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SBOH Rules
Healthy Behaviors (Formerly Children's Health &
Well-Being)
Confidential
Information on Birth Certificates
WAC 246-491-039 explains that the confidential
information on Washington Birth and Fetal Certificates
are not subject to public inspection and may not be
included on certified copies of the record except upon
order of a court. However, SHB 1510, Chapter 44, Laws of
2009 provides an administrative option for some of the
information on the confidential section of the birth
certificate to be shared with the person who is the
subject of that record. It was passed into law in 2009.
The bill further requires that items concerning the
mother or father cannot be included in the information
provided to the individual. It also specifies that the
person requesting such information must confirm their
identity in a manner approved by the State Board of
Health.
In August 2009, the rule was opened to establish the
manner by which the identity of the individual
requesting information from the confidential section of
their birth certificate will be confirmed. The proposed
change will also specify the items from the confidential
section of the birth certificate that can be provided to
the individual requesting the information.
The Board was briefed about the proposed changes on
October 14, 2009 and the hearing about the proposed rule
changes will be held on March 10, 2010.
Statutory Authority:
RCW 70.58.055
SBOH Contact:
Tara Wolff, 360-236-4101
DOH Contact:
Philip
Freeman, 360-236-4330
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Ensuring Treatment of Newborns for Sexually Transmitted
Disease
WAC 246-100-202 lists duties of health care
providers related to sexually transmitted diseases. WAC
246-100-202(1)(e) guides those attending births on how
to treat the eyes of an infant to prevent Opthalmia
Neonatorum caused by a Gonoccocal infection. The old
rule referenced an outdated Department of Social and
Health Services policy statement issued in 1981.
The rule was changed to
(1) revise WAC 246-100-202(e) to list medications in the
rule so they reflect current practice; (2) incorporate
the treatment options within sub-section (1)(e) of WAC
246-100-202, and (3) instruct the healthcare provider to
document the refusal in the newborns medical record.
Statutory Authority:
RCW 70.24.130
SBOH Contact:
Tara Wolff, 360-236-4101
DOH Contact:
Bat-Sheva Stein, 360-236-3582
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Immunizations
WAC 246-100-166
governs the immunization of children in school and child
care against certain vaccine-preventable diseases. The
Advisory Committee on Immunization Practice, The
American Academy of Pediatrics, and the American Academy
of Family Medicine recommend routine vaccination of
children against various diseases. The Board has
nine
criteria for assessing whether to require specific
vaccines as a condition of school entry.
Generally, the Board waits for two
years after the Department of Health has made a vaccine
available to providers in Washington State. (Under the
current system of universal purchasing, this would mean
that the state has purchased and distributed the vaccine
for two years.) As more vaccines meet this condition,
the Board may elect to convene a Technical Advisory
Group (TAG) to apply the nine criteria to them and make
recommendations to the Board.
The Board convened a TAG on July 25, 2007 to apply its criteria to
vaccine preventable pneumococcal diseases and to make
recommendations to the Board. The recommendations of the
TAG were accepted by the Board on October 10, 2007.
More information available.
A CR-103 was filed on December 26, 2008
which will update the reference to the Advisory Committee on
Immunization Practices (ACIP) Recommended
Childhood and Adolescent Immunization Schedule from the
2007 version to the 2008 version; add pneumococcal to the list of
vaccine-preventable diseases required to be vaccinated
against in order to attend child care and preschool; re-codify WAC section
246-100-166 into multiple sections within a new
chapter under WAC title 246; and clarify language.
Statutory Authority:
RCW 28A.210.140
SBOH Contact:
Tara Wolff, 360-236-4101
DOH Contact: Jeff
Wise, 360 236 3483
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Newborn
Screening
The
Board adopted changes to
Chapter 246-650 WAC
at a public hearing on May 14, 2008. The Board approved
the addition of 15 disorders to the list of conditions
for which all newborns must be tested bringing the
total number of disorders to 25. The 15 disorders were
reviewed and recommended for screening by the Newborn
Screening Advisory Committee. (For more details on the
15 new conditions and the review process, please visit
http://www.sboh.wa.gov/Goals/HealthyBehaviors/NBS.)
All of the 15 new disorders are metabolic. The
Department of Health began screening infants for the new disorders in
September 2008.
Statutory Authority:
RCW 43.20.050 and Chapter
70.83 RCW
SBOH Contact:
Tara Wolff, 360-236-4101
DOH Contact: Mike
Glass, 206-418-5470
More information about
this rule revision available.
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Scoliosis
Screening
Chapter 246-762 WAC had provisions for scoliosis
screening in schools. The rule was repealed in 2009, and
schools were no longer required to screen students for
scoliosis annually in grades five, seven, and nine. In
2009,
House Bill (HB) 1322 was signed into law. It
repealed RCW 28A.210.180, RCW 28A.210.190, RCW
28A.210.200, RCW 28A.210.210, RCW 28A.210.220, RCW
28A.210.240, and RCW 28A.210.250. An expedited
rule-making process was chosen for this rule change
because it was a legislative requirement
Statutory Authority:
Chapter 246-762 WAC
SBOH Contact:
Tara Wolff, 360-236-4101
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Vision Screening
Chapter 246-760 WAC
requires school districts to screen the auditory
and visual acuity of children attending schools to
determine if any children have defects sufficient to
retard them in their studies. In 2005, the
Legislature passed SHB 1951 directing the Department of
Health to convene a workgroup to look at issues about
current vision screening practices in Washington State.
The report made recommendations to the Board and the
Legislature. In January of 2007, the Board accepted the
final workgroup report,
Visual Screening of Children in Public Schools Final
Report,
and endorsed its recommendations. The
Board elected to address some of the recommendations in
the future.
The rule was opened in January 2010, because currently
it prohibits ophthalmologists, optometrists, and
opticians from participating in visual screening of
children in schools which is out of synch with recent
legislation. ESSB 5889 was passed in 2009, and expressly
allows these vision professionals to perform screening
in schools. The rule revision is necessary to make the
rule consistent with statute. An expedited rule-making
process was chosen for this rule change because it is a
legislative requirement.
·
CR-105 filed on January 29, 2010 as
WSR 10-04-069
Statutory Authority:
RCW 28A.210.020
SBOH Contact:
Tara Wolff,
360-236-4101
At its June 8, 2011 meeting, the state Board of Health
will discuss interpretation of the vision screening
rule, Chapter 246-760 WAC, in response to a question
posed by Optometric Physicians of Washington.
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