Revisions to Washington State’s Notifiable Conditions regulations in chapter 246-101 WAC will take effect on Jan. 1, 2023. The regulatory revisions require health care facilities, health care providers and laboratories to collect extensive patient race, language, and ethnicity data; clarify the reporting process for conditions deemed notifiable and require reporting through secure electronic data transmission; and add new conditions to the list of conditions that are deemed notifiable to local health jurisdictions and the Department of Health (DOH).
DOH announced that it is continuing to update its notifiable conditions website to include the new requirements along with clearer instructions for reporting. Questions about the changes can be sent to notifiableconditions@sboh.wa.gov. The rules were initially scheduled to take effect in 2022 but were delayed until 2023 to allow additional time for compliance preparations. Click here to view WSHA’s bulletin on the changes. (David Streeter)
