Section 2951. Definitions

For the purposes of this article:
    1.  "Rural  area"  shall  mean  any  county with less than two hundred
  thousand population or any town which has a population of less than  two
  hundred persons per square mile or, if approved by the commissioner, any
  town  which  has a population of less than two hundred fifty persons per
  square mile.
    2. "Rural health network" shall mean an  affiliation  of  health  care
  providers  serving  a  rural  area,  pursuant  to  a  contract, joint or
  cooperative agreement,  or  organized  pursuant  to  the  not-for-profit
  corporation law and approved pursuant to subdivision fourteen of section
  twenty-eight  hundred  one-a of this chapter, which provides or arranges
  for the provision of health care services pursuant to a network plan  to
  residents  of  a  rural  area  or  the  provision  of  administrative or
  management services among such health care providers.  Such health  care
  services  may  include,  but  need not be limited to: acute and tertiary
  care; medical/surgical care; pre-hospital emergency services; swing  bed
  care;  mental health and substance abuse services; physical medicine and
  rehabilitation; primary and preventive care;  home  health  and  skilled
  nursing  care;  laboratory,  radiological  or other diagnostic services;
  hospice; respite care; illness prevention; or any  other  outpatient  or
  related  services  responding  to  community  need or for the purpose of
  improving community health status.  Such administrative  and  management
  services  may  include,  but  need  not be limited to: emergency medical
  services  or  other  professional  training;   credentialing,   payroll,
  purchasing and billing services; recruitment of qualified professionals;
  information   management   services;   medical  transportation;  quality
  assurance; risk management; peer review; electronic  data  sharing;  and
  managed care systems; performance of studies; planning; and solicitation
  and  acceptance of grants, and receipt of reimbursement for planning and
  coordination of services and  coordination  of  experimental  and  other
  payment  methods,  such  as  global  budget,  pooling  arrangements,  or
  capitation payments for inpatient hospital services and ambulatory  care
  services provided by the component entities of the network.
    3. "Network plan" shall mean a written plan prepared by a rural health
  network or rural providers planning to form a rural health network, with
  the   involvement   of   consumers,   submitted  initially  and  updated
  periodically as needed, to the  commissioner  for  approval  to  receive
  grant  funds  pursuant  to section twenty-nine hundred fifty-two of this
  article.
    4. "Upgraded diagnostic and treatment center" shall mean a  diagnostic
  and  treatment  center  established  pursuant to article twenty-eight of
  this chapter which has received such  designation  pursuant  to  section
  twenty-nine hundred fifty-six of this article.