Health care prof. well-being

AN ACT Relating to well-being programs for certain health care 1
professionals; amending RCW 18.130.020 and 18.130.070; and adding a 2
new section to chapter 18.130 RCW. 3
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF WASHINGTON:4
Sec. 1. RCW 18.130.020 and 2018 c 300 s 3 are each amended to 5
read as follows: 6
The definitions in this section apply throughout this chapter 7
unless the context clearly requires otherwise. 8
(1) "Board" means any of those boards specified in RCW 9
18.130.040. 10
(2) "Clinical expertise" means the proficiency or judgment that a 11
license holder in a particular profession acquires through clinical 12
experience or clinical practice and that is not possessed by a lay 13
person. 14
(3) "Commission" means any of the commissions specified in RCW 15
18.130.040. 16
(4)(a) "Conversion therapy" means a regime that seeks to change 17
an individual's sexual orientation or gender identity. The term 18
includes efforts to change behaviors or gender expressions, or to 19
eliminate or reduce sexual or romantic attractions or feelings toward 20
H-0943.1
HOUSE BILL 1718
State of Washington 69th Legislature 2025 Regular Session
By Representatives Thai, Shavers, Parshley, Zahn, and Scott
Read first time 01/29/25. Referred to Committee on Health Care &
Wellness.
p. 1 HB 1718
individuals of the same sex. The term includes, but is not limited 1
to, practices commonly referred to as "reparative therapy."2
(b) "Conversion therapy" does not include counseling or 3
psychotherapies that provide acceptance, support, and understanding 4
of clients or the facilitation of clients' coping, social support, 5
and identity exploration and development that do not seek to change 6
sexual orientation or gender identity. 7
(5) "Department" means the department of health.8
(6) "Disciplinary action" means sanctions identified in RCW 9
18.130.160. 10
(7) "Disciplining authority" means the agency, board, or 11
commission having the authority to take disciplinary action against a 12
holder of, or applicant for, a professional or business license upon 13
a finding of a violation of this chapter or a chapter specified under 14
RCW 18.130.040. 15
(8) "Health agency" means city and county health departments and 16
the department of health. 17
(9) "License," "licensing," and "licensure" shall be deemed 18
equivalent to the terms "license," "licensing," "licensure," 19
"certificate," "certification," and "registration" as those terms are 20
defined in RCW 18.120.020. 21
(10)(a) "Physician well-being program" means a formal program 22
established for the purpose of addressing issues related to career 23
fatigue and well-being in physicians licensed under chapter 18.71 24
RCW, osteopathic physicians and surgeons licensed under chapter 18.57 25
RCW, and physician assistants licensed under chapter 18.71A RCW, 26
that:27
(i) Uses primarily one-on-one, peer-to-peer interactions and 28
connects participants to physical and behavioral health resources and 29
professional supports when appropriate;30
(ii) Is limited to no more than three sessions per participant 31
every 12 months;32
(iii) May include discussions pertaining to career fatigue and 33
wellness arising from the physician's professional obligations, but 34
not for other purposes such as evaluation, discipline, quality 35
improvement, or the identification and prevention of medical 36
malpractice;37
(iv) Is established in writing or contracted for, in advance of 38
any peer-to-peer interactions or referrals, by an employer of 39
physicians and physician assistants, a nonprofit professional medical 40
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organization representing a specialty of physicians, or a statewide 1
organization representing physicians and physician assistants;2
(v) Does not allow as participants any person employed by, or 3
with a financial ownership interest in, the program; and4
(vi) Does not include the monitoring of physicians who may be 5
unable to practice medicine with reasonable skill and safety.6
(b) A quality improvement plan established under RCW 43.70.510 or 7
70.41.200 is not a physician well-being program for purposes of this 8
section. RCW 43.70.510 and 70.41.200 therefore do not apply to a 9
physician well-being program established under this section.10
(11) "Practice review" means an investigative audit of records 11
related to the complaint, without prior identification of specific 12
patient or consumer names, or an assessment of the conditions, 13
circumstances, and methods of the professional's practice related to 14
the complaint, to determine whether unprofessional conduct may have 15
been committed. 16
(((11))) (12) "Secretary" means the secretary of health or the 17
secretary's designee. 18
(((12))) (13) "Standards of practice" means the care, skill, and 19
learning associated with the practice of a profession.20
(((13))) (14) "Unlicensed practice" means: 21
(a) Practicing a profession or operating a business identified in 22
RCW 18.130.040 without holding a valid, unexpired, unrevoked, and 23
unsuspended license to do so; or 24
(b) Representing to a consumer, through offerings, 25
advertisements, or use of a professional title or designation, that 26
the individual is qualified to practice a profession or operate a 27
business identified in RCW 18.130.040, without holding a valid, 28
unexpired, unrevoked, and unsuspended license to do so.29
Sec. 2. RCW 18.130.070 and 2022 c 43 s 9 are each amended to 30
read as follows: 31
(1)(a) The secretary shall adopt rules requiring every license 32
holder to report to the appropriate disciplining authority any 33
conviction, determination, or finding that another license holder has 34
committed an act which constitutes unprofessional conduct, or to 35
report information to the disciplining authority, physician health 36
program, or voluntary substance use disorder monitoring program 37
approved by the disciplining authority, which indicates that the 38
other license holder may not be able to practice his or her 39
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profession with reasonable skill and safety to consumers as a result 1
of a mental or physical condition. 2
(b) The secretary may adopt rules to require other persons, 3
including corporations, organizations, health care facilities, 4
physician health programs, or voluntary substance use disorder 5
