S-2089               _______________________________________________

                                         SUBSTITUTE SENATE BILL NO. 3447

                        _______________________________________________

State of Washington                              49th Legislature                              1985 Regular Session

By Senate Committee on Human Services and Corrections (originally sponsored by Senators Granlund, Deccio, Kreidler and Talmadge; by Lieutenant Governor request)

Read first time 3/5/85.

AN ACT Relating to cancer reporting; adding new sections to chapter 70.54 RCW; creating a new section; and making an appropriation.

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

NEW SECTION. Sec. 1.     It is the intent of the legislature to establish a system to monitor accurately the incidence of cancer in the state of Washington for the purposes of understanding, controlling, and reducing the occurrence of cancer in this state.

NEW SECTION. Sec. 2.     The department of social and health services shall cause to be established by contract with a recognized regional cancer research institution, which shall hereinafter be called the contractee, a state-wide cancer registry program to maintain cancer reports as required in section 3 of this act and to make available data for use in cancer research.

NEW SECTION. Sec. 3.     (1) The department of social and health services or its designee shall approve and supply forms on which cancer information shall be reported.  This information shall include the following:

          (a) The name of the person who has cancer;

          (b) The address where that person resides;

          (c) The person's sex;

          (d) The person's race;

          (e) The person's date of birth;

          (f) The person's social security number;

          (g) The treating physician's name;

          (h) The hospital;

          (i) The type of cancer, including site and histology;

          (j) The stage and extent of the disease at the time of the initial diagnosis; and

          (k) The vital status.

          (2) Every health care facility and independent clinical laboratory, and those physicians who diagnose and treat any patient with cancer who is not hospitalized as part of the patient's initial course of treatment will provide the contractee with the information required under subsection (1) of this section or permit access to such information by the contractee.

NEW SECTION. Sec. 4.     (1) Data obtained under section 3 of this act shall be used for statistical, scientific, and medical research purposes.

          (2) The names of persons, physicians, and institutions obtained under section 3 of this act shall be confidential except that medical researchers may use the names of persons, physicians, and institutions when requesting additional information for research studies if those studies have been approved by the institutional review board of the contractee.

NEW SECTION. Sec. 5.     Providing information required under section 3 of this act shall not create any liability on the part of the provider nor shall it constitute a breach of confidentiality.  The contractee shall, upon receiving the information from the provider, sign an oath of confidentiality, which reads substantially as follows:

          "As a condition of conducting research concerning persons who have received services from (name of the health care provider or facility) I, .......... , agree not to divulge, publish, or otherwise make known to unauthorized persons or the public any information obtained in the course of such research that could lead to identification of such persons receiving services.  I recognize that unauthorized release of confidential information may subject me to civil liability under the provisions of state law."

NEW SECTION. Sec. 6.     The department of social and health services shall adopt rules to implement sections 2 through 5 of this act, including but not limited to a definition of cancer.

NEW SECTION. Sec. 7.     Sections 2 through 6 of this act are each added to chapter 70.54 RCW.

NEW SECTION. Sec. 8.     The sum of forty-eight thousand dollars, or as much thereof as may be necessary, is appropriated for the fiscal year ending June 30, 1986, from the general fund to the department of social and health services for the purposes of this act.