§ 2994-jj. Caregiver; opportunity to identify. 1. A hospital shall
provide each patient or, if applicable, the patient's legal guardian
with at least one opportunity to identify at least one caregiver under
this article following the patient's entry into a hospital and prior to
the patient's discharge or transfer to another facility. The hospital
shall inform the patient that the purpose of providing the caregiver's
identity is to include that caregiver in discharge planning and sharing
of post-discharge care information or instruction.

(a) In the event that the patient is unconscious or otherwise
incapacitated upon his or her entry into a hospital, the hospital shall
provide such patient or his/her legal guardian with an opportunity to
identify a caregiver following the patient's recovery of his or her
consciousness or capacity.

(b) In the event that the patient or the patient's legal guardian
declines to identify a caregiver under this article, the hospital shall
promptly document this in the patient's medical record.

(c) The hospital shall record the patient's identification of a
caregiver if given by the patient or legal guardian, the relationship of
the identified caregiver to the patient, and the name, telephone number,
and address of the patient's identified caregiver in the patient's
medical record.

(d) A patient may elect to change his or her identified caregiver at
any time, and the hospital must record this change in the patient's
medical record.

(e) (i) The hospital shall promptly request the written consent of the
patient or the patient's legal guardian to release medical information
to the patient's designated caregiver following the hospital's
established procedure for releasing personal health information and in
compliance with all state and federal laws, including the federal Health
Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996 as amended, and
related regulations.

(ii) If the patient or the patient's legal guardian declines to
consent to release medical information to the patient's designated
caregiver, the hospital shall not be required to provide notice to the
caregiver under section twenty-nine hundred ninety-four-kk of this
article or provide information contained in the patient's discharge plan
under section twenty-nine hundred ninety-four-ll of this article.

2. An identification of a caregiver by a patient or a patient's legal
guardian under this section does not obligate any individual to perform
any after-care tasks for any patient.

3. This section shall not be construed to require a patient or a
patient's legal guardian to identify any individual as a caregiver as
defined by this article.