Governor Andrew M. Cuomo today announced the 36th proposal of his 2020 State of the State Agenda - strengthening the oversight of physicians and other medical professionals to protect patients.

The Governor is proposing a comprehensive set of reforms to provide the Department of Health's Office of Professional Medical Conduct with tools to investigate, discipline and monitor physicians, physician assistants and specialist assistants licensed in New York, providing greater transparency in physician discipline and reducing the length of misconduct investigations.

According to the release, areas he will address include:

• Making Investigations and Non-Disciplinary Actions Public
• Eliminating Lifetime Licensure
• Reform Public Health Law's Burdensome Provisions
• Consumers Have Up-To-Date and Accessible Information about New York State Licensed Physicians

"The first responsibility of any medical professional is do no harm, and when someone violates that oath they must be held appropriately accountable," Governor Cuomo said. "These sweeping proposals will help ensure patients have access to critical information they need to make informed decisions about their healthcare and give state health regulators more tools to investigate and penalize providers for dangerous, unethical or illegal behavior."