PDFWAC 182-546-4200
Ambulance transportation—Behavioral health treatment—Coverage.
(1) To be considered an Involuntary Treatment Act (ITA) transport, a client's involuntary status must have resulted from:
(a) A petition for initial detention filed by a DCR (seventy-two hour hold); and
(b) Continued hospitalization (fourteen-day, ninety-day, or one hundred eighty-day holds) under order of the superior court in a community hospital (not for clients residing in western or eastern state hospitals); or
(c) A petition for revocation of a conditional release or less restrictive treatment agreement.
(2) ITA transportation for a client is covered:
(a) From:
(i) The site of initial detention;
(ii) A court competency hearing;
(iii) A local emergency room department;
(iv) An evaluation and treatment facility;
(v) A state hospital; and
(vi) A secured detoxification facility or crisis response center.
(b) To:
(i) A state hospital;
(ii) A less restrictive alternative setting (except home);
(iii) A court competency hearing;
(iv) A local emergency room department;
(v) An evaluation and treatment facility; and
(vi) A secured detoxification facility or crisis response center.
(c) When provided by an ambulance transportation provider or law enforcement.
(d) When transported to the closest and most appropriate destination or a place designated by the DCR and/or courts. The reason for a diversion to a more distant facility must be clearly documented in the client's file.
(3) Children's long-term inpatient program (CLIP) - Transportation provided to a children's long-term inpatient program (CLIP) facility is considered a form of nonemergency medical transportation and requires a physician certification statement (PCS) or nonphysician certification statement (NPCS).
(4) Parent initiated treatment (PIT) - Use of nonemergency ambulance transportation to an inpatient psychiatric facility for voluntary inpatient admission must be medically necessary at the time of transport. The agency requires a PCS or NPCS signed by a psychiatric registered nurse, psychiatric advanced registered nurse practitioner (ARNP), or psychiatric physician's assistant (PA). The PCS or NPCS form documents the client's medical condition at the time of the transport.
(5) Persons without apple health or other coverage - If the person does not have apple health or any third-party health insurance, and the person or the person's family cannot pay for transportation related to services in RCW 71.05.150 through 71.05.310 and 71.05.340:
(a) The ambulance provider may submit a claim to the agency for that person; and
(b) The claim must be accompanied by back-up documentation consistent with Washington superior court mental proceeding Rule 2.2 and show that the transport occurred within three days of the person's detention.