READ FIRST TIME 03/02/05.   

     AN ACT Relating to hospital reporting of restrictions on health care practitioners; and amending RCW 70.41.210 and 18.130.070.

BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF WASHINGTON:

Sec. 1   RCW 70.41.210 and 1994 sp.s. c 9 s 743 are each amended to read as follows:
     (1) The chief administrator or executive officer of a hospital shall report to the ((medical quality assurance commission when a physician's clinical privileges are terminated or are restricted based on a determination, in accordance with an institution's bylaws, that a physician has either committed an act or acts which may constitute unprofessional conduct. The officer shall also report if a physician accepts voluntary termination in order to foreclose or terminate actual or possible hospital action to suspend, restrict, or terminate a physician's clinical privileges)) department when the practice of a health care practitioner as defined in subsection (2) of this section is restricted, suspended, limited, or terminated based upon a conviction, determination, or finding by the hospital that the health care practitioner has committed an action defined as unprofessional conduct under RCW 18.130.180. The chief administrator or executive officer shall also report any voluntary restriction or termination of the practice of a health care practitioner as defined in subsection (2) of this section while the practitioner is under investigation or the subject of a proceeding by the hospital regarding unprofessional conduct, or in return for the hospital not conducting such an investigation or proceeding or not taking action. The department will forward the report to the appropriate disciplining authority.
     (2) The reporting requirements apply to the following health care practitioners: Pharmacists as defined in chapter 18.64 RCW; advanced registered nurse practitioners as defined in chapter 18.79 RCW; dentists as defined in chapter 18.32 RCW; naturopaths as defined in chapter 18.36A RCW; optometrists as defined in chapter 18.53 RCW; osteopathic physicians and surgeons as defined in chapter 18.57 RCW; osteopathic physician assistants as defined in chapter 18.57A RCW; physicians as defined in chapter 18.71 RCW; physician assistants as defined in chapter 18.71A RCW; podiatric physicians and surgeons as defined in chapter 18.22 RCW; and psychologists as defined in chapter 18.83 RCW.
     ((Such a)) (3) Reports made under subsection (1) of this section shall be made within ((sixty)) fifteen days of the date ((action was taken by the hospital's peer review committee or the physician's acceptance of voluntary termination or restriction of privileges)): (a) A conviction, determination, or finding is made by the hospital that the health care practitioner has committed an action defined as unprofessional conduct under RCW 18.130.180; or (b) the voluntary restriction or termination of the practice of a health care practitioner, including his or her voluntary resignation, while under investigation or the subject of proceedings regarding unprofessional conduct under RCW 18.130.180 is accepted by the hospital.
     (4) Failure of a hospital to comply with this section is punishable by a civil penalty not to exceed two hundred fifty dollars.
     (5) A hospital, its chief administrator, or its executive officer who files a report under this section is immune from suit, whether direct or derivative, in any civil action related to the filing or contents of the report, unless the conviction, determination, or finding on which the report and its content are based is proven to not have been made in good faith. The prevailing party in any action brought alleging the conviction, determination, finding, or report was not made in good faith, shall be entitled to recover the costs of litigation, including reasonable attorneys' fees.
     (6) The department shall forward reports made under subsection (1) of this section to the appropriate disciplining authority designated under Title 18 RCW within fifteen days of the date the report is received by the department. The department shall notify a hospital that has made a report under subsection (1) of this section of the results of the disciplining authority's case disposition decision within fifteen days after the case disposition. Case disposition is the decision whether to issue a statement of charges, take informal action, or close the complaint without action against a practitioner. In its biennial report to the legislature under RCW 18.130.310, the department shall specifically identify the case dispositions of reports made by hospitals under subsection (1) of this section.
     (7) The department shall not increase hospital license fees to carry out this section before July 1, 2007.

Sec. 2   RCW 18.130.070 and 1998 c 132 s 8 are each amended to read as follows:
     (1) The disciplining authority may adopt rules requiring any person, including, but not limited to, licensees, corporations, organizations, health care facilities, impaired practitioner programs, or voluntary substance abuse monitoring programs approved by the disciplining authority and state or local governmental agencies, to report to the disciplining authority any conviction, determination, or finding that a license holder has committed an act which constitutes unprofessional conduct, or to report information to the disciplining authority, an impaired practitioner program, or voluntary substance abuse monitoring program approved by the disciplining authority, which indicates that the license holder may not be able to practice his or her profession with reasonable skill and safety to consumers as a result of a mental or physical condition. If a report has been made by a hospital to the department pursuant to RCW 70.41.210, a report to the disciplining authority is not required. To facilitate meeting the intent of this section, the cooperation of agencies of the federal government is requested by reporting any conviction, determination, or finding that a federal employee or contractor regulated by the ((disciplinary)) disciplining authorities enumerated in this chapter has committed an act which constituted unprofessional conduct and reporting any information which indicates that a federal employee or contractor regulated by the ((disciplinary)) disciplining authorities enumerated in this chapter may not be able to practice his or her profession with reasonable skill and safety as a result of a mental or physical condition.
     (2) If a person fails to furnish a required report, the disciplining authority may petition the superior court of the county in which the person resides or is found, and the court shall issue to the person an order to furnish the required report. A failure to obey the order is a contempt of court as provided in chapter 7.21 RCW.
     (3) A person is immune from civil liability, whether direct or derivative, for providing information to the disciplining authority pursuant to the rules adopted under subsection (1) of this section.
     (4) The holder of a license subject to the jurisdiction of this chapter shall report to the disciplining authority any conviction, determination, or finding that the licensee has committed unprofessional conduct or is unable to practice with reasonable skill or safety. Failure to report within thirty days of notice of the conviction, determination, or finding constitutes grounds for disciplinary action.