3/26/14 N.Y. St. Reg. HLT-50-13-00005-A
PURSUANT TO THE PROVISIONS OF THE State Administrative Procedure Act, NOTICE is hereby given of the following action:
Action taken:
Amendment of section 400.21; and repeal of sections 405.43 and 700.5 of Title 10 NYCRR.
Statutory authority:
Public Health Law, sections 2803, 2993 and 2994-t
Subject:
Advance Directives.
Purpose:
To establish a decision making process to allow competent adults to appoint an agent to decide about health care treatment.
Text or summary was published
in the December 11, 2013 issue of the Register, I.D. No. HLT-50-13-00005-P.
Final rule as compared with last published rule:
No changes.
Text of rule and any required statements and analyses may be obtained from:
Katherine Ceroalo, DOH, Bureau of House Counsel, Reg. Affairs Unit, Room 2438, ESP Tower Building, Albany, NY 12237, (518) 473-7488, email:
regsqna@health.state.ny.usAssessment of Public Comment
The comment period ended on January 27, 2014 and the Department received one comment from the MOLST Statewide Implementation Team.
The Medical Orders for Life-Sustaining Treatment (MOLST) Statewide Implementation Team expressed general support for this proposal and stated that the regulation has great merit as it officially recognizes the MOLST for the first time in regulation. They did, however offer some suggestions. They believe that: (1) the regulation should expressly refer to the MOLST as an actionable Medical Order, not an Advance Directive, (2) it should refer to the MOLST as both a “form and process”, and recognize the eMOLST application, and (3) should require health care facilities to include the MOLST form and process within their existing policies and procedures on Do Not Resuscitate (DNR) Orders and/or Palliative Care. They also suggested that future proposals should be considered to address other health care settings that would not be covered by this one (such as home care, hospice and assisted living facilities).
In response to those suggestions, the Department will be able to cover those first three points in a Notification of Adoption letter to the providers that is meant to educate and clarify this new rule. The Department agrees that it is a good idea to explore the promulgation of future proposals to address the other health care settings that would not be covered by this rule.
