S-3562               _______________________________________________

 

                                                   SENATE BILL NO. 4728

                        _______________________________________________

 

State of Washington                              49th Legislature                              1986 Regular Session

 

By Senator Barr

 

 

Read first time 1/21/86 and referred to Committee on Human Services & Corrections.

 

 


AN ACT Relating to the state hospital commission; and amending RCW 70.39.020.

 

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

 

        Sec. 1.  Section 3, chapter 5, Laws of 1973 1st ex. sess. as amended by section 2, chapter 288, Laws of 1984 and RCW 70.39.020 are each amended to read as follows:

          As used in this chapter:

          (1) "Commission" means the hospital commission of the state of Washington as created by this chapter;

          (2) "Consumer" means any person whose occupation is other than the administration of health activities or the providing of health services, who has no fiduciary obligation to a health facility or other health agency, and who has no material financial interest in the rendering of health services;

          (3) "Hospital" means any health care institution which is required to qualify for a license under RCW 70.41.020(2); or as a psychiatric hospital under chapter 71.12 RCW, but shall not include beds utilized by a comprehensive cancer center for cancer research, or any health care institution conducted for those who rely primarily upon treatment by prayer or spiritual means in accordance with the creed or tenets of any church or denomination, or public hospital districts created pursuant to chapter 70.44 RCW.

          (4) "Diagnosis-related groups" is a classification system that groups hospital patients according to principal and secondary diagnosis, presence or absence of a surgical procedure, age, presence or absence of significant comorbidities or complications, and other relevant criteria, an example of which has been adopted as the basis for prospective payment under the federal medicare program by the social security amendments of 1983, Public Law 98-21.

          (5) "Medical technology" means the drugs, devices, and medical or surgical procedures used in the delivery of health care, and the organizational or supportive systems within which such care is provided.

          (6) "Technology assessment" means a comprehensive form of policy research that examines the technical, economic, and social consequences of technological applications, including the indirect, unintended, or delayed social or economic impacts.  In health care, such analysis must evaluate efficacy and safety as well as efficiency.

          (7) "Charity care" means necessary hospital health care rendered to indigent persons, to the extent that the persons are unable to pay for the care or to pay deductibles or co-insurance amounts required by a third-party payer, as determined by the commission.

          (8) "Rate" means the maximum revenue which a hospital may receive for each unit of service, as determined by the commission.

          (9)  "Comprehensive cancer center" means an institution and its research programs as recognized by the National Cancer Institute prior to April 20, 1983.

          (10) "Region" means one of the health service areas established pursuant to RCW 70.38.085, except that King county shall be considered a separate region for the purposes of this chapter.