Senate Bill 6166 (S-3937.1) adds new statutory requirements and amends existing health professional statutes. It creates a new section in chapter 18.130 RCW requiring license holders who provide health care services (excluding custodial services and excluding staff who work in nonpatient-care settings with no direct patient interactions) to wear a visible identification badge during all patient encounters that shows the provider’s name and health care credential, including initials and the title of any health care–related degree. The bill also requires any advertisement that names a license holder to identify the type of health care credential held, including initials and degree title. The bill amends RCW 18.130.180 to add violation of the new badge/advertising requirement to the listed grounds for unprofessional conduct. The bill also amends representation rules in RCW 18.57.031 (osteopathic physicians and surgeons) and RCW 18.71.021 (physicians) to specify that a person may represent themselves as a physician or physician surgeon only if they meet four conditions explicitly stated in the amendments: be licensed under the chapter, have completed an approved surgical residency or fellowship (ACGME or the Royal College of Physicians and Surgeons of Canada), be certified, recertified, or eligible for examination by an appropriate surgical board (American Board of Medical Specialties or the Royal College), and maintain continuing education and proficiency in their specialty. The amendment text for RCW 18.71.021 is incomplete in the provided material. The bill adds new sections to hospital, assisted living, nursing home, adult family home, and ambulatory surgical facility statutes requiring those facilities to issue updated identification badges so employees meet the new section 2 requirements; updated badges must be issued at hire, when a new photo is needed, on name change, on receipt of a new credential or degree, when beginning a new credentialing period, or by January 1, 2030, whichever is earlier. The bill also adds a provision that no health profession board or commission may deviate from the act’s requirements. The provided extracts do not include the full text of section 2 itself, the definitions relied on (for example the definition of “health care service”), enforcement mechanisms, penalties, effective dates, or which specific agency will enforce the new badge and advertising rules.

If enacted, most front-line licensed health care workers who see patients will have to wear a visible badge during every patient encounter that shows their name and health care credential (including initials and the title of any health care degree), and any advertisement that names a license holder will have to state the type of credential and degree title. Hospitals, assisted living facilities, nursing homes, adult family homes, and ambulatory surgical centers must issue updated badges on hire, when a photo, name, credential, or credentialing period changes, or by January 1, 2030, so these facilities will face new administrative and printing costs and procedures to keep badges current; license holders will have the new daily responsibility to display credentials and face the risk of discipline because violating the badge rule is added to the list of unprofessional conduct. License holders who work entirely in nonpatient care settings with no direct interactions are exempt, and health profession boards are barred from changing these requirements. The bill also narrows who may represent themselves as an osteopathic or allopathic physician-surgeon by tying that title to completion of an accredited surgical residency or fellowship, board certification/eligibility by recognized surgical boards, and maintenance of continuing education and proficiency, which will limit how some clinicians market themselves and could require additional training or certification for others. Important details are missing from the provided text — notably the full text of the badge requirement section, exact enforcement and penalty procedures, and the statutory definition of “health care service” — so the precise scope of covered workers and how enforcement will operate is unclear.