BILL REQ. #: S-4370.1
State of Washington | 59th Legislature | 2006 Regular Session |
READ FIRST TIME 01/20/06.
AN ACT Relating to health professions work force supply and demographics information; adding a new section to chapter 43.70 RCW; creating a new section; and providing an effective date.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF WASHINGTON:
NEW SECTION. Sec. 1 The legislature finds that people of color
experience significant disparities from the general population in
education, employment, healthy living conditions, access to health
care, and other social determinants of health. The legislature intends
to address barriers to gender-appropriate and culturally and
linguistically appropriate health care and health education materials,
including increasing the number of female and minority health care
providers, through expanded recruiting, education, and retention
programs. The legislature finds that before developing a work force
that is representative of the diversity of the state's population,
relevant and accurate data on health care professionals, students in
health care professions, and recipients of health services must first
be collected.
NEW SECTION. Sec. 2 A new section is added to chapter 43.70 RCW
to read as follows:
(1) Every two years the department, in collaboration with the work
force training and education coordinating board, shall distribute
survey questions for the purpose of gathering data related to work
force supply and demographics to all health care providers who are
licensed to practice in Washington.
(2)(a) At a minimum, the survey shall include questions related to
understanding the following characteristics of the health care work
force:
(i) Specialty;
(ii) Age;
(iii) Race or ethnicity;
(iv) Hours in practice per week;
(v) Practice statistics, including hours spent in direct patient
care;
(vi) Zip code of the location where the provider practices;
(vii) Years in practice, years in practice in Washington, and
location and years in practice in other jurisdictions; and
(viii) Type of facility where the provider practices.
(b) The department may approve proposals for the distribution of
surveys containing additional data elements to selected health care
professions if it determines that there is a legitimate research
interest in obtaining the information, the additional burden on members
of the health care profession is not unreasonable, the effect on survey
response rates is not unreasonable, and there are funds available. The
department may accept funds through contracts, grants, donations, or
other forms of contributions to support more detailed surveys.
(3) The department must make a public data set available that meets
the confidentiality requirements of subsection (5) of this section.
The department may respond to requests for data and other information
from the registry for special studies and analysis pursuant to a data-sharing agreement. Any use of the data by the requester must comply
with the confidentiality requirements of subsection (5) of this
section. The department may require requesters to pay any or all of
the reasonable costs associated with such requests that may be
approved.
(4) The failure to complete or return the survey may not be grounds
to withhold, fail to renew, or revoke a license or to impose any other
disciplinary sanctions against a credentialed health care provider.
(5) The department shall process the surveys that it receives in
such a way that the identity of individual providers remains anonymous.
Data elements related to the identification of individual providers
shall be confidential and shall be exempt from chapter 42.56 RCW,
except as provided in a data-sharing agreement approved by the
department pursuant to subsection (3) of this section.
NEW SECTION. Sec. 3 This act takes effect July 1, 2006.