§ 2998-e. Reporting in office based surgery. 1. The commissioner may
enter into agreements with accrediting agencies to require all
office-based surgical practices to conduct quality improvement and
quality assurance activities and utilize certification by an appropriate
certifying organization, hospital privileging or other equivalent
methods to determine competency of practitioners to perform office-based
surgery, carry out surveys or complaint/incident investigations and
shall report, at a minimum, findings of surveys and complaint/incident
investigations, and data for all office-based surgical practices
accredited by the accrediting agencies to the department. The department
may disclose reports of aggregate data to the public.

2. The information required to be collected, maintained and reported
directly to the department and the accrediting agencies and maintained
by office-based surgery practices under adverse event reporting, quality
improvement and quality assurance activities pursuant to section two
hundred thirty-d of this chapter shall be kept confidential and shall
not be released, except to the department and except as required or
permitted under subdivision nine-a and subparagraph (v) of paragraph (a)
of subdivision ten of section two hundred thirty of this chapter.
Notwithstanding any other provision of law, none of the information
collected, maintained and reported to the department or the accrediting
agencies, and maintained by the office-based surgery practices under
adverse event reporting, quality improvement and quality assurance
activities pursuant to this section shall be subject to disclosure under
article six of the public officers law or article thirty-one of the
civil practice law and rules.

3. The commissioner shall make, adopt, promulgate and enforce such
rules and regulations, as he or she may deem appropriate, to effectuate
the purposes of this section. Where any rule or regulation under this
section would affect the scope of practice of a health care practitioner
licensed, registered or certified under title eight of the education law
other than those licensed under articles one hundred thirty-one or one
hundred thirty-one-B of the education law, the rule or regulation shall
be made with the concurrence of the commissioner of education.