BP BHEAD INT S [atlas:bill]

AN ACT Relating to prostate cancer screening and treatment education; adding new sections to chapter 43.70 RCW; creating new sections; and making an appropriation.

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

NEW SECTION. Sec. 1. This act may be known and cited as the prostate cancer screening and treatment education act.

NEW SECTION. Sec. 2. (1) The legislature finds the following:

(a) Prostate cancer is the most common cancer, and second cause of cancer death in men. It is estimated that in 1996, nearly three hundred seventeen thousand American males were diagnosed with prostate cancer and forty-one thousand four hundred died of it. This number is fast approaching the annual breast cancer toll of forty-four thousand three hundred.

(b) As with other cancers, early detection of prostate cancer is critical to effective, life-saving treatment.

(d) According to the American cancer society an annual screening including the PSA test and a DRE is recommended for certain suspect classes, including:

(i) Asymptomatic men, aged fifty and over;

(ii) African-American men, aged forty and over; and

(iii) Men over age forty with a family history of prostate cancer.

The annual screening is to enhance early detection of prostate cancer.

(e) Although one in eleven American men will have a serious encounter with prostate cancer in his lifetime, and a quarter of those will die of it, many men are only vaguely aware of the disease, its treatment, and its consequences.

(f) Educating the men of Washington state as well as the Washington health care community about this potentially devastating disease is of paramount importance in order to save lives in the future.

(2) The purposes of chapter . . ., Laws of 1997 (this act) are to:

(a) Create and foster a state-wide program to promote public awareness and knowledge about the risk factors, the value of early detection, and the options available for the treatment of prostate cancer;

(b) Heighten awareness and enhance knowledge and understanding of prostate cancer by disseminating education materials, information about research results, services, and strategies for detection and treatment to patients, health professionals, policymakers, state and local health and human service officials, and the public;

(c) Utilize educational and training resources and services that have been developed by organizations with appropriate expertise and knowledge of prostate cancer and to use available technical assistance;

(d) Evaluate existing prostate cancer support services in the community and assess the need for improving the quality and accessibility of these services; and

(e) Provide easy access to clear, complete, and accurate prostate cancer information and patient referral services.

NEW SECTION. Sec. 3. The secretary shall:

(1) Provide sufficient appropriately trained staff to implement the prostate cancer detection and treatment education program, which is based on the most up-to-date scientific information and findings;

(2) Ensure that the department carries out its role in coordinating the efforts of governmental offices, community and business leaders, community organizations, health care and human service providers, and national prostate cancer organizations in areas of prevention, education, and treatment of prostate cancer;

(3) Ensure that the use of state resources are maximized by means of the coordination of efforts and when appropriate the replication or use of existing successful prostate cancer programs and their related materials and services; and

(4) Establish a confidential data collection program as determined to be necessary to facilitate the state's ability to monitor and evaluate the effectiveness of the entities and the program.

NEW SECTION. Sec. 4. The department shall:

(1) Establish, promote, and maintain prostate cancer and treatment education programs as an integral part of its health promotion and disease prevention efforts in order to raise public awareness, educate consumers, educate and train health professionals, teachers, and human service providers, and for other purposes; and

(2) Identify existing resources in the area of prostate cancer education, screenings and treatment education and work to coordinate the efforts of existing organizations with new programs and with each other, so as to maximize education and access to services.

NEW SECTION. Sec. 5. Within available resources, the department may use and coordinate the following strategies for raising public awareness on the causes and nature of prostate cancer, personal risk factors, value of prevention and early detection, and options for diagnosing and treating the disease, including the risks, and benefits of drug therapies currently approved by the United States food and drug administration:

(1) An outreach campaign utilizing print, radio and television public service announcements, advertisements, posters, and other materials;

(2) Community forums;

(3) Health information and risk factor assessment at public events;

(4) Targeting at-risk populations;

(5) Providing reliable information to policymakers;

(6) Distributing information through county health departments, schools, area agencies on aging, employer wellness programs, physicians, hospitals and health maintenance organizations, men's groups, sports leagues, nonprofit organizations, community-based organizations, and department regional offices;

(7) Identifying and obtaining educational materials including brochures and videotapes which translate accurately the latest scientific information on prostate cancer in easy-to-understand terms;

(8) Building a state-wide capacity to provide information and referral on all aspects of prostate cancer, including educational materials and counseling;

(9) Establishing state linkage with an existing toll-free hotline for consumers; and

(10) Facilitating the development and maintenance of prostate cancer support groups.

