AN ACT Relating to the prescription monitoring program; and reenacting and amending RCW 70.225.040.

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

Sec. 1.  RCW 70.225.040 and 2015 c 259 s 1 and 2015 c 49 s 1 are each reenacted and amended to read as follows:

(1) Prescription information submitted to the department must be confidential, in compliance with chapter 70.02 RCW and federal health care information privacy requirements and not subject to disclosure, except as provided in subsections (3) and (4) of this section.

(2) The department must maintain procedures to ensure that the privacy and confidentiality of patients and patient information collected, recorded, transmitted, and maintained is not disclosed to persons except as in subsections (3) and (4) of this section.

(3) The department may provide data in the prescription monitoring program to the following persons:

(a) Persons authorized to prescribe or dispense controlled substances or legend drugs, for the purpose of providing medical or pharmaceutical care for their patients;

(b) An individual who requests the individual's own prescription monitoring information;

(c) Health professional licensing, certification, or regulatory agency or entity;

(d) Appropriate law enforcement or prosecutorial officials, including local, state, and federal officials and officials of federally recognized tribes, who are engaged in a bona fide specific investigation involving a designated person;

(e) Authorized practitioners of the department of social and health services and the health care authority regarding medicaid program recipients;

(f) The director or director's designee within the department of labor and industries regarding workers' compensation claimants;

(g) The director or the director's designee within the department of corrections regarding offenders committed to the department of corrections;

(h) Other entities under grand jury subpoena or court order;

(i) Personnel of the department for purposes of administration and enforcement of this chapter or chapter 69.50 RCW; ((and))

(j) Personnel of a test site that meet the standards under RCW 70.225.070 pursuant to an agreement between the test site and a person identified in (a) of this subsection to provide assistance in determining which medications are being used by an identified patient who is under the care of that person;

(ii) The provider group is a trading partner with the state's health information exchange.

(4) The department may provide data to public or private entities for statistical, research, or educational purposes after removing information that could be used to identify individual patients, dispensers, prescribers, and persons who received prescriptions from dispensers.

(5) A dispenser or practitioner acting in good faith is immune from any civil, criminal, or administrative liability that might otherwise be incurred or imposed for requesting, receiving, or using information from the program.

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