News You Can Use
September 13, 2021
 This is a publication to keep you informed of issues and events pertaining to the osteopathic profession in Washington State. We invite you to submit topics or articles of interest to your colleagues for consideration. Submissions may be emailed to executivedirector@woma.org
Annual NW Patient Safety Conference Back!

The annual Northwest Patient Safety Conference put on by the Foundation for Healthcare Quality, sponsor of the Bree Collaborative, is back as an entirely virtual event on October 6th and 7th. This year they expand beyond Washington state through collaboration with the Oregon Patient Safety Commission and the British Columbia Patient Safety and Quality Council. They have built an incredible conference program with more than 15 sessions covering patient safety ethics, care team collaboration, addressing health disparities, and fostering safety in complex organizations. Additionally, conference sessions will be recorded and available on-demand for six months after the event! Take advantage of their lowest conference rates to date and be a part of this year's patient safety conversation!

Check out our conference line-up:

  • Sidney Dekker, Ph.D., Professor and Director of the Safety Science Innovation Lab at Griffith University in Brisbane, Australia, and Professor at the Faculty of Aerospace Engineering at Delft University in the Netherlands, and Boeing 737 pilot, has won worldwide acclaim for his groundbreaking work in Just Culture, Human Factors and Safety Science.
  • Dr. James McCormack, PharmD, Professor, Pharmaceutical Sciences at the University of British Columbia and co-host of The Best Science Medicine – BS without the BS – Podcast.
  • Kimberly Mutcherson, JD, Co-Dean and Professor of Law, Rutgers University Law School, is a noted bioethics and health law scholar and higher education leader, is the first woman, the first African American, and the first LGBTQ law dean at Rutgers.
  • John D. Banja, Ph.D., a medical ethicist at the Ethics Center, Emory University and Editor of the American Journal of Bioethics-Neuroscience. His research focuses on patient safety ethics, neuroethics, artificial intelligence, and ethical dilemmas occurring in clinical and translational research. He will provide a keynote address about the pillars of ethics for patient safety attitudes and practices.

Information
Venue: Virtual
Dates: October 6th & 7th
Time: 8:00 AM – 12:15 PM
Fees: $75 for healthcare professionals and those seeking educational credits. Discounts are offered for those with CPPS, CPHQ, and BCPA certification. Fee waived for patients, families, and students.CE Credits: BCPA, CNE, CPPS, CPHQ
NIH Office of Dietary Supplements
25th Anniversary Scientific Symposium

You are invited to join the Office of Dietary Supplements (ODS) as they mark the occasion of their 25th anniversary with a scientific symposium on October 25-26, 2021. The symposium will feature presentations by experts in the field of dietary supplement science, showcase ODS contributions to dietary supplement research and training, and discuss the future of dietary supplement research. 
 
The symposium is open to the public and will be held virtually on WebEx. There is no cost to attend. 
Listening Sessions-Hospital Patient Discharge Information Rulemaking

The Washington State Department of Health is considering revisions to Chapter 246-455 WAC, the rule that outlines hospital reporting requirements for patient discharge information. 

Among other changes, the rule may set new standards for patient demographic information as required by Engrossed Second Substitute House Bill (E2SHB) 1272. E2SHB 1272 requires reporting of hospital patient discharge information related to race, ethnicity, gender identity, sexual orientation, preferred language, disability status, and zip code of residence.

You are invited to join a listening session in September (two date choices are offered below). We would like to share information about the rulemaking process and understand some of your priorities as we get this project off the ground. Please take a moment to register for the listening session date that works with your schedule and forward this email to others who may be interested in this work. After registering, you will receive a confirmation email containing information about joining the meeting. 

  • Monday, September 27 at 10am – 12pm

  • Wednesday, September 29 at 3pm – 5pm 

During the listening sessions, the following items will be covered: 
  • Welcome & Project Information (30 minutes)
  • Listening (1 – 1.5 hours)

Closer to the listening session, PowerPoint slides will be sent to you, to allow you to prepare in advance. If you are unable to attend the meeting, we encourage you to send questions and provide written feedback to Katitza Holthaus at katitza.holthaus@doh.wa.gov.

Please contact Katitza Holthaus as soon as possible at katitza.holthaus@doh.wa.gov for language interpretation and disability accommodation requests. 

E2SHB 1272 also requires the Department to revise the standards for hospital financial reporting as well as contract with the University of Washington for a hospital staffing study. For information on these other implementation efforts, please contact:
CR-103E Alert: Emergency Rule Adoption,
Chapter 246-101 WAC – Notification and
Reporting of COVID-19.

The Washington State Board of Health (Board) has adopted a fifth emergency rulemaking order to continue the requirements established in WAC 246-101-017 – Novel Coronavirus (SARS-CoV-2), Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) Reporting. The emergency rule is effective August 24, 2021, and will be in effect for 120 days.


