H-3071              _______________________________________________

                                                   HOUSE BILL NO. 1918

                        _______________________________________________

State of Washington                              49th Legislature                              1986 Regular Session

By Representatives Hastings, Brekke, Brooks and Isaacson

Read first time 1/24/86 and referred to Committee on Social & Health Services.

AN ACT Relating to health care assistants; and amending RCW 18.135.020.

BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF WASHINGTON:

        Sec. 1.  Section 2, chapter 281, Laws of 1984 and RCW 18.135.020 are each amended to read as follows:

          As used in this chapter:

          (1) "Director" means the director of licensing.

          (2) "Health care assistant" means an unlicensed person who assists a licensed health care practitioner in providing health care to patients pursuant to this chapter.

          (3) "Health care practitioner" means:

(a) A physician licensed under chapter 18.71 RCW((,));

(b) An osteopathic physician or surgeon licensed under chapter 18.57 RCW((,));

(c) A director of a clinical laboratory who is qualified under 40 C.F.R. 405.1312(3), (4), or (5); or((,))

(d) Acting within the scope of their respective licensures, a podiatrist licensed under chapter 18.22 RCW or a registered nurse licensed under chapter 18.88 RCW.

          (4) "Supervision" means supervision of procedures permitted pursuant to this chapter by a health care practitioner who is physically present and is immediately available in the facility during the administration of injections, as defined in this chapter, but need not be present during procedures to withdraw blood.

          (5) "Health care facility" means any hospital, hospice care center, licensed or certified health care facility, health maintenance organization regulated under chapter 48.46 RCW, federally qualified health maintenance organization, renal dialysis center or facility federally approved under 42 C.F.R. 405.2100, or blood bank federally licensed under 21 C.F.R. 607.

          (6) "Delegation" means direct authorization granted by a licensed health care practitioner to a health care assistant to perform the functions authorized in this chapter which fall within the scope of practice of the delegator and which are not within the scope of practice of the delegatee.