AN
ACT Relating to individually identifiable DNA testing information; and amending
RCW 70.02.010.
BE IT
ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF WASHINGTON:
Sec.
1. RCW
70.02.010 and 1993 c 448 s 1 are each amended to read as follows:
((As
used in this chapter, unless the context otherwise requires:)) The
definitions in this section apply throughout this chapter unless the context
clearly requires otherwise.
(1)
"Audit" means an assessment, evaluation, determination, or
investigation of a health care provider by a person not employed by or
affiliated with the provider to determine compliance with:
(a)
Statutory, regulatory, fiscal, medical, or scientific standards;
(b)
A private or public program of payments to a health care provider; or
(c)
Requirements for licensing, accreditation, or certification.
(2)
"Directory information" means information disclosing the presence,
and for the purpose of identification, the name, residence, sex, and the
general health condition of a particular patient who is a patient in a health
care facility or who is currently receiving emergency health care in a health
care facility.
(3)
"General health condition" means the patient's health status
described in terms of "critical," "poor," "fair,"
"good," "excellent," or terms denoting similar conditions.
(4)
"Health care" means any care, service, or procedure provided by a
health care provider:
(a)
To diagnose, treat, or maintain a patient's physical or mental condition; or
(b)
That affects the structure or any function of the human body.
(5)
"Health care facility" means a hospital, clinic, nursing home,
laboratory, office, or similar place where a health care provider provides
health care to patients.
(6)
"Health care information" means any information, whether oral or
recorded in any form or medium, that identifies or can readily be associated
with the identity of a patient and directly relates to the patient's health
care, including a patient's deoxyribonucleic acid and identified sequence of
chemical base pairs. The term includes any record of disclosures of health
care information.
(7)
"Health care provider" means a person who is licensed, certified,
registered, or otherwise authorized by the law of this state to provide health
care in the ordinary course of business or practice of a profession.
(8)
"Institutional review board" means any board, committee, or other
group formally designated by an institution, or authorized under federal or
state law, to review, approve the initiation of, or conduct periodic review of
research programs to assure the protection of the rights and welfare of human
research subjects.
(9)
"Maintain," as related to health care information, means to hold,
possess, preserve, retain, store, or control that information.
(10)
"Patient" means an individual who receives or has received health
care. The term includes a deceased individual who has received health care.
(11)
"Person" means an individual, corporation, business trust, estate,
trust, partnership, association, joint venture, government, governmental
subdivision or agency, or any other legal or commercial entity.
(12)
"Reasonable fee" means the charges for duplicating or searching the
record, but shall not exceed sixty-five cents per page for the first thirty
pages and fifty cents per page for all other pages. In addition, a clerical
fee for searching and handling may be charged not to exceed fifteen dollars.
These amounts shall be adjusted biennially in accordance with changes in the
consumer price index, all consumers, for Seattle-Tacoma metropolitan
statistical area as determined by the secretary of health. However, where
editing of records by a health care provider is required by statute and is done
by the provider personally, the fee may be the usual and customary charge for a
basic office visit.
(13)
"Third-party payor" means an insurer regulated under Title 48 RCW
authorized to transact business in this state or other jurisdiction, including
a health care service contractor, and health maintenance organization; or an
employee welfare benefit plan; or a state or federal health benefit program.
