WAC 246-455-010   Definitions.  As used in this chapter, unless the context requires otherwise,

     (1) "Department" means department of health.

     (2) "Diagnosis-related groups" is a classification system that groups hospital patients according to principal and secondary diagnosis, presence or absence of a surgical procedure, age, presence or absence of significant comorbidities or complications, and other relevant criteria.

     (3) "Hospital" means any health care institution which is required to qualify for a license under RCW 70.41.020(2); or as a psychiatric hospital under chapter 71.12 RCW.

     (4) "CHARS" means comprehensive hospital abstract reporting system.

     (5) "CHARS Procedure Manual" means the written instructions for reporting hospital discharge data to the department.

     (6) "CHARS 837 Companion Guide" means the written technical guidelines for creating the ASC X12 837 Health Care Claim file for CHARS.

     (7) Uniform Billing "UB-92/UB-04 data set" means the data element specifications developed by the National Uniform Billing Committee which can be found at www.NUBC.org. The UB-92 specifications will be used until they are replaced by the UB-04 of the National Uniform Billing Committee. Data elements are completely defined in the CHARS Procedure Manual which may be obtained on the department's web site or by contacting the department.

     (8) "Patient discharge" means the termination of an inpatient admission or observation stay, including an admission as a result of a birth, in a Washington hospital.

     (9) "Office of Management and Budget" means a body within the Executive Office of the President of the United States which is tasked with coordinating United States Federal agencies and can be found at www.whitehouse.gov/OMB.

     (10) "Individually identifiable health information" means any health information that can be linked or traced to an individual or family. It includes but is not limited to: Past, present and future health care; billings or payments for health care; physical or mental health conditions; and physical or mental health diagnosis. This includes names and parts of names, Social Security numbers and parts of Social Security numbers, date of birth, admission date, exact discharge date, procedure date, nine-digit zip code and identifiers and patient control numbers assigned by a hospital for record retrieval.

     (11) "Minimum necessary use" means that the use and disclosure of individually identifiable health information will be limited to the minimum amount necessary to accomplish the authorized purpose.

     (12) "Data sharing agreement" means a signed agreement between government agencies, or researchers having an Institutional Review Board approval for transmitting, receiving and using records containing individually identifiable health information. Sharing such records requires each agency to have independent statutory authority to receive and disclose the information. The agreement specifies, at a minimum, what information will be exchanged, and the conditions or restrictions under which the information will be used and protected.



[Statutory Authority: RCW 43.70.040 and 43.70.052. 07-09-091, § 246-455-010, filed 4/18/07, effective 5/23/07. Statutory Authority: RCW 43.70.040 and [43.]70.170. 03-13-029, § 246-455-010, filed 6/10/03, effective 7/11/03. Statutory Authority: RCW 43.70.040 and chapter 70.170 RCW. 94-12-090, § 246-455-010, filed 6/1/94, effective 7/2/94. Statutory Authority: RCW 43.70.040. 91-02-049 (Order 121), recodified as § 246-455-010, filed 12/27/90, effective 1/31/91. Statutory Authority: RCW 70.39.180. 85-17-020 (Order 85-05, Resolution No. 85-05), § 261-50-020, filed 8/13/85. Statutory Authority: Chapter 70.39 RCW. 84-20-067 (Order 84-06, Resolution No. 84-06), § 261-50-020, filed 10/1/84.]