(1) The department, in collaboration with the workforce training and education coordinating board, shall distribute survey questions for the purpose of gathering data related to workforce supply and demographics to all health care providers who hold a license to practice a health profession. The department shall adopt a schedule for distributing surveys by profession so that each profession is surveyed every two years. In developing the survey, the department shall seek advice from researchers that are likely to use the survey data.

     (2)(a) At a minimum, the survey shall include questions related to understanding the following characteristics of individuals in the health care workforce:

     (i) Specialty;

     (ii) Birthdate and gender;

     (iii) Race and ethnicity;

     (iv) Hours in practice per week;

     (v) Practice statistics, including hours spent in direct patient care;

     (vi) Zip codes of the location where the provider practices;

     (vii) Years in practice, years in practice in Washington, location and years in practice in other jurisdictions;

     (viii) Education and training background, including the location and types of education and training received; and

     (ix) Type of facilities where the provider practices.

     (b) The department may approve proposals for the distribution of surveys containing additional data elements to selected health care professions if it determines that there is a legitimate research interest in obtaining the information, the additional burden on members of the health care profession is not unreasonable, the effect on survey response rates is not unreasonable, and there are funds available. The department may accept funds through contracts, grants, donations, or other forms of contributions to support more detailed surveys.

     (3) The department must make a public data set available that meets the confidentiality requirements of subsection (5) of this section. The department may respond to requests for data and other information from the registry for special studies and analysis pursuant to a data-sharing agreement. Any use of the data by the requestor must comply with the confidentiality requirements of subsection (5) of this section. The department may require requestors to pay any or all of the reasonable costs associated with such requests that may be approved.

     (4) The failure to complete or return the survey may not be grounds to withhold, fail to renew, or revoke a license or to impose any other disciplinary sanctions against a credentialed health care provider.

     (5) The department must process the surveys that it receives in such a way that the identity of individual providers remains confidential. Data elements related to the identification of individual providers are confidential and are exempt from RCW 42.56.040 through 42.56.570 and 42.17.350 through 42.17.450, except as provided in a data-sharing agreement approved by the department pursuant to subsection (3) of this section.

     (6) By July 1, 2009, the department shall provide a report to the appropriate committees of the legislature on the effectiveness of using a survey to obtain information on the supply of health care professionals, the distribution and use of the information obtained by the surveys by employers and health professions education and training programs[,] and the extent to which the surveys have alleviated identified shortages of trained health care providers.

[2006 c 236 § 2.]

NOTES:

     Findings -- Intent -- 2006 c 236: "The legislature finds that people of color experience significant disparities from the general population in education, employment, healthy living conditions, access to health care, and other social determinants of health. The legislature intends to address barriers to gender-appropriate and culturally and linguistically appropriate health care and health education materials, including increasing the number of female and minority health care providers, through expanded recruiting, education, and retention programs. The legislature finds that before developing a workforce that is representative of the diversity of the state's population, relevant and accurate data on health care professionals, students in health care professions, and recipients of health services must first be collected." [2006 c 236 § 1.]

     Effective date -- 2006 c 236 § 1: "Section 1 of this act takes effect July 1, 2006." [2006 c 236 § 3.]

     Expiration date -- 2006 c 236: "This act expires January 1, 2012." [2006 c 236 § 4.]