NEW SECTION. Sec. 6. Within available resources, the department may use the following strategies for educating physicians and health professionals and training community service providers on the most up-to-date, accurate scientific and medical information on prostate cancer detection, diagnosis, and treatment, therapeutic decision making, including guidelines for detecting and treating the disease in special populations, risks and benefits of medications, and research advances:

(1) Identify and obtain educational materials for the professional that translates the latest scientific and medical information into clinical applications;

(2) Raise awareness among physicians and health and human services professionals as to the importance of prostate cancer early detection, treatment, and rehabilitation;

(3) Identify and use available curricula for training health and human service providers and community leaders on prostate cancer detection and treatment;

(4) Provide workshops and seminars for in-depth professional development in the field of the care and management of the patient with prostate cancer; and

(5) Conduct a state-wide conference on prostate cancer at appropriate intervals.

NEW SECTION. Sec. 7. (1) Within available resources, the department may conduct a needs assessment to identify:

(a) Research being conducted within the state;

(b) Available technical assistance and educational materials and programs nationwide;

(d) Needs of prostate cancer patients, their families, and caregivers;

(e) Needs of health care providers, including physicians, nurses, managed care organizations, and other health care providers;

(f) Services available to the prostate cancer patient;

(g) Existence of prostate cancer treatment programs;

(h) Existence of prostate cancer support groups; and

(i) Existence of rehabilitation services.

(2) Based on the needs assessment, the department shall develop and maintain a list of prostate cancer-related services and health care providers with specialization in services to detect, diagnose, and treat prostate cancer. This list must be disseminated with a description of diagnostic testing procedures, appropriate indications for their use, drug therapies currently approved by the United States food and drug administration, and a cautionary statement about the current status of prostate cancer research, detection, and treatment.

NEW SECTION. Sec. 8. (1) The department may replicate and use successful prostate cancer programs and either or both enter into contracts and purchase materials or services from organizations with appropriate expertise and knowledge of prostate cancer for such services and materials as, but not limited to, the following:

(a) Educational information and materials on the risk factors, detection, treatment, and management of prostate cancer;

(b) Training of the department;

(d) Conference organization and staffing;

(e) Regional office development and staffing;

(f) Nominations for advisory panels;

(g) Support group development;

(h) Consultation;

(i) Resource library facilities;

(j) Training home health aides and nursing home personnel; and

(k) Training teachers.

(2) The department may enter into an agreement or agreements to work with a national organization or organizations with expertise in prostate cancer to establish and staff an office or offices of that organization in the state to implement parts of the prostate cancer program.

NEW SECTION. Sec. 9. (1) The governor shall designate a week as "prostate cancer education week" and shall make such resolutions as are necessary to heighten awareness of prostate cancer, its detection, and treatment during that week.

(2) The department shall coordinate, sponsor, support, or otherwise cause to be held state-wide, public events and outreach efforts in support of prostate cancer education week, which shall include, to the extent appropriate, education efforts described in section 5 of this act.

NEW SECTION. Sec. 10. The secretary may accept grants, services, and property from the federal government, foundations, organizations, medical schools, and other entities as may be available for the purposes of fulfilling the obligations of this program.

NEW SECTION. Sec. 11. The secretary shall seek any federal waiver or waivers that may be necessary to maximize funds from the federal government to implement this program.

NEW SECTION. Sec. 12. The sum of . . . . . dollars, or as much thereof as may be necessary, is appropriated for the biennium ending June 30, 1999, from the general fund to the department of health for the purposes of this act.

NEW SECTION. Sec. 13. Sections 3 through 11 of this act are each added to chapter 43.70 RCW.