New York Laws
Article 44 - Health Maintenance Organizations
4410 - Health Maintenance Organizations; Professional Services.

(b) The commissioner may only obtain enrollee information subject to
the establishment of protocols that will ensure that such
patient-specific information is not disclosed to third parties other
than to entities serving as agents of the state for the purposes of
quality assurance and oversight. Such protocols shall be developed in
consultation with representatives of health maintenance organizations,
health care provider organizations and consumer organizations and shall,
where possible, include the development of a unique confidential
identifier to be used in connection with patient-specific data. These
protocols shall address issues relating to the collection, maintenance,
and disclosure of such patient-specific information. Such protocols
shall be promulgated as regulations, provided however, that protocols or

regulations in use prior to the effective date of this subdivision shall
remain in effect until the regulations developed hereunder are
promulgated.
(c) In addition to any other sanction or penalty as provided by law,
any employee of the department who willfully violates this regulation or
any other rule or procedure pertaining to the disclosure of any material
collected pursuant to this subdivision shall be deemed to have committed
an act of misconduct and shall be disciplined in accordance with the
provisions of the civil service law.

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