Section 238. Definitions

As used in this title, the following terms shall
  have  the  following  meanings,  unless  the  context  clearly  requires
  otherwise:
    1.  "Clinical  laboratory  services"  shall  mean the microbiological,
  serological,  chemical,  hematological,  biophysical,   cytological   or
  pathological  examination  of materials derived from the human body, for
  the purposes of obtaining information for the diagnosis, prevention,  or
  treatment of disease or the assessment of health condition.
    2.   "Fair   market  value"  shall  mean  the  value  in  arms  length
  transactions, consistent  with  the  general  market  value,  and,  with
  respect  to  rentals or leases, the value of rental property for general
  commercial purposes, not taking into account its intended use,  and,  in
  the  case  of  a  lease of space, not adjusted to reflect the additional
  value the prospective lessee or lessor would attribute to the  proximity
  or  convenience  to the lessor where the lessor is a potential source of
  patient referrals to the lessee.
    3.  "Financial  relationship"  shall  mean  an   ownership   interest,
  investment interest or compensation arrangement.
    4.  "General  hospital" shall have the same meaning as is set forth in
  subdivision ten of section twenty-eight hundred one of this chapter.
    5. "Group practice" shall mean a group of two  or  more  practitioners
  organized   as  a  partnership,  professional  corporation,  foundation,
  not-for-profit   corporation,   faculty   practice   plan   or   similar
  association; and
    (a)  in  which each practitioner who is a member of the group provides
  substantially  the  full  range  of  services  which  the   practitioner
  routinely  provides,  including medical care, consultation, diagnosis or
  treatment, through the joint use of  shared  office  space,  facilities,
  equipment and personnel; and
    (b)  for  which substantially all of the services of the practitioners
  who are members of the group are provided  through  the  group  and  are
  billed  in  the name of the group and amounts so received are treated as
  receipts of the group; and
    (c) in which the overhead expenses of the income from the practice are
  distributed in accordance with methods previously determined by  members
  of the group; and
    (d)  provided,  however,  in  the  case  of  a  faculty  practice plan
  associated with a hospital with an approved residency  training  program
  in  which  practitioner  members  may  provide  a  variety  of different
  specialty services and provide professional  services  both  within  and
  outside  the group, as well as perform other tasks such as research, the
  provisions of paragraphs (a), (b) and (c) of this subdivision  shall  be
  applied  only  with  respect to the services provided within the faculty
  practice plan.
    6. "Health care provider" shall mean a practitioner in  an  individual
  practice, group practice, partnership, professional corporation or other
  authorized  form  of  association,  a  hospital  or  other  health  care
  institution issued an operating certificate pursuant to this chapter  or
  the  mental  hygiene  law,  a certified home health agency or a licensed
  home care services agency, and any other purveyor of  health  or  health
  related  items  or  services  including  but  not  limited to a clinical
  laboratory, a physiological laboratory, a pharmacy, a purveyor of  x-ray
  or imaging services, a purveyor of physical therapy services, a purveyor
  of  health  or  health  related supplies, appliances or equipment, or an
  ambulance service.
    7. "Health or health related items or services" shall include, but not
  be limited to, items and services available under the medical assistance

  program pursuant to title eleven of article five of the social  services
  law.
    8.  "Immediate family member" shall include spouse; birth and adoptive
  parents,  children   and   siblings;   stepparents,   stepchildren   and
  stepsiblings;     fathers-in-law,    mothers-in-law,    brothers-in-law,
  sisters-in-law, sons-in-law and daughters-in-law; and  grandparents  and
  grandchildren.
    9.  "Interested  investor"  shall  mean, with respect to a health care
  provider, an investor who is a practitioner in a position to make or  to
  influence  referrals  or business to the health care provider, or who is
  an immediate family member of such an investor.
    10. "Investor" shall mean, with respect to a health care  provider,  a
  person  with  a  financial  relationship  with the health care provider,
  subject to the exceptions  provided  in  paragraph  (b)  of  subdivision
  three, subdivision four and paragraph (b) of subdivision five of section
  two hundred thirty-eight-a of this title.
    11.  "Practitioner"  shall  mean  a  licensed or registered physician,
  dentist, podiatrist, chiropractor, nurse, midwife,  physician  assistant
  or specialist assistant, physical therapist, or optometrist.
    12.  "Rural"  shall mean (i) a county with a population of two hundred
  thousand persons or less, or a town with a  population  density  of  one
  hundred  fifty  persons  or  less  per square mile; and (ii) other rural
  areas  pursuant  to  standards  promulgated   in   regulation   by   the
  commissioner.
    13.   "X-ray  or  imaging  services"  shall  mean  diagnostic  imaging
  techniques which shall include but not be limited to the following:
    (a) Conventional x-ray or radiology.
    (b) Fluoroscopy.
    (c) Digital radiography.
    (d) Computed tomography.
    (e) Magnetic resonance imaging.
    (f) Nuclear imaging.
    (g) Ultrasonography.
    (h) Angiography.
    14.  "Pharmacy  services"  shall  mean  the  preparing,   compounding,
  preserving  or,  the  dispensing  of  drugs,  medicines  and therapeutic
  devices on the basis of prescriptions or other legal authority.
    15. "Radiation therapy services" shall mean the  use  of  high  energy
  x-rays,  particles,  or  radiation materials for the treatment of cancer
  and other diseases.
    16. "Physical therapy services" means physical therapy as  defined  by
  section sixty-seven hundred thirty-one of the education law.