BILL NUMBER: S6947A

SPONSOR: HANNON
 
TITLE OF BILL:  An act to amend the public health law, in relation to
establishing the sexual assault forensic examination telemedicine pilot
program

 
PURPOSE:

This bill directs the Department of Health to establish a Sexual Assault
Forensic Examination (SAFE) Telemedicine Pilot Program to ensure that
sexual assault survivors seeking care in emergency rooms have access to
health care providers who have the support of specially trained sexual
assault offense examiners through telemedicine.

 
SUMMARY OF PROVISIONS:

Section one adds a new section 2805-ii of the Public Health Law to
direct the Department of Health to establish a sexual assault forensic
examination (SAFE) telemedicine pilot program. The pilot is designed to
provide expert health care to victims of sexual assault who cannot
              

access one of the state's emergency departments with a SAFE program
through telemedicine. The program shall serve no less than 46 hospitals,
including all critical access hospitals and other hospitals in rural and
underserved areas. The Department shall conduct an evaluation of the
program and report to the Governor and Legislature by December 1, 2020
on the effectiveness of the program and how to make the program self-
sustaining.

Section two provides that this act shall take effect immediately,
provided the pilot program shall begin within 120 days of enactment and
the evaluation.

 
JUSTIFICATION:

New York State has a comprehensive program to treat sexual assault
victims in hospital emergency rooms with staff specially trained in
providing the necessary care, examinations, and collection of forensic
evidence. Unfortunately, establishing and running specialized sexual
assault forensic examination (SAFE) programs is very expensive because
of the highly specialized level of staff training, the high turnover of
staff, the need to have such staff available 24/7 and the fact that the
average time to treat a sexual assault victim and collect evidence is
about four hours. It is estimated that a hospital will spending approxi-
mately $80,000 annually to establish and operate a SAFE program.

Of the 170 hospitals in the state, only 42 currently have a SAFE
program. Of these 42 SAFE programs, 27 are in or near New York City
leaving 15 programs for the remainder of the state. Sexual assault
victims who arrive at a hospital ER without a SAFE program may be trans-
ported to a hospital with a SAFE program, which means extra costs and
delayed care. More often, untrained health care providers do their best
with limited resources to care for the patient and appropriately secure
the forensic evidence. This means patients are not getting the best
available care and nurses and other health care providers in emergency
rooms are forced to carry out a treatment protocol they feel ill
equipped to do. Worse, the forensic evidence and record that is
collected and established is much more likely to be compromised, result-

ing in perpetrators not being brought to justice and left to repeat
their heinous offenses.

The cost of having a SAFE program in each of the 128 facilities without
a program is estimated to be about $10 million dollars. Given many small
rural hospitals may not see a volume of sexual assault victims that
warrants a full program, telemedicine provides a vehicle to get victims
and health care providers access to the expertise of a SAFE program in
real time. This legislation requires an evaluation and report on the
effectiveness of the program and recommendations on how to make the
program a self-sustaining one.

A SAFE telemedicine pilot program will strive to accomplish three impor-
tant goals. First, the pilot will ensure that sexual assault victims
will receive treatment supported by to specially trained health care
staff in real time no matter which hospital they present to. Second,
emergency room staff in facilities without a SAFE program who are not
currently trained will have the supports they need to effectively care
for victims and accurately collect and document forensic evidence.
Third, providing hospitals with SAFE supports means evidence will be
more accurately collected, preserved and documented which will result in
more DNA matches, leading to higher prosecution rates and better crimi-
nal case outcomes and fewer repeat offenders as the perpetrators who
commit these heinous offenses will be taken off of the street.

 
LEGISLATIVE HISTORY:

New bill

 
FISCAL IMPLICATIONS:

With a small upfront investment the SAFE program can save the state
millions of dollars while simultaneously providing expert health care to
sexual assault victims and getting perpetrators off the streets.

 
EFFECTIVE DATE:
Immediately, provided the SAFE telemedicine pilot shall be established
within 120 days of the effective date and the evaluation and report
shall be delivered to the Governor and Legislature by December 1, 2020.