AN
ACT Relating to the disclosure of hospital information; amending RCW 70.41.150
and 70.41.200; reenacting and amending RCW 42.17.310; and adding new sections
to chapter 70.41 RCW.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE
LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF WASHINGTON:
Sec.
1. RCW
70.41.150 and 1985 c 213 s 24 are each amended to read as follows:
Information
received by the department through filed reports, inspection, or as otherwise
authorized under this chapter, ((shall not)) may be disclosed
publicly ((in such manner as to identify individuals or hospitals, except in
a proceeding involving the question of licensure. Such records of the
department shall at all times be available to the council and the members
thereof)), as permitted under chapter 42.17 RCW, subject to the
following provisions:
(1)
Licensing inspections, or complaint investigations regardless of findings,
shall, as requested, be disclosed no sooner than three business days after the
hospital has received the resulting assessment report;
(2)
Information regarding administrative action against the license shall, as
requested, be disclosed after the hospital has received the documents
initiating the administrative action;
(3)
Information about complaints that did not warrant an investigation shall not be
disclosed except to notify the hospital and the complainant that the complaint
did not warrant an investigation. If requested, the individual complainant
shall receive information on other like complaints that have been reported
against the hospital; and
(4)
Information disclosed pursuant to this section shall not disclose individual
names.
NEW
SECTION. Sec. 2. A
new section is added to chapter 70.41 RCW to read as follows:
Any
complaint against a hospital and event notification required by the department
that concerns patient well-being shall be investigated.
Sec.
3. RCW
70.41.200 and 1994 sp.s. c 9 s 742 are each amended to read as follows:
(1)
Every hospital shall maintain a coordinated quality improvement program for the
improvement of the quality of health care services rendered to patients and the
identification and prevention of medical malpractice. The program shall
include at least the following:
(a)
The establishment of a quality improvement committee with the responsibility to
review the services rendered in the hospital, both retrospectively and
prospectively, in order to improve the quality of medical care of patients and
to prevent medical malpractice. The committee shall oversee and coordinate the
quality improvement and medical malpractice prevention program and shall ((insure))
ensure that information gathered pursuant to the program is used to
review and to revise hospital policies and procedures;
(b)
A medical staff privileges sanction procedure through which credentials,
physical and mental capacity, and competence in delivering health care services
are periodically reviewed as part of an evaluation of staff privileges;
(c)
The periodic review of the credentials, physical and mental capacity, and
competence in delivering health care services of all persons who are employed
or associated with the hospital;
(d)
A procedure for the prompt resolution of grievances by patients or their
representatives related to accidents, injuries, treatment, and other events
that may result in claims of medical malpractice;
(e)
The maintenance and continuous collection of information concerning the
hospital's experience with negative health care outcomes and incidents
injurious to patients, patient grievances, professional liability premiums,
settlements, awards, costs incurred by the hospital for patient injury
prevention, and safety improvement activities;
(f)
The maintenance of relevant and appropriate information gathered pursuant to
(a) through (e) of this subsection concerning individual physicians within the
physician's personnel or credential file maintained by the hospital;
(g)
Education programs dealing with quality improvement, patient safety, injury
prevention, staff responsibility to report professional misconduct, the legal
aspects of patient care, improved communication with patients, and causes of
malpractice claims for staff personnel engaged in patient care activities; and
(h)
Policies to ensure compliance with the reporting requirements of this section.
(2)
Any person who, in substantial good faith, provides information to further the
purposes of the quality improvement and medical malpractice prevention program
or who, in substantial good faith, participates on the quality improvement
committee shall not be subject to an action for civil damages or other relief
as a result of such activity.
(3)
Information and documents, including complaints and incident reports, created
specifically for, and collected, and maintained by a quality improvement
committee are not subject to discovery or introduction into evidence in any
civil action, and no person who was in attendance at a meeting of such
committee or who participated in the creation, collection, or maintenance of
information or documents specifically for the committee shall be permitted or
required to testify in any civil action as to the content of such proceedings
or the documents and information prepared specifically for the committee. This
subsection does not preclude: (a) In any civil action, the discovery of the
identity of persons involved in the medical care that is the basis of the civil
action whose involvement was independent of any quality improvement activity;
(b) in any civil action, the testimony of any person concerning the facts which
form the basis for the institution of such proceedings of which the person had
personal knowledge acquired independently of such proceedings; (c) in any civil
action by a health care provider regarding the restriction or revocation of
that individual's clinical or staff privileges, introduction into evidence information
collected and maintained by quality improvement committees regarding such
health care provider; (d) in any civil action, disclosure of the fact that
staff privileges were terminated or restricted, including the specific
restrictions imposed, if any and the reasons for the restrictions; or (e) in
any civil action, discovery and introduction into evidence of the patient's
medical records required by regulation of the department of health to be made
regarding the care and treatment received.
