Creating an office of the patient advocate within the New York city department of health and mental hygiene.

A Local Law to amend the New York city charter, in relation to creating an office of the patient advocate within the New York city department of health and mental hygiene

This bill would establish an Office of the Patient Advocate within the Department of Health and Mental Hygiene. The office would: establish a system to receive comments, questions and complaints regarding medical services and coverage; respond appropriately to each such question, comment and complaint; collect, track, and analyze data on the comments, questions and complaints received to learn more about problems in obtaining medical care; and make recommendations to address problems with accessing medical care and issues with the quality of medical care provided. The office would also be required to make annual reports which would include information about the comments, questions and complaints received, the office’s response to such comments, questions and complaints, larger medical trends and access to health care facilities.