§ 2951. Definitions. For the purposes of this article:

1. "Rural area" shall mean any county with less than two hundred
thousand population or any town which has a population of less than two
hundred persons per square mile or, if approved by the commissioner, any
town which has a population of less than two hundred fifty persons per
square mile.

2. "Rural health network" shall mean an affiliation of health care
providers serving a rural area, pursuant to a contract, joint or
cooperative agreement, or organized pursuant to the not-for-profit
corporation law and approved pursuant to subdivision fourteen of section
twenty-eight hundred one-a of this chapter, which provides or arranges
for the provision of health care services pursuant to a network plan to
residents of a rural area or the provision of administrative or
management services among such health care providers. Such health care
services may include, but need not be limited to: acute and tertiary
care; medical/surgical care; pre-hospital emergency services; swing bed
care; mental health and substance abuse services; physical medicine and
rehabilitation; primary and preventive care; home health and skilled
nursing care; laboratory, radiological or other diagnostic services;
hospice; respite care; illness prevention; or any other outpatient or
related services responding to community need or for the purpose of
improving community health status. Such administrative and management
services may include, but need not be limited to: emergency medical
services or other professional training; credentialing, payroll,
purchasing and billing services; recruitment of qualified professionals;
information management services; medical transportation; quality
assurance; risk management; peer review; electronic data sharing; and
managed care systems; performance of studies; planning; and solicitation
and acceptance of grants, and receipt of reimbursement for planning and
coordination of services and coordination of experimental and other
payment methods, such as global budget, pooling arrangements, or
capitation payments for inpatient hospital services and ambulatory care
services provided by the component entities of the network.

3. "Network plan" shall mean a written plan prepared by a rural health
network or rural providers planning to form a rural health network, with
the involvement of consumers, submitted initially and updated
periodically as needed, to the commissioner for approval to receive
grant funds pursuant to section twenty-nine hundred fifty-two of this
article.

4. "Upgraded diagnostic and treatment center" shall mean a diagnostic
and treatment center established pursuant to article twenty-eight of
this chapter which has received such designation pursuant to section
twenty-nine hundred fifty-six of this article.