BILL REQ. #:  H-5057.1 

READ FIRST TIME 02/09/10.   

     AN ACT Relating to emergency cardiac and stroke care; amending RCW 70.168.015 and 70.168.090; reenacting and amending RCW 42.56.360; adding new sections to chapter 70.168 RCW; and creating a new section.

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

NEW SECTION.  Sec. 1   (1) The legislature finds that:
     (a) In 2006, the governor's emergency medical services and trauma care steering committee charged the emergency cardiac and stroke work group with assessing the burden of acute coronary syndrome, otherwise known as heart attack, cardiac arrest, and stroke and the care that people receive for these acute cardiovascular events in Washington.
     (b) The work group's report found that:
     (i) Despite falling death rates, heart disease and stroke were still the second and third leading causes of death in 2005. All cardiovascular diseases accounted for thirty-four percent of deaths, surpassing all other causes of death.
     (ii) Cardiovascular diseases have a substantial social and economic impact on individuals and families, as well as the state's health and long-term care systems. Although many people who survive acute cardiac and stroke events have significant physical and cognitive disability, early evidence-based treatments can help more people return to their productive lives.
     (iii) Heart disease and stroke are among the most costly medical conditions at nearly four billion dollars per year for hospitalization and long-term care alone.
     (iv) The age group at highest risk for heart disease or stroke, people sixty-five and older, is projected to double by 2030, potentially doubling the social and economic impact of heart disease and stroke in Washington. Early recognition is important, as Washington demographics indicate a significant occurrence of acute coronary syndromes by the age of fifty-five.
     (c) The assessment of emergency cardiac and stroke care found:
     (i) Many cardiac and stroke patients are not receiving evidence-based treatments;
     (ii) Access to diagnostic and treatment resources varies greatly, especially for rural parts of the state;
     (iii) Training, protocols, procedures, and resources in dispatch services, emergency medical services, and hospitals vary significantly;
     (iv) Cardiac mortality rates vary widely depending on hospital and regional resources; and
     (v) Advances in technology and streamlined approaches to care can significantly improve emergency cardiac and stroke care, but many people do not get the benefit of these treatments.
     (d) Time is critical throughout the chain of survival, from dispatch of emergency medical services, to transport, to the emergency room, for emergency cardiac and stroke patients. The minutes after the onset of heart attack, cardiac arrest, and stroke are as important as the "golden hour" in trauma. When treatment is delayed, more brain or heart tissue dies. Timely treatment can mean the difference between returning to work or becoming permanently disabled, living at home, or living in a nursing home. It can be the difference between life and death. Ensuring most patients will get life saving care in time requires preplanning and an organized system of care.
     (e) Many other states have improved systems of care to respond to and treat acute cardiac and stroke events, similar to improvements in trauma care in Washington.
     (f) Some areas of Washington have deployed local systems to respond to and treat acute cardiac and stroke events.
     (2) It is the intent of the legislature to support efforts to improve emergency cardiac and stroke care in Washington through an evidence-based coordinated system of care.

