(1) Effective January 1, 2018, the authority shall require that all health care facilities that provide newborn delivery services to medical assistance clients establish policies and procedures to provide: (a) Skin-to-skin placement of the newborn on the mother's chest immediately following birth to promote the initiation of breastfeeding, except as otherwise indicated by authority guidelines; and (b) Room-in practices in which a newborn and a mother share the same room for the duration of their postdelivery stay at the facility, except as otherwise indicated by authority guidelines. (2) The authority shall provide guidelines for hospitals to use when establishing policies and procedures for services under subsection (1) of this section, including circumstances in which providing the services is not appropriate. (3) The authority shall require managed care organizations to report on the frequency with which each facility they contract with is able to adhere to the policies and procedures and the most common reasons for nonadherence. The authority shall include a summary of this information in the biennial report required under RCW 74.09.480(3). [ 2017 c 294 s 2.]
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