Implementation of new notifiable conditions reporting requirements delayed until Jan 2023

At the November 10, 2021 meeting, the Washington State Board of Health (Board) accepted the Department of Health’s (DOH) request to amend the effective date of the notifiable conditions rule (chapter 246-101 WAC), and directed staff to file a new CR-103, Order of Adoption, to delay the effective date of revisions to the notifiable conditions chapter to January 1, 2023.

The notifiable conditions rule outlines requirements for information health

care providers, health care facilities, laboratories, and other entities must report to the state to protect the public's health by tracking communicable diseases and other conditions.

Last March, the Board adopted amendments to the notifiable conditions rule. The amended rule makes significant changes to the requirements of the chapter and was originally adopted with an effective date of January 31, 2022.

DOH greatly appreciates the engagement of many community partners to update the notifiable conditions rule. The disaggregated race and ethnicity categories, as well as the patients preferred language categories, will provide vital data to identify health inequity and work to improve the health of all people.

As DOH began work to implement the notifiable conditions rule, technical challenges were identified that prevent the work from being completed by the original effective date in regulation, including:

• The capacity of DOH’s IT staff and communicable disease staff to update the 19 IT systems needed to implement the new rule has been impeded by the relentless demands of the COVID-19 pandemic.
• The technology solution for the Washington State Public Health Laboratories to incorporate additional demographic values will take significant time beyond the original rule effective date. When implemented, this change will streamline the reporting process.
• The Washington State Legislature passed House Bill 1272 (2021) an Act Relating to Health Care System Transparency. This bill requires DOH to update Washington’s Comprehensive Hospital Abstract Reporting System (CHARS). HB 1272 impacts DOH IT systems and requires the collection of similar demographic data to what is required by the notifiable conditions rule. The effective date for HB 1272 is January 1, 2023.

The newly adopted effective date of January 1, 2023 will allow DOH to align with the implementation work required by HB 1272, and provide enough time to successfully complete this critical public health work.

DOH is working to update the timeline for implementation and will coordinate with the Board to provide information, guidance documents, updated forms, and training as it becomes available.

More information about the Notifiable Conditions rulemaking can be found on the Board’s rulemaking webpage. Please direct any questions to notifiableconditions@sboh.wa.gov.

Thank you,
Washington State Department of Health, Nursing Care Quality Assurance Commission