Sec. 2   RCW 70.168.015 and 1990 c 269 s 4 are each amended to read as follows:
     As used in this chapter, the following terms have the meanings indicated unless the context clearly requires otherwise.
     (1) "Cardiac" means acute coronary syndrome, an umbrella term used to cover any group of clinical symptoms compatible with acute myocardial ischemia, which is chest discomfort or other symptoms due to insufficient blood supply to the heart muscle resulting from coronary artery disease. "Cardiac" also includes out-of-hospital cardiac arrest, which is the cessation of mechanical heart activity as assessed by emergency medical services personnel, or other acute heart conditions.
     (2) "Communications system" means a radio and landline network which provides rapid public access, coordinated central dispatching of services, and coordination of personnel, equipment, and facilities in an emergency medical services and trauma care system.
     (((2))) (3) "Emergency medical service" means medical treatment and care that may be rendered at the scene of any medical emergency or while transporting any patient in an ambulance to an appropriate medical facility, including ambulance transportation between medical facilities.
     (((3))) (4) "Emergency medical services medical program director" means a person who is an approved program director as defined by RCW 18.71.205(4).
     (((4))) (5) "Department" means the department of health.
     (((5))) (6) "Designation" means a formal determination by the department that hospitals or health care facilities are capable of providing designated trauma care services as authorized in RCW 70.168.070.
     (((6))) (7) "Designated trauma care service" means a level I, II, III, IV, or V trauma care service or level I, II, or III pediatric trauma care service or level I, I-pediatric, II, or III trauma-related rehabilitative service.
     (((7))) (8) "Emergency medical services and trauma care system plan" means a statewide plan that identifies statewide emergency medical services and trauma care objectives and priorities and identifies equipment, facility, personnel, training, and other needs required to create and maintain a statewide emergency medical services and trauma care system. The plan also includes a plan of implementation that identifies the state, regional, and local activities that will create, operate, maintain, and enhance the system. The plan is formulated by incorporating the regional emergency medical services and trauma care plans required under this chapter. The plan shall be updated every two years and shall be made available to the state board of health in sufficient time to be considered in preparation of the biennial state health report required in RCW 43.20.050.
     (((8))) (9) "Emergency medical services and trauma care planning and service regions" means geographic areas established by the department under this chapter.
     (((9))) (10) "Facility patient care protocols" means the written procedures adopted by the medical staff that direct the care of the patient. These procedures shall be based upon the assessment of the patients' medical needs. The procedures shall follow minimum statewide standards for trauma care services.
     (((10))) (11) "Hospital" means a facility licensed under chapter 70.41 RCW, or comparable health care facility operated by the federal government or located and licensed in another state.
     (((11))) (12) "Level I pediatric trauma care services" means pediatric trauma care services as established in RCW 70.168.060. Hospitals providing level I services shall provide definitive, comprehensive, specialized care for pediatric trauma patients and shall also provide ongoing research and health care professional education in pediatric trauma care.
     (((12))) (13) "Level II pediatric trauma care services" means pediatric trauma care services as established in RCW 70.168.060. Hospitals providing level II services shall provide initial stabilization and evaluation of pediatric trauma patients and provide comprehensive general medicine and surgical care to pediatric patients who can be maintained in a stable or improving condition without the specialized care available in the level I hospital. Complex surgeries and research and health care professional education in pediatric trauma care activities are not required.
     (((13))) (14) "Level III pediatric trauma care services" means pediatric trauma care services as established in RCW 70.168.060. Hospitals providing level III services shall provide initial evaluation and stabilization of patients. The range of pediatric trauma care services provided in level III hospitals are not as comprehensive as level I and II hospitals.
     (((14))) (15) "Level I rehabilitative services" means rehabilitative services as established in RCW 70.168.060. Facilities providing level I rehabilitative services provide rehabilitative treatment to patients with traumatic brain injuries, spinal cord injuries, complicated amputations, and other diagnoses resulting in functional impairment, with moderate to severe impairment or complexity. These facilities serve as referral facilities for facilities authorized to provide level II and III rehabilitative services.
     (((15))) (16) "Level I-pediatric rehabilitative services" means rehabilitative services as established in RCW 70.168.060. Facilities providing level I-pediatric rehabilitative services provide the same services as facilities authorized to provide level I rehabilitative services except these services are exclusively for children under the age of fifteen years.
     (((16))) (17) "Level II rehabilitative services" means rehabilitative services as established in RCW 70.168.060. Facilities providing level II rehabilitative services treat individuals with musculoskeletal trauma, peripheral nerve lesions, lower extremity amputations, and other diagnoses resulting in functional impairment in more than one functional area, with moderate to severe impairment or complexity.
     (((17))) (18) "Level III rehabilitative services" means rehabilitative services as established in RCW 70.168.060. Facilities providing level III rehabilitative services provide treatment to individuals with musculoskeletal injuries, peripheral nerve injuries, uncomplicated lower extremity amputations, and other diagnoses resulting in functional impairment in more than one functional area but with minimal to moderate impairment or complexity.
     (((18))) (19) "Level I trauma care services" means trauma care services as established in RCW 70.168.060. Hospitals providing level I services shall have specialized trauma care teams and provide ongoing research and health care professional education in trauma care.
     (((19))) (20) "Level II trauma care services" means trauma care services as established in RCW 70.168.060. Hospitals providing level II services shall be similar to those provided by level I hospitals, although complex surgeries and research and health care professional education activities are not required to be provided.
     (((20))) (21) "Level III trauma care services" means trauma care services as established in RCW 70.168.060. The range of trauma care services provided by level III hospitals are not as comprehensive as level I and II hospitals.
     (((21))) (22) "Level IV trauma care services" means trauma care services as established in RCW 70.168.060.
     (((22))) (23) "Level V trauma care services" means trauma care services as established in RCW 70.168.060. Facilities providing level V services shall provide stabilization and transfer of all patients with potentially life-threatening injuries.
     (((23))) (24) "Patient care procedures" means written operating guidelines adopted by the regional emergency medical services and trauma care council, in consultation with local emergency medical services and trauma care councils, emergency communication centers, and the emergency medical services medical program director, in accordance with minimum statewide standards. The patient care procedures shall identify the level of medical care personnel to be dispatched to an emergency scene, procedures for triage of patients, the level of trauma care facility to first receive the patient, and the name and location of other trauma care facilities to receive the patient should an interfacility transfer be necessary. Procedures on interfacility transfer of patients shall be consistent with the transfer procedures required in chapter 70.170 RCW.
     (((24))) (25) "Pediatric trauma patient" means trauma patients known or estimated to be less than fifteen years of age.
     (((25))) (26) "Prehospital" means emergency medical care or transportation rendered to patients prior to hospital admission or during interfacility transfer by licensed ambulance or aid service under chapter 18.73 RCW, by personnel certified to provide emergency medical care under chapters 18.71 and 18.73 RCW, or by facilities providing level V trauma care services as provided for in this chapter.
     (((26))) (27) "Prehospital patient care protocols" means the written procedures adopted by the emergency medical services medical program director that direct the out-of-hospital emergency care of the emergency patient which includes the trauma patient. These procedures shall be based upon the assessment of the patients' medical needs and the treatment to be provided for serious conditions. The procedures shall meet or exceed statewide minimum standards for trauma and other prehospital care services.
     (((27))) (28) "Rehabilitative services" means a formal program of multidisciplinary, coordinated, and integrated services for evaluation, treatment, education, and training to help individuals with disabling impairments achieve and maintain optimal functional independence in physical, psychosocial, social, vocational, and avocational realms. Rehabilitation is indicated for the trauma patient who has sustained neurologic or musculoskeletal injury and who needs physical or cognitive intervention to return to home, work, or society.
     (((28))) (29) "Secretary" means the secretary of the department of health.
     (((29))) (30) "Trauma" means a major single or multisystem injury requiring immediate medical or surgical intervention or treatment to prevent death or permanent disability.
     (((30))) (31) "Trauma care system" means an organized approach to providing care to trauma patients that provides personnel, facilities, and equipment for effective and coordinated trauma care. The trauma care system shall: Identify facilities with specific capabilities to provide care, triage trauma victims at the scene, and require that all trauma victims be sent to an appropriate trauma facility. The trauma care system includes prevention, prehospital care, hospital care, and rehabilitation.
     (((31))) (32) "Triage" means the sorting of patients in terms of disposition, destination, or priority. Triage of prehospital trauma victims requires identifying injury severity so that the appropriate care level can be readily assessed according to patient care guidelines.
     (((32))) (33) "Verification" means the identification of prehospital providers who are capable of providing verified trauma care services and shall be a part of the licensure process required in chapter 18.73 RCW.
     (((33))) (34) "Verified trauma care service" means prehospital service as provided for in RCW 70.168.080, and identified in the regional emergency medical services and trauma care plan as required by RCW 70.168.100.

