(1) Access.

(a) A health care facility or entity may have access to prescription monitoring information for the purpose of providing medical or pharmaceutical care to the patients of the facility or entity or for quality improvement purposes, provided that the facility or entity is licensed by the department, operated by the federal government, or a federally recognized Indian tribe.

(b) A health care provider group of five or more prescribers may have access to prescription monitoring information for the purpose of providing medical or pharmaceutical care to the patients, or for quality improvement purposes, provided that all prescribers in the provider group are licensed by the department, the provider group is operated by the federal government or a federally recognized Indian tribe.

(2) Registration for access. A facility or entity identified in subsection (1)(a) of this section or a provider group of five or more prescribers identified in subsection (1)(b) of this section may register for access by using the registration process established by the department.

(3) Verification by the department. The department or its designee shall verify the authentication and identity of the facility, entity, or provider group before allowing access to any prescription monitoring information.

(4) Procedure for accessing prescription information. A facility, entity, or provider group identified in subsection (1) of this section must access information from the program electronically through a method approved by the department.

(5) If the connection between the facility, entity, or provider group and the program is compromised, the facility, entity, or provider group shall notify the department's designee by telephone and in writing as soon as reasonably possible.

(6) All requests for, uses of, and disclosures of prescription monitoring information by authorized persons must be consistent with the mandate as outlined in RCW 70.225.040 and this chapter.