The Washington State Board of Health (WSBOH) voted to delay the effective date of the updated Notifiable Conditions regulations to Jan. 1, 2023. The delayed 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 eliminate phone calls as a reporting method; and add 21 new conditions to the list of conditions that are deemed notifiable to local health jurisdictions and the Department of Health (DOH).
WSHA recommends hospital use the time provided by the delay to prepare for compliance with the revised regulations in advance of new Jan. 1, 2023 effective date. Preparations may include developing new procedures for collecting and reporting the expanded patient demographic data and adjusting electronic health record systems to store the additional patient data. WSHA supported DOH’s request to WSBOH to delay the effective date for the updated Notifiable Conditions regulations. We are pleased WSBOH adopted the new effective date because it will provide hospitals with additional time to prepare for compliance. Please see WSHA’s bulletin for more information about the updated Notifiable Conditions regulations.