NEW SECTION.  Sec. 3   A new section is added to chapter 70.168 RCW to read as follows:
     (1) By January 1, 2011, the department shall endeavor to enhance and support an emergency cardiac and stroke care system through:
     (a) Encouraging hospitals to voluntarily self-identify cardiac and stroke capabilities, indicating which level of cardiac and stroke service the facility provides. Hospital levels must be defined by the previous work of the emergency cardiac and stroke technical advisory committee and must follow the guiding principles and recommendations of the emergency cardiac and stroke work group report;
     (b) Giving a hospital "deemed status" and designating it as a primary stroke center if it has received a certification of distinction for primary stroke centers issued by the nonprofit organization known as the joint commission. When available, a hospital shall demonstrate its cardiac or stroke level through external, national certifying organizations, including, but not limited to, primary stroke center certification by the joint commission; and
     (c) Within the current authority of the department, adopting cardiac and stroke prehospital patient care protocols, patient care procedures, and triage tools, consistent with the guiding principles and recommendations of the emergency cardiac and stroke work group report.
     (2) A hospital that voluntarily participates in the system:
     (a) Shall participate in internal, as well as regional, quality improvement activities;
     (b) Shall participate in a national, state, or local data collection system that measures cardiac and stroke system performance from patient onset of symptoms to treatment or intervention, and includes, at a minimum, the nationally recognized consensus measures for stroke; and
     (c) May advertise participation in the system, but may not claim a verified certification level unless verified by an external, nationally recognized, evidence-based certifying body as provided in subsection (1)(b) of this section.

NEW SECTION.  Sec. 4   A new section is added to chapter 70.168 RCW to read as follows:
     By December 1, 2012, the department shall share with the legislature the department's report, which was funded by the centers for disease control and prevention, concerning emergency cardiac and stroke care.

