Establishes Statewide tele-psychiatry program within DHS; appropriates $4 million.

A4482

ASSEMBLY, No. 4482

STATE OF NEW JERSEY

222nd LEGISLATURE

�

INTRODUCED FEBRUARY 24, 2026

Sponsored by:

Assemblyman� KENYATTA STEWART

District 35 (Bergen and Passaic)

SYNOPSIS

���� Establishes Statewide tele-psychiatry program within
DHS; appropriates $4 million.

CURRENT VERSION OF TEXT

���� As introduced.

��

An Act
establishing a Statewide tele-psychiatry program,
supplementing Title 30 of the Revised Statutes, and making an appropriation.

����
Be It
Enacted
by the Senate and General Assembly of
the State of New Jersey:

���� 1.��� As used in this act:

���� �Consultant site� means the
hospital or other site at which the consulting provider is physically located
at the time the consulting provider delivers the mental health or substance
abuse care by means of tele-psychiatry.�

���� �Consulting provider� means a
physician, or other health care provider, licensed in this State to provide
mental health or substance abuse care.

���� �Referring site� means the
hospital at which the patient is physically located at the time of receiving
mental health or substance abuse care by means of tele-psychiatry.�

���� �Tele-psychiatry� means the
delivery of mental health or substance abuse care, including diagnosis or
treatment, by means of two-way real-time interactive audio or video by a
consulting provider at a consultant site to an individual patient at a referring
site.� The term does not include the standard use of telephones, facsimile
transmissions, unsecured electronic mail, or a combination of these in the
course of care.

���� 2.��� a. There is established
within the Department of Human Services a Statewide tele-psychiatry program.�
The program shall allow referring sites to utilize consulting providers at a
consultant site to provide timely psychiatric assessment and rapid initiation
of treatment for patients at the referring site experiencing a mental health or
substance abuse crisis.�

���� b.��� The department shall
contract with an appropriate partner identified pursuant to section 4 of this
act to facilitate administration of the tele-psychiatry program.� The contract
shall include a provision requiring the implementation of the tele-psychiatry
program on a Statewide basis by no later than three calendar years after the
effective date of this act.

���� c.���� The department shall:

���� (1)�� provide ongoing
oversight and monitoring of the program;

���� (2)�� provide ongoing
monitoring of the performance of, and conduct annual site visits to, the
partner organization contracted with the department to administer the program,
including but not limited to, a review of the number of consultant and
referring sites participating in the program, and the number of psychiatric
assessments conducted under the program, aggregated by site or region, number
of involuntary commitments recommended as a result of psychiatric assessments
conducted by consulting providers under the program;

���� (3)�� facilitate program
linkages with critical access hospitals and small rural hospitals;

���� (4)�� conduct visits to
referring sites and consultant sites to monitor implementation of the program,
and upon implementation, conduct site visits at least once annually;

���� (5)�� address barriers and
concerns identified by consulting providers, consultant sites, and referring
sites participating in the program;

���� (6)�� encourage participation
in the program by all potential consultant sites, consulting providers, and
referring sites throughout the State and promote continued participation in the
program by consultant sites, consulting providers, and referring sites throughout
the State;

���� (7)�� compile a list of
recommendations for future telehealth initiatives, based on the operation of
the Statewide program;

���� (8)�� review, on a quarterly
basis, the program-related financial statements of the partner contracted to
administer the program to compare and monitor projected and actual program
costs; and

���� (9)�� annually submit,
pursuant to section 3 of this act, a report to the Governor and to the
Legislature on the operation and effectiveness of the program.�

���� 3.��� Beginning one calendar
year after the establishment of the tele-psychiatry program established
pursuant to section 2 of this act and annually thereafter, the Commissioner of
Human Services shall submit to the Governor and, pursuant to section 2 of
P.L.1991, c.164 (C.52:14-19.1), the Legislature a report detailing the:

���� a.���� Number of consultant
and referring sites participating in the program;

���� b.��� Number of psychiatric
assessments conducted under the program;

���� c.���� Average length of stay
of patients receiving tele-psychiatry services, disaggregated by site or
region;

���� d.��� Number of involuntary
commitments recommended prior to implementation of the program compared with
the number of involuntary commitments recommended after a psychiatric
assessment conducted under the program, disaggregated by year and site or
region; and

���� e.���� Any other information
deemed relevant by the commissioner.

���� 4.��� No later than nine
months after the effective date of this act, the Department of Human Services,
in consultation with the Department of Health, shall submit a plan for the
implementation of a Statewide tele-psychiatry program to the Senate Budget and
Appropriations Committee, the Senate Health, Human Services and Senior Citizens
Committee, the Assembly Appropriations Committee, the Assembly Health
Committee, and the Assembly Aging and Human Services Committee.� The plan shall
include:

���� a.���� Specific steps to be
taken by the department, within a specified time frame, to establish and
administer the program on a Statewide basis;

���� b.��� Anticipated program
costs and reimbursement rates for tele-psychiatry services;

���� c.���� Recommendations for
addressing liability issues related to providing tele-psychiatry services;

���� d.��� The processes and
factors to consider to periodically evaluate the effectiveness of the program
once implemented; and

���� e.���� A list of potential
partners that could contract with the department to administer the program.

���� 5.��� a. The Commissioner of
Human Services and the Commissioner of Health, pursuant to the �Administrative
Procedure Act,� P.L.1968, c.410 (C.52:14B-1 et seq.), shall adopt rules and
regulations to effectuate the purposes of this act.�

���� b.��� The rules shall, at
minimum, specify:

���� (1)�� requirements to ensure
the health and safety of patients;

���� (2)�� participation and
equipment requirements for consultant sites, consultant providers, and referral
sites; and

���� (3)�� rates of payment for
tele-psychiatry services.

���� 6.��� There is appropriated
from the General Fund to the Department of Human Services $4,000,000 to
effectuate the purposes of this act.�

���� 7.��� This act shall take
effect immediately except that section 2 of this act shall take effect one
calendar year next following the date of enactment.

STATEMENT

���� This bill establishes a
tele-psychiatry program within the Department of Human Services (DHS).� Modeled
after the tele-psychiatry program in North Carolina, this bill requires the
Department of Human Services to establish the program Statewide within three
years of the act�s enactment.� The bill allows DHS one year to submit a plan
for the implementation of the program and allows the department an additional
two years to implement the program Statewide.

���� The bill requires DHS to
contract with a partner organization to implement the program.� The bill would
allow certain health care providers to provide mental health and substance
abuse to a patient via tele-psychiatry.� The department would provide ongoing
monitoring and oversight of the program and of the partner selected to help
with the implementation of the program.� Additionally, the department would:

�

facilitate program linkages with critical access hospitals and
small rural hospitals;

�

conduct visits to referring sites and consultant sites to monitor
implementation of the program, and upon implementation, conduct site visits at
least once annually;

�

address barriers and concerns identified by consulting providers,
consultant sites, and referring sites participating in the program;

�

encourage participation in the program by all potential
consultant sites, consulting providers, and referring sites throughout the
State and promote continued participation in the program by consultant sites,
consulting providers, and referring sites throughout the State;

�

compile a list of recommendations for future tele-health
initiatives, based on the operation of the Statewide program;

�

review, on a quarterly basis, the program-related financial
statements of the partner contracted to administer the program to compare and
monitor projected and actual program costs; and

�

annually submit a report to the Governor and the Legislature on
the operation and effectiveness of the program.

���� The bill appropriates from $4
million to the Department of Human Services to effectuate the purposes of the
act.