The bill amends the Medical Malpractice Act in New Mexico by redefining the term "occurrence." The new definition specifies that "occurrence" refers to claims for damages arising from harm to a single patient, regardless of the number of health care providers or the errors and omissions that contributed to that harm. This replaces the previous definition, which focused on injuries caused by successive acts or omissions of health care providers that combined to create a malpractice claim.

Additionally, the bill updates the definitions of various health care providers by replacing the term "podiatrist" with "podiatric physician" and expands the list of health care providers to include nurse anesthetists, physician's assistants, certified nurse practitioners, clinical nurse specialists, and certified nurse-midwives. These changes aim to clarify the scope of the Medical Malpractice Act and ensure that it accurately reflects the current landscape of health care providers in New Mexico.

Statutes affected:
introduced version: 41-5-3