(4)
Each quality improvement committee shall, on at least a semiannual basis,
report to the governing board of the hospital in which the committee is
located. The report shall review the quality improvement activities conducted
by the committee, and any actions taken as a result of those activities.
(5)
The department of health shall adopt such rules as are deemed appropriate to
effectuate the purposes of this section.
(6)
The medical quality assurance commission or the board of osteopathic medicine
and surgery, as appropriate, may review and audit the records of committee
decisions in which a physician's privileges are terminated or restricted. Each
hospital shall produce and make accessible to the commission or board the
appropriate records and otherwise facilitate the review and audit. Information
so gained shall not be subject to the discovery process and confidentiality
shall be respected as required by subsection (3) of this section. Failure of a
hospital to comply with this subsection is punishable by a civil penalty not to
exceed two hundred fifty dollars.
(7)
The department, the joint commission on accreditation of health care
organizations, and any other accrediting organization may review and audit the
records of a quality improvement committee or peer review committee in
connection with their inspection and review of hospitals. Information so
obtained shall not be subject to the discovery process, and confidentiality
shall be respected as required by subsection (3) of this section. Each
hospital shall produce and make accessible to the department the appropriate
records and otherwise facilitate the review and audit.
(8)
Violation of this section shall not be considered negligence per se.
NEW
SECTION. Sec. 4. A
new section is added to chapter 70.41 RCW to read as follows:
Every
hospital shall post in conspicuous locations a notice of the department's
hospital complaint toll-free telephone number. The form of the notice shall be
approved by the department.
Sec.
5. RCW
42.17.310 and 1999 c 326 s 3, 1999 c 290 s 1, and 1999 c 215 s 1 are each
reenacted and amended to read as follows:
(1)
The following are exempt from public inspection and copying:
(a)
Personal information in any files maintained for students in public schools,
patients or clients of public institutions or public health agencies, or
welfare recipients.
(b)
Personal information in files maintained for employees, appointees, or elected
officials of any public agency to the extent that disclosure would violate
their right to privacy.
(c)
Information required of any taxpayer in connection with the assessment or
collection of any tax if the disclosure of the information to other persons
would (i) be prohibited to such persons by RCW 84.08.210, 82.32.330, 84.40.020,
or 84.40.340 or (ii) violate the taxpayer's right to privacy or result in
unfair competitive disadvantage to the taxpayer.
(d)
Specific intelligence information and specific investigative records compiled
by investigative, law enforcement, and penology agencies, and state agencies
vested with the responsibility to discipline members of any profession, the
nondisclosure of which is essential to effective law enforcement or for the
protection of any person's right to privacy.
(e)
Information revealing the identity of persons who are witnesses to or victims
of crime or who file complaints with investigative, law enforcement, or
penology agencies, other than the public disclosure commission, if disclosure
would endanger any person's life, physical safety, or property. If at the time
a complaint is filed the complainant, victim or witness indicates a desire for
disclosure or nondisclosure, such desire shall govern. However, all complaints
filed with the public disclosure commission about any elected official or
candidate for public office must be made in writing and signed by the
complainant under oath.
(f)
Test questions, scoring keys, and other examination data used to administer a
license, employment, or academic examination.
(g)
Except as provided by chapter 8.26 RCW, the contents of real estate appraisals,
made for or by any agency relative to the acquisition or sale of property,
until the project or prospective sale is abandoned or until such time as all of
the property has been acquired or the property to which the sale appraisal
relates is sold, but in no event shall disclosure be denied for more than three
years after the appraisal.
(h)
Valuable formulae, designs, drawings, computer source code or object code, and
research data obtained by any agency within five years of the request for
disclosure when disclosure would produce private gain and public loss.
(i)
Preliminary drafts, notes, recommendations, and intra-agency memorandums in
which opinions are expressed or policies formulated or recommended except that
a specific record shall not be exempt when publicly cited by an agency in
connection with any agency action.
(j)
Records which are relevant to a controversy to which an agency is a party but
which records would not be available to another party under the rules of
pretrial discovery for causes pending in the superior courts.