monitoring programs approved by the disciplining authority, and state 6
or local government agencies, to report: 7
(i) Any conviction, determination, or finding that a license 8
holder has committed an act which constitutes unprofessional conduct; 9
or 10
(ii) Information to the disciplining authority, physician health 11
program, or voluntary substance use disorder monitoring program 12
approved by the disciplining authority, which indicates that the 13
license holder may not be able to practice his or her profession with 14
reasonable skill and safety to consumers as a result of a mental or 15
physical condition. 16
(c) If a report has been made by a hospital to the department 17
pursuant to RCW 70.41.210 or by an ambulatory surgical facility 18
pursuant to RCW 70.230.110, a report to the disciplining authority is 19
not required. To facilitate meeting the intent of this section, the 20
cooperation of agencies of the federal government is requested by 21
reporting any conviction, determination, or finding that a federal 22
employee or contractor regulated by the disciplining authorities 23
enumerated in this chapter has committed an act which constituted 24
unprofessional conduct and reporting any information which indicates 25
that a federal employee or contractor regulated by the disciplining 26
authorities enumerated in this chapter may not be able to practice 27
his or her profession with reasonable skill and safety as a result of 28
a mental or physical condition. 29
(d) Reporting under this section is not required by:30
(i) Any entity with a peer review committee, quality improvement 31
committee or other similarly designated professional review 32
committee, or by a license holder who is a member of such committee, 33
during the investigative phase of the respective committee's 34
operations if the investigation is completed in a timely manner; 35
((or))36
(ii) A physician health program or voluntary substance use 37
disorder monitoring program approved by a disciplining authority 38
under RCW 18.130.175 if the license holder is currently enrolled in 39
the program, so long as the license holder actively participates in 40
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the program and the license holder's impairment does not constitute a 1
clear and present danger to the public health, safety, or welfare; or2
(iii) A physician well-being program, so long as the license 3
holder is competent to practice with reasonable skill and safety. If 4
the license holder is not competent to practice with reasonable skill 5
and safety, or if a patient has been harmed, the license holder shall 6
be reported by the physician wellness program medical director or 7
other licensee to the disciplining authority according to 8
requirements established and adopted in rule by the Washington 9
medical commission or, if permitted by rule, referred to a physicians 10
health program or voluntary substance use disorder monitoring program 11
approved under RCW 18.130.175. 12
(2) If a person fails to furnish a required report, the 13
disciplining authority may petition the superior court of the county 14
in which the person resides or is found, and the court shall issue to 15
the person an order to furnish the required report. A failure to obey 16
the order is a contempt of court as provided in chapter 7.21 RCW.17
(3) A person is immune from civil liability, whether direct or 18
derivative, for providing information to the disciplining authority 19
pursuant to the rules adopted under subsection (1) of this section.20
(4)(a) The holder of a license subject to the jurisdiction of 21
this chapter shall report to the disciplining authority:22
(i) Any conviction, determination, or finding that he or she has 23
committed unprofessional conduct or is unable to practice with 24
reasonable skill or safety; and 25
(ii) Any disqualification from participation in the federal 26
medicare program, under Title XVIII of the federal social security 27
act or the federal medicaid program, under Title XIX of the federal 28
social security act. 29
(b) Failure to report within thirty days of notice of the 30
conviction, determination, finding, or disqualification constitutes 31
grounds for disciplinary action. 32
NEW SECTION. Sec. 3. A new section is added to chapter 18.130 33
RCW to read as follows: 34
(1)(a) Physician well-being program records relating to well-35
being program participants created specifically for, and collected 36
and maintained by the physician well-being program, are confidential 37
and exempt from disclosure under chapter 42.56 RCW and shall not be 38
subject to discovery by subpoena or admissible as evidence. This 39
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privilege does not protect information, communications, or documents 1
available from other original sources and does not protect any 2
document outside the scope of the privilege established under this 3
section. 4
(b) Nothing in this section precludes introduction into evidence 5
information about a license holder collected and maintained in a 6
physician well-being program in any civil action by the license 7
holder regarding: 8
(i) The individual's participation in the program;9
(ii) The restriction of the license holder's clinical or staff 10
privileges when a report has been made under RCW 11
18.130.070(1)(d)(iii); or 12
(iii) Termination of the license holder's employment when a 13
report has been made under RCW 18.130.070(1)(d)(iii).14
(c) The information admitted under (b) of this subsection must 15
not be reasonably discoverable, given the scope and limits of 16
discovery, from other nonprivileged sources. 17
(2) This section does not apply to the organizing documents or 18
contracts establishing a physician wellness program or to records 19
created prior to the establishment of the physician well-being 20
program. 21
(3) In the case that the license holder is unable to practice 22
with reasonable skill and safety or a patient has been harmed, a 23
report must be made to the disciplinary authority or the physicians 24
health program or voluntary substance use disorder monitoring program 25
approved by a disciplining authority under RCW 18.130.175 in 26
accordance with RCW 18.130.070(1)(d)(iii) and rules adopted by the 27
Washington medical commission. 28
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