Passed by the Senate February 13, 2006 YEAS 42 NAYS 1 BRAD OWEN ________________________________________ President of the Senate Passed by the House February 28, 2006 YEAS 96 NAYS 1 FRANK CHOPP ________________________________________ Speaker of the House of Representatives		CERTIFICATE I, Thomas Hoemann, Secretary of the Senate of the State of Washington, do hereby certify that the attached is ENGROSSED SUBSTITUTE SENATE BILL 6189 as passed by the Senate and the House of Representatives on the dates hereon set forth. THOMAS HOEMANN ________________________________________ Secretary
Approved March 15, 2006. CHRISTINE GREGOIRE ________________________________________ Governor of the State of Washington		FILED March 15, 2006 - 2:21 p.m. Secretary of State State of Washington

AN ACT Relating to requiring hospitals to provide information to help patients better understand their hospital bills; adding a new section to chapter 70.41 RCW; and creating a new section.

NEW SECTION. Sec. 1 The legislature finds that the implementation of health information technologies in hospitals, including electronic medical records, has the potential to significantly reduce cost, improve patient outcomes, and simplify the administration of health care. Further, the legislature finds that the number of and complexity of the bills that result from a hospital stay can be confusing to patients. Therefore, it is the intent of the legislature to encourage hospitals to design the implementation of health information technologies so as to allow the hospital to provide the patient, prior to or upon discharge, clearly understandable information about the services provided during the hospital stay, and the bills the patient is likely to receive related to each of those services. Recognizing that complete implementation of the technologies required to achieve this goal will take a number of years, the legislature intends to require that hospitals immediately begin working toward the goal by compiling and communicating information to assist patients in understanding their bills.

NEW SECTION.  Sec. 2   A new section is added to chapter 70.41 RCW to read as follows:
     (1) Prior to or upon discharge, a hospital must furnish each patient receiving inpatient services a written statement providing a list of physician groups and other professional partners that commonly provide care for patients at the hospital and from whom the patient may receive a bill, along with contact phone numbers for those groups. The statement must prominently display a phone number that a patient can call for assistance if the patient has any questions about any of the bills they receive after discharge that relate to their hospital stay.
     (2) This section does not apply to any hospital owned or operated by a health maintenance organization under chapter 48.46 RCW when providing prepaid health care services to enrollees of the health maintenance organization or any of its wholly owned subsidiary carriers.