(k)
Records, maps, or other information identifying the location of archaeological
sites in order to avoid the looting or depredation of such sites.
(l)
Any library record, the primary purpose of which is to maintain control of
library materials, or to gain access to information, which discloses or could
be used to disclose the identity of a library user.
(m)
Financial information supplied by or on behalf of a person, firm, or
corporation for the purpose of qualifying to submit a bid or proposal for (i) a
ferry system construction or repair contract as required by RCW 47.60.680
through 47.60.750 or (ii) highway construction or improvement as required by
RCW 47.28.070.
(n)
Railroad company contracts filed prior to July 28, 1991, with the utilities and
transportation commission under RCW 81.34.070, except that the summaries of the
contracts are open to public inspection and copying as otherwise provided by
this chapter.
(o)
Financial and commercial information and records supplied by private persons
pertaining to export services provided pursuant to chapter 43.163 RCW and
chapter 53.31 RCW, and by persons pertaining to export projects pursuant to RCW
43.23.035.
(p)
Financial disclosures filed by private vocational schools under chapters 28B.85
and 28C.10 RCW.
(q)
Records filed with the utilities and transportation commission or attorney
general under RCW 80.04.095 that a court has determined are confidential under
RCW 80.04.095.
(r)
Financial and commercial information and records supplied by businesses or
individuals during application for loans or program services provided by
chapters 43.163, 43.160, 43.330, and 43.168 RCW, or during application for
economic development loans or program services provided by any local agency.
(s)
Membership lists or lists of members or owners of interests of units in timeshare
projects, subdivisions, camping resorts, condominiums, land developments, or
common-interest communities affiliated with such projects, regulated by the
department of licensing, in the files or possession of the department.
(t)
All applications for public employment, including the names of applicants,
resumes, and other related materials submitted with respect to an applicant.
(u)
The residential addresses and residential telephone numbers of employees or
volunteers of a public agency which are held by the agency in personnel
records, employment or volunteer rosters, or mailing lists of employees or
volunteers.
(v)
The residential addresses and residential telephone numbers of the customers of
a public utility contained in the records or lists held by the public utility
of which they are customers, except that this information may be released to
the division of child support or the agency or firm providing child support
enforcement for another state under Title IV-D of the federal social security
act, for the establishment, enforcement, or modification of a support order.
(w)(i)
The federal social security number of individuals governed under chapter 18.130
RCW maintained in the files of the department of health, except this exemption
does not apply to requests made directly to the department from federal, state,
and local agencies of government, and national and state licensing,
credentialing, investigatory, disciplinary, and examination organizations; (ii)
the current residential address and current residential telephone number of a
health care provider governed under chapter 18.130 RCW maintained in the files
of the department, if the provider requests that this information be withheld
from public inspection and copying, and provides to the department an accurate
alternate or business address and business telephone number. On or after
January 1, 1995, the current residential address and residential telephone
number of a health care provider governed under RCW 18.130.140 maintained in
the files of the department shall automatically be withheld from public
inspection and copying unless the provider specifically requests the
information be released, and except as provided for under RCW 42.17.260(9).
(x)
Information obtained by the board of pharmacy as provided in RCW 69.45.090.
(y)
Information obtained by the board of pharmacy or the department of health and
its representatives as provided in RCW 69.41.044, 69.41.280, and 18.64.420.
(z)
Financial information, business plans, examination reports, and any information
produced or obtained in evaluating or examining a business and industrial
development corporation organized or seeking certification under chapter 31.24
RCW.
(aa)
Financial and commercial information supplied to the state investment board by any
person when the information relates to the investment of public trust or
retirement funds and when disclosure would result in loss to such funds or in
private loss to the providers of this information.
(bb)
Financial and valuable trade information under RCW 51.36.120.
(cc)
Client records maintained by an agency that is a domestic violence program as
defined in RCW 70.123.020 or 70.123.075 or a rape crisis center as defined in
RCW 70.125.030.
(dd)
Information that identifies a person who, while an agency employee: (i) Seeks
advice, under an informal process established by the employing agency, in order
to ascertain his or her rights in connection with a possible unfair practice
under chapter 49.60 RCW against the person; and (ii) requests his or her identity
or any identifying information not be disclosed.
(ee)
Investigative records compiled by an employing agency conducting a current
investigation of a possible unfair practice under chapter 49.60 RCW or of a
possible violation of other federal, state, or local laws prohibiting
discrimination in employment.
