The Department of Health’s (DOH) Health Plan Partnership is once again sponsoring the 2016 Immunize WA Provider Recognition Program. This program recognizes clinics that have achieved immunization rates of 70 percent or higher, and clinics will be awarded during National Infant Immunization Week (April 16-23) to recognize their commitment to ensuring patients are up-to-date on their immunizations.... Read More >>

The Washington State Department of Health (DOH) is in the beginning stages of rulemaking to explore creating a specific training route for law enforcement personnel to qualify for medical assistant, phlebotomist credentials. This rulemaking stems, in part, from a vetoed portion of House Bill 1276 (enacted in 2015), which would have created a new certificate to allow law enforcement personnel to conduct forensic blood draws on DUI suspects.... Read More >>

The State Senate released its proposal for the 2016 supplemental budget today. The Senate takes a significantly different approach than the House to its budget proposal, making more cuts than the House did and leaving a much larger balance in the budget stabilization account. In addition, the Senate spends less.... Read More >>

In addition to the operating budget, the House and Senate capital budgets were both released today. WSHA’s interest in the capital budget is in the area of funding for new mental health facilities. WSHA is very pleased both the House and Senate capital budget contain significant new dollars for construction costs of mental health facilities.... Read More >>

We are very thankful for everyone who comes to Olympia to testify! Your testimony is essential for helping legislators and the public to understand the real impact of proposed legislation. Last week, we were pleased to have testimony from Cheryl Pell, RPh, from Medication Review, Inc.... Read More >>

Bills that WSHA is testifying on for the week of Feb. 22-26.... Read More >>

The House Democrats today released their proposal for the 2016 supplemental budget. For hospitals and health systems, the most significant part of the budget is more than $45 million investments in mental health to combat the state’s mental health crisis. Mental health is WSHA’s top budget priority.... Read More >>

Recognizing that this is a short session and a supplemental budget, mental health remains our top priority. Other key issues we are advocating for include enhanced payment to hospitals with high volumes of Department of Corrections inmates, and protecting rural nursing homes from the negative effects of changes to the nursing home rate formula.... Read More >>

The Washington State Department of Health (DOH) plans to honor facilities that have an ASP and are working to improve antibiotic use through education, targeted activities and assessment. This is an opportunity for hospitals to be publicly recognized for leading efforts to reduce antibiotic resistance and improve patient outcomes. The department will list names of facilities with an ASP and details about program leadership on the DOH Antibiotic Stewardship webpage.... Read More >>

After several cycles of increasing revenue forecasts, state legislators got the news Wednesday that the state’s revenue forecast declined slightly for this year and more significantly for the coming biennium. This news comes as budget writers are working to craft their supplemental budget proposals. The budget downfall was attributed to weak economic growth, both globally and nationally, and a decline in exports from Washington State.... Read More >>