This emergency rule:

  • Continues the designation of Novel Coronavirus (SARS-CoV-2), also known as Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19), as a notifiable condition.
  • Continues the requirement for health care providers, health care facilities, laboratories, and local health jurisdictions to report essential demographic and testing data with COVID-19 test results.
  • Requires animal case reporting of COVID-19 by the Department of Agriculture to the Department of Health.
  • New: Lengthens the time frame for local health jurisdictions to notify the Department of Health of COVID-19 cases, submit case investigation reports upon completion, and reassign cases to the Department.

The Board filed a CR-101, Preproposal Statement of Inquiry, on July 23, 2021, to integrate emergency rule requirements and provisions into permanent rule. More information can be found on the COVID-19 permanent rulemaking web page.
For more information on this emergency rule, visit the Board’s website or contact Kaitlyn Donahoe, 360-584-6737, Policy Advisor for the Board.
Sunrise Reviews

The Washington State Department of Health is sharing three draft sunrise reviews for public comment. These draft reports considered the requests from the legislature, proposed bills, applicant reports, and input from the public. Comments on the draft reports are due midnight October 2, 2021 - please see below for details on each review and where to submit comments.
 
The department reviewed a proposal to regulate a new health profession in Washington, licensed anesthesiologist assistant, to assess whether it meets the sunrise criteria in RCW 18.120.010 for creating a new health profession. The applicant group for this proposal is the Washington State Society of Anesthesiologists.
The department is accepting public comments on this draft report to the legislature. Please email your comments on the draft report/recommendations to anesthesiology-sunrise@doh.wa.gov by midnight October 2, 2021. Here are the draft report and appendix:

 
The department reviewed a proposal to increase the midwifery scope of practice to assess whether it meets the sunrise criteria in RCW 18.120.010 for expanding a regulated health profession’s scope of practice. Specifically, the proposal would add “limited prescription authority for contraception and medications and therapies for various common conditions in pregnancy and postpartum, for those with appropriate training.” The applicant group for this proposal is the Midwives Association of Washington.
The department is accepting public comments on this draft report to the legislature. Please email your comments on the draft report/recommendations to mwsunrise@doh.wa.gov by midnight October 2, 2021. Here are the draft report and appendix:
 
The department reviewed a proposal to increase the optometrist scope of practice to assess whether it meets the sunrise criteria in RCW 18.120.010 for expanding a regulated health profession’s scope of practice. The proposed changes include expanding the medications optometrists prescribe and therapeutic procedures they perform consistent with national standards. The applicant group for this proposal is the Optometric Physicians of Washington.
The department is accepting public comments on this draft report to the legislature. Please email your comments on the draft report/recommendations to optom-sunrise@doh.wa.gov by midnight October 2, 2021. Here are the draft report and appendix:
  • Draft Report
  • Appendix                                                                                                                
 
Next Steps
After this final public comment period ends, the DOH will incorporate changes to the draft reports, if needed, and submit for approval by the department and the Office of Financial Management. Once approved, they will post the final reports, submit it to the legislature, and share with the GovDelivery lists.
PMP-EHR Integration Mandate  

During the 2019 Legislative Session, the legislature passed Substitute Senate Bill 5380, which included the addition of RCW 70.225.090. Specifically, the bill requires that facilities, entities, offices, or provider groups with ten or more prescribers, that are not critical access hospitals, must demonstrate the ability to integrate their Electronic Health Records (EHR) systems with the Prescription Monitoring Program (PMP). The bill directs the department to develop a waiver process for this integration requirement. 
There are currently two ways to integrate a Health Care Organization's EHR with the PMP: the state's Health Information Exchange, OneHealthPort (OHP), and approved direct integration options, such as Bamboo Health's (formerly Appriss Health) PMP Gateway. 

  • If you wish to get more information on integrating your organization's EHR through OHP you can fill out OHP's HIE Support Request form. For PMP integrations select "Other" in the form and indicate you are interested in PMP integration. Someone from OHP will reach out after the form has been submitted.  
  • If you wish to get more information on integrating your organization's EHR through Bamboo Health's PMP Gateway please visit the Appriss Health PMP Integration Request page and fill out the form on the right-hand side. Once the form is submitted you will receive an email inviting you to register for a product overview webinar. If you have questions about the integration process or specific questions about PMP Gateway, please reach out to AccountSupport@apprisshealth.com.  

Please note: The waiver rules are still in development although they are expected to be finalized very soon. Once the rules are finalized the waiver forms will be sent out through GovDelivery and will be available online. The Secretary has waived compliance with the PMP-EHR Integration mandate until January 1, 2022.
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