(ff)
Business related information protected from public inspection and copying under
RCW 15.86.110.
(gg)
Financial, commercial, operations, and technical and research information and
data submitted to or obtained by the clean Washington center in applications
for, or delivery of, program services under chapter 70.95H RCW.
(hh)
Information and documents created specifically for, and collected and
maintained by a quality improvement committee pursuant to RCW 43.70.510 or
70.41.200, or by a peer review committee under RCW 4.24.250, regardless of
which agency is in possession of the information and documents.
(ii)
Personal information in files maintained in a data base created under RCW
43.07.360.
(jj)
Financial and commercial information requested by the public stadium authority
from any person or organization that leases or uses the stadium and exhibition
center as defined in RCW 36.102.010.
(kk)
Names of individuals residing in emergency or transitional housing that are
furnished to the department of revenue or a county assessor in order to
substantiate a claim for property tax exemption under RCW 84.36.043.
(ll)
The names, residential addresses, residential telephone numbers, and other
individually identifiable records held by an agency in relation to a vanpool,
carpool, or other ride-sharing program or service. However, these records may
be disclosed to other persons who apply for ride-matching services and who need
that information in order to identify potential riders or drivers with whom to
share rides.
(mm)
The personally identifying information of current or former participants or
applicants in a paratransit or other transit service operated for the benefit
of persons with disabilities or elderly persons.
(nn)
The personally identifying information of persons who acquire and use transit
passes and other fare payment media including, but not limited to, stored value
smart cards and magnetic strip cards, except that an agency may disclose this
information to a person, employer, educational institution, or other entity
that is responsible, in whole or in part, for payment of the cost of acquiring
or using a transit pass or other fare payment media, or to the news media when
reporting on public transportation or public safety. This information may also
be disclosed at the agency's discretion to governmental agencies or groups
concerned with public transportation or public safety.
(oo)
Proprietary financial and commercial information that the submitting entity,
with review by the department of health, specifically identifies at the time it
is submitted and that is provided to or obtained by the department of health in
connection with an application for, or the supervision of, an antitrust
exemption sought by the submitting entity under RCW 43.72.310. If a request
for such information is received, the submitting entity must be notified of the
request. Within ten business days of receipt of the notice, the submitting
entity shall provide a written statement of the continuing need for
confidentiality, which shall be provided to the requester. Upon receipt of
such notice, the department of health shall continue to treat information designated
under this section as exempt from disclosure. If the requester initiates an
action to compel disclosure under this chapter, the submitting entity must be
joined as a party to demonstrate the continuing need for confidentiality.
(pp)
Records maintained by the board of industrial insurance appeals that are
related to appeals of crime victims' compensation claims filed with the board
under RCW 7.68.110.
(qq)
Financial and commercial information supplied by or on behalf of a person,
firm, corporation, or entity under chapter 28B.95 RCW relating to the purchase
or sale of tuition units and contracts for the purchase of multiple tuition
units.
(rr)
Any records of investigative reports prepared by any state, county, municipal,
or other law enforcement agency pertaining to sex offenses contained in chapter
9A.44 RCW or sexually violent offenses as defined in RCW 71.09.020, which have
been transferred to the Washington association of sheriffs and police chiefs
for permanent electronic retention and retrieval pursuant to RCW
40.14.070(2)(b).
(2)
Except for information described in subsection (1)(c)(i) of this section and
confidential income data exempted from public inspection pursuant to RCW
84.40.020, the exemptions of this section are inapplicable to the extent that
information, the disclosure of which would violate personal privacy or vital
governmental interests, can be deleted from the specific records sought. No
exemption may be construed to permit the nondisclosure of statistical
information not descriptive of any readily identifiable person or persons.
(3)
Inspection or copying of any specific records exempt under the provisions of
this section may be permitted if the superior court in the county in which the
record is maintained finds, after a hearing with notice thereof to every person
in interest and the agency, that the exemption of such records is clearly
unnecessary to protect any individual's right of privacy or any vital
governmental function.
(4)
Agency responses refusing, in whole or in part, inspection of any public record
shall include a statement of the specific exemption authorizing the withholding
of the record (or part) and a brief explanation of how the exemption applies to
the record withheld.
NEW
SECTION. Sec. 6. A
new section is added to chapter 70.41 RCW to read as follows:
The department is authorized to adopt rules necessary to implement
sections 1, 2, and 4 of this act.
