HB 1394 Washington House · 2025-2026 Regular Session

Concerning the retention of hospital medical records.

House Bill 1394 modifies the requirements for how long hospitals in Washington State must retain medical records. It mandates that hospitals preserve all medical records for a minimum of 26 years from the date the record was created, replacing the prior 10-year retention period. This new rule applies to both existing records currently held by hospitals and all future medical records, allowing for retention in paper, electronic, or other formats. It also clarifies that all information from each unique patient visit is considered a medical record under this section.

Issues: ✓ Healthcare

Bill status passed 3 of 5 stages cleared

Introduction

Jan 2026

Committee Review

Feb 2025

House Passage

Mar 2025

Senate Passage

Governor

Introduced Jan 12, 2026 Last action Jan 12, 2026

Maddy AI version diff · 1 comparison

What changed between versions

Bill → Substitute Bill · 3 edits

MINOR

The bill was renumbered and its sponsor list was updated to reflect committee referral. A new requirement was added to explicitly define all information collected during a unique patient visit as a medical record, ensuring comprehensive retention of data.

Scope change

The scope of the medical record definition was expanded to explicitly include all information collected at each unique visit.

TECHNICAL

The bill number was changed from H-0351.1 to H-1135.1, and the title was updated from 'House Bill' to 'Substitute House Bill'.

TIMELINE

The introduction date was updated from January 20, 2025, to February 11, 2025, and the referral status was changed to indicate the bill was read and referred to the Health Care & Wellness committee.

DEFINITION

A new subsection (4) was added to define 'medical record' to include all information collected at each unique patient visit.

Floor votes · House Mar 4, 2025

How they voted

96–0

Passed · 4 other

Total votes 100

Mar 4, 2025

D Democratic61

57 Yea 4

93% Yea

R Republican39

39 Yea

100% Yea

Vote distribution

All Yea All Nay Mixed No data

Full legislative history

Actions timeline

Total actions

Key actions

Committee

Jan 12, 2026

Introduced

By resolution, reintroduced and retained in present status.

lower

Mar 4, 2025

House · Passed

House Vote: pass (96-0-4)

house

Feb 11, 2025

Committee

Referred to Rules 2 Review.

lower

Feb 7, 2025

Lower · Passed

Executive action taken in the House Committee on Health Care & Wellness at 8:00 AM.

lower

Jan 29, 2025

Lower · Passed

Public hearing in the House Committee on Health Care & Wellness at 1:30 PM.

lower

1 primary · 16 co-sponsors