SB 5492-S - DIGEST

(DIGEST AS ENACTED)

Requires the chief administrator or executive officer of a hospital to report to the department when the practice of a health care practitioner is restricted, suspended, limited, or terminated based upon any action defined as unprofessional conduct under RCW 18.130.180. The chief administrator or executive officer shall also report any voluntary restriction of the practice of a health care practitioner while the practitioner is under investigation or the subject of a proceeding by the hospital regarding unprofessional conduct, or in return for the hospital not conducting such an investigation or proceeding or not taking action.

Requires the department to forward the report to the appropriate disciplinary authority.

Provides that a hospital, its chief administrator, or its executive officer who files a report under this act is immune from suit, whether direct or derivative, in any civil action related to the filing or contents of the report, unless the conviction, determination, or finding on which the report and its content are based is proven to not have been made in good faith. The prevailing party in any action brought alleging the conviction, determination, finding, or report was not made in good faith, shall be entitled to recover the costs of litigation, including reasonable attorneys' fees.