapter.

5. "Group practice" shall mean a group of two or more practitioners
organized as a partnership, professional corporation, foundation,
not-for-profit corporation, faculty practice plan or similar
association; and

(a) in which each practitioner who is a member of the group provides
substantially the full range of services which the practitioner
routinely provides, including medical care, consultation, diagnosis or
treatment, through the joint use of shared office space, facilities,
equipment and personnel; and

(b) for which substantially all of the services of the practitioners
who are members of the group are provided through the group and are
billed in the name of the group and amounts so received are treated as
receipts of the group; and

(c) in which the overhead expenses of the income from the practice are
distributed in accordance with methods previously determined by members
of the group; and

(d) provided, however, in the case of a faculty practice plan
associated with a hospital with an approved residency training program
in which practitioner members may provide a variety of different
specialty services and provide professional services both within and
outside the group, as well as perform other tasks such as research, the
provisions of paragraphs (a), (b) and (c) of this subdivision shall be
applied only with respect to the services provided within the faculty
practice plan.

6. "Health care provider" shall mean a practitioner in an individual
practice, group practice, partnership, professional corporation or other
authorized form of association, a hospital or other health care
institution issued an operating certificate pursuant to this chapter or
the mental hygiene law, a certified home health agency or a licensed
home care services agency, and any other purveyor of health or health
related items or services including but not limited to a clinical
laboratory, a physiological laboratory, a pharmacy, a purveyor of x-ray
or imaging services, a purveyor of physical therapy services, a purveyor
of health or health related supplies, appliances or equipment, or an
ambulance service.

7. "Health or health related items or services" shall include, but not
be limited to, items and services available under the medical assistance
program pursuant to title eleven of article five of the social services
law.

8. "Immediate family member" shall include spouse; birth and adoptive
parents, children and siblings; stepparents, stepchildren and
stepsiblings; fathers-in-law, mothers-in-law, brothers-in-law,
sisters-in-law, sons-in-law and daughters-in-law; and grandparents and
grandchildren.

9. "Interested investor" shall mean, with respect to a health care
provider, an investor who is a practitioner in a position to make or to
influence referrals or business to the health care provider, or who is
an immediate family member of such an investor.

10. "Investor" shall mean, with respect to a health care provider, a
person with a financial relationship with the health care provider,
subject to the exceptions provided in paragraph (b) of subdivision
three, subdivision four and paragraph (b) of subdivision five of section
two hundred thirty-eight-a of this title.

11. "Practitioner" shall mean a licensed or registered physician,
dentist, podiatrist, chiropractor, nurse, midwife, physician assistant
or specialist assistant, physical therapist, or optometrist.

12. "Rural" shall mean (i) a county with a population of two hundred
thousand persons or less, or a town with a population density of one
hundred fifty persons or less per square mile; and (ii) other rural
areas pursuant to standards promulgated in regulation by the
commissioner.

13. "X-ray or imaging services" shall mean diagnostic imaging
techniques which shall include but not be limited to the following:

(a) Conventional x-ray or radiology.

(b) Fluoroscopy.

(c) Digital radiography.

(d) Computed tomography.

(e) Magnetic resonance imaging.

(f) Nuclear imaging.

(g) Ultrasonography.

(h) Angiography.

14. "Pharmacy services" shall mean the preparing, compounding,
preserving or, the dispensing of drugs, medicines and therapeutic
devices on the basis of prescriptions or other legal authority.

15. "Radiation therapy services" shall mean the use of high energy
x-rays, particles, or radiation materials for the treatment of cancer
and other diseases.

16. "Physical therapy services" means physical therapy as defined by
section sixty-seven hundred thirty-one of the education law.

17. "Public health council" shall mean the public health and health
planning council.