Sec. 5   RCW 70.168.090 and 2005 c 274 s 344 are each amended to read as follows:
     (1) By July 1991, the department shall establish a statewide data registry to collect and analyze data on the incidence, severity, and causes of trauma, including traumatic brain injury. The department shall collect additional data on traumatic brain injury should additional data requirements be enacted by the legislature. The registry shall be used to improve the availability and delivery of prehospital and hospital trauma care services. Specific data elements of the registry shall be defined by rule by the department. To the extent possible, the department shall coordinate data collection from hospitals for the trauma registry with the health care data system authorized in chapter 70.170 RCW. Every hospital, facility, or health care provider authorized to provide level I, II, III, IV, or V trauma care services, level I, II, or III pediatric trauma care services, level I, level I-pediatric, II, or III trauma-related rehabilitative services, and prehospital trauma-related services in the state shall furnish data to the registry. All other hospitals and prehospital providers shall furnish trauma data as required by the department by rule.
     The department may respond to requests for data and other information from the registry for special studies and analysis consistent with requirements for confidentiality of patient and quality assurance records. The department may require requestors to pay any or all of the reasonable costs associated with such requests that might be approved.
     (2) ((By January 1994,)) In each emergency medical services and trauma care planning and service region, a regional emergency medical services and trauma care systems quality assurance program shall be established by those facilities authorized to provide levels I, II, and III trauma care services. The systems quality assurance program shall evaluate trauma care delivery, patient care outcomes, and compliance with the requirements of this chapter. The systems quality assurance program may also evaluate emergency cardiac and stroke care delivery. The emergency medical services medical program director and all other health care providers and facilities who provide trauma and emergency cardiac and stroke care services within the region shall be invited to participate in the regional emergency medical services and trauma care quality assurance program.
     (3) Data elements related to the identification of individual patient's, provider's and facility's care outcomes shall be confidential, shall be exempt from RCW 42.56.030 through 42.56.570 and 42.17.350 through 42.17.450, and shall not be subject to discovery by subpoena or admissible as evidence.
     (4) Patient care quality assurance proceedings, records, and reports developed pursuant to this section are confidential, exempt from chapter 42.56 RCW, and are not subject to discovery by subpoena or admissible as evidence. In any civil action, except, after in camera review, pursuant to a court order which provides for the protection of sensitive information of interested parties including the department: (a) In actions arising out of the department's designation of a hospital or health care facility pursuant to RCW 70.168.070; (b) in actions arising out of the department's revocation or suspension of designation status of a hospital or health care facility under RCW 70.168.070; or (c) in actions arising out of the restriction or revocation of the clinical or staff privileges of a health care provider as defined in RCW 7.70.020 (1) and (2), subject to any further restrictions on disclosure in RCW 4.24.250 that may apply. Information that identifies individual patients shall not be publicly disclosed without the patient's consent.

Sec. 6   RCW 42.56.360 and 2009 c 1 s 24 (Initiative Measure No. 1000) and 2008 c 136 s 5 are each reenacted and amended to read as follows:
     (1) The following health care information is exempt from disclosure under this chapter:
     (a) Information obtained by the board of pharmacy as provided in RCW 69.45.090;
     (b) 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;
     (c) Information and documents created specifically for, and collected and maintained by a quality improvement committee under RCW 43.70.510, 70.230.080, or 70.41.200, or by a peer review committee under RCW 4.24.250, or by a quality assurance committee pursuant to RCW 74.42.640 or 18.20.390, or by a hospital, as defined in RCW 43.70.056, for reporting of health care-associated infections under RCW 43.70.056, a notification of an incident under RCW 70.56.040(5), and reports regarding adverse events under RCW 70.56.020(2)(b), regardless of which agency is in possession of the information and documents;
     (d)(i) 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;
     (ii) 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 subsection (1)(d) as exempt from disclosure;
     (iii) 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;
     (e) Records of the entity obtained in an action under RCW 18.71.300 through 18.71.340;
     (f) Except for published statistical compilations and reports relating to the infant mortality review studies that do not identify individual cases and sources of information, any records or documents obtained, prepared, or maintained by the local health department for the purposes of an infant mortality review conducted by the department of health under RCW 70.05.170;
     (g) Complaints filed under chapter 18.130 RCW after July 27, 1997, to the extent provided in RCW 18.130.095(1);
     (h) Information obtained by the department of health under chapter 70.225 RCW; ((and))
     (i) Information collected by the department of health under chapter 70.245 RCW except as provided in RCW 70.245.150; and
     (j) Cardiac and stroke system performance data submitted to national, state, or local data collection systems under section 3(2)(b) of this act.
     (2) Chapter 70.02 RCW applies to public inspection and copying of health care information of patients.