S-0706.1 _______________________________________________
SENATE BILL 5237
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State of Washington 55th Legislature 1997 Regular Session
By Senators Benton, Finkbeiner, Schow, Horn and West
Read first time 01/20/97. Referred to Committee on Law & Justice.
AN ACT Relating to reporting of blood alcohol levels by health care providers; amending RCW 70.02.020; and adding new sections to chapter 70.02 RCW.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF WASHINGTON:
Sec. 1. RCW 70.02.020 and 1993 c 448 s 2 are each amended to read as follows:
Except as authorized in RCW 70.02.050 and section 2 of this act, a health care provider, an individual who assists a health care provider in the delivery of health care, or an agent and employee of a health care provider may not disclose health care information about a patient to any other person without the patient's written authorization. A disclosure made under a patient's written authorization must conform to the authorization.
Health care providers or facilities shall chart all disclosures, except to third-party payors, of health care information, such chartings to become part of the health care information.
NEW SECTION. Sec. 2. A new section is added to chapter 70.02 RCW to read as follows:
(1) If a health care provider who is providing medical care in a health care facility immediately after a motor vehicle accident to a person reasonably believed to be the operator of a motor vehicle involved in the accident, becomes aware, as a result of a blood test performed in the course of that treatment, that the person's blood alcohol level meets or exceeds the percent specified in RCW 46.61.502, the health care provider may notify, as soon as is reasonably possible, a law enforcement officer or agency.
(2) The notice must consist of the name of the person being treated, the blood alcohol level disclosed by the test, and the date and time of the administration of the test.
(3) Nothing contained in RCW 5.60.060 affects the authority to report imposed by this section, and the health care provider is not considered to have breached any duty under RCW 5.60.060 owed to the person about whom the report is made. Reporting or failing to report is not a violation of an ethical or moral duty.
NEW SECTION. Sec. 3. A new section is added to chapter 70.02 RCW to read as follows:
No action or administrative proceeding may be brought against anyone participating in good faith in the making of a report under section 2 of this act, and a person participating in making the report is immune from any liability, civil or criminal, and from any professional disciplinary action, that might otherwise be incurred or imposed with respect to making the report. Any such participant has the same immunity with respect to participating in a judicial proceeding resulting from the report.
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