Washington State

House of Representatives

Office of Program Research

BILL

ANALYSIS

Health Care & Wellness Committee

HB 2079

This analysis was prepared by non-partisan legislative staff for the use of legislative members in their deliberations. This analysis is not a part of the legislation nor does it constitute a statement of legislative intent.

Brief Summary of Bill

Allows the Office of Financial Management (OFM) to have access to health professional and health facility licensing information.

Removes the requirement that the OFM maintain access to de-identified data collected and stored by public and private organizations to supports its health planning responsibilities.

Background:

In 2007, legislation was enacted to implement the recommendations of the Blue Ribbon Commission on Health Care Costs and Access. As part of this legislation, the Office of Financial Management (OFM) is required to coordinate a state health planning process and develop a statewide health resources strategy, which must include:

a health system assessment and objectives component;
a health care facilities and services plan that assesses the demand for health care facilities and services;
a health care data resource plan;
an assessment of emerging trends in health care delivery and technology; and
a rural health resource plan.

The initial strategy is due to the Governor and the Legislature by January 1, 2010, and must be updated every two years thereafter. The Department of Health (DOH) must use the statewide health resources strategy to direct its certificate of need activities.

To support its planning activities, the OFM is required to maintain access to de-identified data collected and stored by any public or private organization, including state-purchased health care program data, hospital discharge data, private efforts to collect utilization and claims-related data, and any database established pursuant to the recommendations of the Health Information Infrastructure Advisory Board. The OFM may store limited data sets as necessary to support its activities.

Summary of Bill:

The Office of Financial Management (OFM) must have access to:

information submitted as part of the health professional licensing and renewal process, excluding background check information; and
information submitted as part of the medical or health facility licensing process.

Access to, and use of, the data must comply with state and federal confidentiality laws and ethical guidelines. The OFM must maintain the data with the same degree of confidentiality as the Department of Health.

The requirement that the OFM maintain access to de-identified data collected and stored by any public or private organization is eliminated. The authority for the OFM to store limited data sets is also eliminated.