PREPROPOSAL STATEMENT OF INQUIRY
Subject of Possible Rule Making: Chapter 246-XXX WAC, establishes a new WAC chapter for new licensing requirements along with fee schedule for ambulatory surgical facilities.
Statutes Authorizing the Agency to Adopt Rules on this Subject: Chapter 70.230 RCW, ESHB 1414, Laws of 2007.
Reasons Why Rules on this Subject may be Needed and What They Might Accomplish: The 2007 legislature passed ESHB 1414, which requires ambulatory surgical facilities to obtain a license from the secretary of health in order to operate in Washington state. Ambulatory surgical facilities are defined as entities that provide specialty or multispecialty outpatient surgical services in which patients are admitted to and discharged by the facility within twenty-hour hours and do not require inpatient hospitalization. These requirements must be established in rule to be enforceable.
Other Federal and State Agencies that Regulate this Subject and the Process Coordinating the Rule with These Agencies: None.
Process for Developing New Rule: Collaborative rule making.
Interested parties can participate in the decision to adopt the new rule and formulation of the proposed rule before publication. Interested parties can participate in the formulation of the new rule and the decision to adopt the new rule before publication by contacting John Hilger, Rules Coordinator, Facilities and Services Licensing, 310 Israel Road S.E., Tumwater, WA 98501-7852, e-mail john.hilger@doh.wa.gov, phone (360) 236-2929, fax (360) 236-2901. We will notify all licensees and organizations who have expressed an interest in rule-making activities. Interested parties may also submit written comments for consideration.
May 5, 2008
Mary C. Selecky
Secretary