WSR 17-17-019
PERMANENT RULES
DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH
[Filed August 7, 2017, 10:47 p.m., effective September 7, 2017]
Effective Date of Rule: Thirty-one days after filing.
Purpose: WAC 246-08-400 How much can a health care provider charge for searching and duplicating health care records?, the adopted rule increases the amounts health care providers may charge by 4.8 percent, based on the change in the consumer price index for the Seattle-Tacoma area, as required in RCW 70.02.010(37). The adopted rule also deletes unnecessary effective dates and makes clarifications for HIPAA covered entities.
Citation of Rules Affected by this Order: Amending WAC 246-08-400.
Statutory Authority for Adoption: RCW 70.02.010(37) and 43.70.040.
Adopted under notice filed as WSR 17-08-096 on April 5, 2017.
Changes Other than Editing from Proposed to Adopted Version: The department added a reference to the Code of Federal Regulations (C.F.R.) definition of HIPAA covered entity in subsection (3).
Number of Sections Adopted in Order to Comply with Federal Statute: New 0, Amended 0, Repealed 0; Federal Rules or Standards: New 0, Amended 0, Repealed 0; or Recently Enacted State Statutes: New 0, Amended 0, Repealed 0.
Number of Sections Adopted at the Request of a Nongovernmental Entity: New 0, Amended 0, Repealed 0.
Number of Sections Adopted on the Agency's own Initiative: New 0, Amended 1, Repealed 0.
Number of Sections Adopted in Order to Clarify, Streamline, or Reform Agency Procedures: New 0, Amended 0, Repealed 0.
Number of Sections Adopted using Negotiated Rule Making: New 0, Amended 0, Repealed 0; Pilot Rule Making: New 0, Amended 0, Repealed 0; or Other Alternative Rule Making: New 0, Amended 1, Repealed 0.
Date Adopted: August 1, 2017.
Jessica Todorovich
Chief of Staff
for John Wiesman, DrPH, MPH
Secretary
AMENDATORY SECTION (Amending WSR 15-14-073, filed 6/26/15, effective 7/27/15)
WAC 246-08-400 How much can a health care provider charge for searching and duplicating health care records?
RCW 70.02.010(37) allows health care providers to charge fees for searching and duplicating health care records. The fees a provider may charge cannot exceed the fees listed below:
(1) Copying charge per page:
(a) No more than one dollar and ((twelve)) seventeen cents per page for the first thirty pages;
(b) No more than ((eighty-four)) eighty-eight cents per page for all other pages.
(2) Additional charges:
(a) The provider can charge a ((twenty-five)) twenty-six dollar clerical fee for searching and handling records;
(b) If the provider personally edits confidential information from the record, as required by statute, the provider can charge the usual fee for a basic office visit.
(3) ((This section is effective July 1, 2015, through June 30, 2017.
(4))) HIPAA covered entities ((shall refer to)) as defined in 45 C.F.R. Sec. 103 may not charge fees or costs that are not authorized by, or are prohibited by, Federal HIPAA regulation 45 C.F.R. ((164.524 (c)(4))) Sec. 164.