BILL REQ. #:  H-0465.1 

Read first time 01/17/11.   Referred to Committee on State Government & Tribal Affairs.

     AN ACT Relating to limiting the disclosure of death certificates; amending RCW 70.58.104; and reenacting and amending RCW 42.56.360.

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

Sec. 1   RCW 70.58.104 and 1991 c 96 s 4 are each amended to read as follows:
     (1) Except as provided in subsection (4) of this section, the state registrar may prepare typewritten, photographic, electronic, or other reproductions of records of birth, death, fetal death, marriage, or decrees of divorce, annulment, or legal separation registered under law or that portion of the record of any birth which shows the child's full name, sex, date of birth, and date of filing of the certificate. Such reproductions, when certified by the state registrar, shall be considered for all purposes the same as the original and shall be prima facie evidence of the facts stated therein.
     (2) The department may authorize by regulation the disclosure of information contained in vital records for research purposes. All research proposals must be submitted to the department and must be reviewed and approved as to scientific merit and to ensure that confidentiality safeguards are provided in accordance with department policy.
     (3) Except as provided in subsection (4) of this section, local registrars may, upon request, furnish certified copies of the records of birth, death, and fetal death, subject to all provisions of state law applicable to the state registrar.
     (4)(a) The state registrar and local registrars may not provide a reproduction of a death certificate, or authorize the public inspection or copying of an original death certificate, except as follows:
     (i) To the deceased's spouse, child, parent, sibling, legal guardian, or next of kin, or the authorized representative of the deceased's spouse, child, parent, sibling, legal guardian, or next of kin;
     (ii) To a person who demonstrates that the death certificate is needed for the determination or protection of a personal or property right;
     (iii) After fifty years have elapsed since the date of death on the death certificate;
     (iv) When the information is being requested under subsection (2) of this section;
     (v) Upon request to the federal agency responsible for national vital statistics to be used solely for the conduct of the agency's official duties. Before furnishing the death certificate, the state or local registrar must enter into an agreement with the federal agency indicating the statistical or research purposes for which the certificate may be used and prohibiting the federal agency from providing the death certificate for public inspection or copying. The agreement shall also set forth the support to be provided by the federal agency for the collection, processing, and transmission of the death certificate. Upon written request of the federal agency, the state or local registrar may approve, in writing, additional statistical or research uses for the death certificates supplied under the agreement;
     (vi) Upon request to any other federal, state, or local agency to be used solely for the conduct of the requesting agency's official duties. A requesting state or local agency may not provide the death certificate for public inspection or copying. Before furnishing the death certificate to the federal agency, the state or local registrar must enter into an agreement with the federal agency prohibiting the federal agency from providing the death certificate for public inspection or copying;
     (vii) To the office of vital statistics from another state when the death certificate relates to a resident of that state. Before furnishing the death certificate to the office of vital statistics, the state or local registrar must enter into an agreement with the office of vital statistics prohibiting the office of vital statistics from providing the death certificate for public inspection or copying. The agreement shall also specify the statistical and administrative purposes for which the records, reports, or data may be used and provide instructions for the proper retention and disposition of the certificate; or
     (viii) To a private investigator licensed under chapter 18.165 RCW.
     (b) Nothing in this subsection (4) prohibits the release of information that does not identify any person named on the death certificate.

Sec. 2   RCW 42.56.360 and 2010 c 128 s 3 and 2010 c 52 s 6 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) Complaints filed under chapter 18.130 RCW after July 27, 1997, to the extent provided in RCW 18.130.095(1);
     (g) Information obtained by the department of health under chapter 70.225 RCW;
     (h) Information collected by the department of health under chapter 70.245 RCW except as provided in RCW 70.245.150;
     (i) Cardiac and stroke system performance data submitted to national, state, or local data collection systems under RCW 70.168.150(2)(b); ((and))
     (j) All documents, including completed forms, received pursuant to a wellness program under RCW 41.04.362, but not statistical reports that do not identify an individual; and
     (k) Death certificates to the extent required by RCW 70.58.104.
     (2) Chapter 70.02 RCW applies to public inspection and copying of health care information of patients.
     (3)(a) Documents related to infant mortality reviews conducted pursuant to RCW 70.05.170 are exempt from disclosure as provided for in RCW 70.05.170(3).
     (b)(i) If an agency provides copies of public records to another agency that are exempt from public disclosure under this subsection (3), those records remain exempt to the same extent the records were exempt in the possession of the originating entity.
     (ii) For notice purposes only, agencies providing exempt records under this subsection (3) to other agencies may mark any exempt records as "exempt" so that the receiving agency is aware of the exemption, however whether or not a record is marked exempt does not affect whether the record is actually exempt from disclosure.