Washington State Laws, Essay Example

There are several important state laws that Washington has enacted in order to be able to provide adult and children residents with the top health care opportunities available. Furthermore, regulations such as RCW 5.60.060 place restrictions on providers as far as the type of communication that they can provide to friends and family members of the patient as well as clearly defining what is “privileged communications” in terms of medical health care (leg.wa.com, 2011). The purpose of this law as well as many others that govern patient privacy is to take steps outside of federal regulations to place additional restrictions on the type of information that is able to be offered by medical providers to persons or entities other than the patient. These laws maintain the patient’s strict privacy in terms of his or her own medical history, treatment, claims and costs as well as diagnoses.

Another key component to Washington state laws in this area is the benefit that children receive through defined care practice standards, communication and responsibility for medical providers to communicate to authorities in case the potential for abuse is observed (leg.wa.com, 2011). In addition to the state laws, the Washington State website also has records of many of the State Senate Committee hearings that also provide guidance to medical providers for issues regarding adult and child health and safety, which includes but is not limited to working with the homeless, family homes, patient-centered medical facilities and child protective services – just to name a few. These hearings have largely resulted in the creation of new legislation passed by the state legislature to continue to mandate specific standards in state medical practice based on the growing needs of state citizens and the multitude of advancements in medical research and

State mandates also define the procedures that medical practitioners must undertake in order to properly and timely report the existence of child or elder abuse. For example, RCW 26.44.030 describes the procedure and the legal requirement that medical professionals have if they notice signs of child abuse to report this abuse to the proper authorities for further investigation and possibly action to be taken (leg.wa.com, 2011). Similar laws are also used to describe the procedure and requirements for elder abuse. The purpose for these laws is to assist in defining medical professional’s responsibilities as well as to assist the medical community and police or investigation forces with following the appropriate procedures for the benefit of the child or elder victims.

Under Title 388, the Washington State Legislature has defined the medical practice standards that must be followed regarding a number of considerations for the delivery of human services in the state. Interestingly enough, these human services also include basic sanitation, education, health provisions and also language interpretation services depending on the situation at hand (leg.wa.com, 2011). These are key core human services that the state has determined are essential to improving the quality of life for individuals residing in Washington or receiving services within the geography of the state. Not only are these laws and provisions essential to defining the basic services that the state will provide, but it also helps residents of the state know what services are available and their rights in obtaining such services to protect themselves from the dangers of ignorance. These laws also hold medical and legal professionals to standards of practice that are also to protect the citizens.

Bibliography

leg.wa.gov. (2011). Retrieved from http://www.leg.wa.gov/pages/home.aspx