S-5664.1
SUBSTITUTE SENATE BILL 6061
State of Washington | 66th Legislature | 2020 Regular Session |
BySenate Health & Long Term Care (originally sponsored by Senators Becker and Conway)
READ FIRST TIME 01/28/20.
AN ACT Relating to requiring training standards in providing telemedicine services; and amending RCW
43.70.495.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF WASHINGTON:
Sec. 1. RCW
43.70.495 and 2019 c 48 s 1 are each amended to read as follows:
(1) The legislature finds that a large segment of Washington residents do not have access to critical health care services. Telemedicine is a way to increase access to health care services to those who would otherwise not have reasonable access. The legislature therefore intends to ensure that health care professionals who provide services through telemedicine, as defined in RCW
70.41.020, in cities and rural areas alike, have current information available, making it possible for them to provide telemedicine services to the entire state of Washington.
(2) ((
Beginning))
Except as permitted under subsection (3) of this section, beginning January 1, ((
2020))
2021, a health care professional who provides clinical services through telemedicine ((
may))
, other than a physician licensed under chapter 18.71 RCW or an osteopathic physician licensed under chapter 18.57 RCW, shall complete a telemedicine training. By January 1, 2020, the telemedicine collaborative shall make a telemedicine training available on its web site for use by health care professionals who use telemedicine technology. If a health care professional completes the training, the health care professional shall sign and retain an attestation. The training:
(a) Must include information on current state and federal law, liability, informed consent, and other criteria established by the collaborative for the advancement of telemedicine, in collaboration with the department and the Washington state medical quality assurance commission;
(b) Must include a question and answer methodology to demonstrate accrual of knowledge; and
(c) May be made available in electronic format and completed over the internet.
(3) ((The training may be incorporated into existing telemedicine training programs, provided that the training meets the requirements in subsection (2) of this section.))A health care professional is deemed to have met the requirements of subsection (2) of this section if the health care professional:
(a) Completes an alternative telemedicine training; and
(b) Signs and retains an attestation that he or she completed the alternative telemedicine training.
(4) ((For purposes of this section, a "health))The definitions in this subsection apply throughout this section unless the context clearly requires otherwise.
(a) "Alternative telemedicine training" means training that includes components that are substantively similar to the telemedicine training developed by the telemedicine collaborative under subsection (2) of this section. "Alternative telemedicine training" may include, but is not limited to:
(i) Training offered by hospitals and other health care facilities to employees of the facility;
(ii) Continuing education courses; and
(iii) Trainings developed by a health care professional board or commission.
(b) "Health care professional" means a person licensed, registered, or certified to provide health services.
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