Key points
- Washington's My Health My Data Act has required opt-in consent to collect consumer health data since 31 March 2024, with a second, separate consent to share it. HIPAA data is exempt.1
- Recording a private conversation in Washington needs the consent of every person in it, and a recorded announcement at the start counts as that consent.2
- Chinese is the most spoken language at home in Seattle after English, with 36,036 speakers aged five and over in 2020 to 2024, ahead of Spanish at 34,234.6
- King County had 8,762 health care and social assistance establishments employing 177,373 people in 2023.7
- wai hosts each clinic's records in its own country, under that country's rules. We set this up with your clinic.
Summary
A Seattle clinic works under HIPAA plus three Washington rules that matter for AI. The My Health My Data Act governs health data outside HIPAA, the privacy act RCW 9.73 requires every party's consent to record a conversation, and the Uniform Health Care Information Act controls disclosure. wai hosts the clinic's records in the US, and a person on the team approves every message before it sends.
A Seattle patient who writes in Mandarin at 9pm now has a reply before breakfast, drafted by wai in her own language and approved by a person on the clinic's team. Washington's rules on health data, recording and disclosure set how that works.
Part of the Joint Commission hub, with the framework explained, a readiness checklist and 8 guides.
Part of the AAAHC hub, with the framework explained, a readiness checklist and 7 guides.
See it in your clinicThirty minutes on your own patients and doctors.
Request a demoSee a Seattle demo with an evening intake in the patient's own language, a missed call answered by a drafted text and a deposit taken on your own booking page.
| Body or law | What it requires | What to ask | How wai meets it |
|---|---|---|---|
| Washington Medical Commission | Licenses and disciplines physicians and physician assistants | Who signs each AI-drafted note | The clinician reviews and signs every note |
| HIPAA | Safeguards and a business associate agreement for protected health information | When is the agreement signed | For Checkout, a business associate agreement is signed before go-live |
| Uniform Health Care Information Act, RCW 70.02 | Written authorization to disclose, and a six-year accounting of disclosures on request | Can every disclosure and message be listed for one patient | Every message, draft, approval and signature is logged and exportable |
| My Health My Data Act, RCW 19.373 | Opt-in consent to collect, separate consent to share, a homepage privacy policy, no geofencing of care sites | What health data does the booking page keep | The booking page stores the service booked, never the reason for the visit |
| Privacy act, RCW 9.73.030 | Consent of every party to record, with any announcement captured on the recording | How the consult recording begins | The clinician starts the recording after the announcement and signs the note |
| Data residency | Location weighed in the HIPAA risk analysis | Where are records hosted | Records hosted in the United States, set up with the clinic |
The private care market in Seattle
King County, which contains Seattle, had 8,762 health care and social assistance establishments in 2023, employing 177,373 people on an annual payroll of about $13.5 billion, according to the Census Bureau's County Business Patterns.7 Health care and social assistance accounts for 13.6 percent of all paid employment in the county.7
The rules a clinic in Seattle works under
Physicians and physician assistants are licensed by the Washington Medical Commission, which also hears complaints against an MD or PA.4 Every note drafted by AI is signed by a clinician the Commission licenses.
HIPAA applies as it does across the US. Washington adds the Uniform Health Care Information Act, under which a provider may not disclose health care information about a patient without the patient's written authorization, except where the chapter allows, and a patient may ask for an accounting of disclosures made in the previous six years.3
The My Health My Data Act covers consumer health data outside those two regimes, since HIPAA data and information handled under RCW 70.02 are exempt.1 Since 31 March 2024 a regulated entity may collect consumer health data only with consent for a specified purpose or as needed for a service the consumer asked for, and sharing needs a separate consent.1 It also bars geofencing around an in-person care provider to track or message people seeking care, and a breach is actionable under the Consumer Protection Act.1
For a clinic this reaches the edges of the record, such as the website enquiry form and the wellness service booked online. The act also requires a consumer health data privacy policy linked from the homepage, which it defines to include any page where personal information is collected.1
Washington is an all-party consent state. Recording a private conversation needs the consent of every person in it, and consent is obtained when one party announces the recording in a reasonably effective way and the announcement is itself recorded.2 An ambient note therefore opens with the clinician's spoken announcement and the patient's agreement, as in the consent form template.
wai hosts each clinic's records in its own country, under that country's rules. We set this up with your clinic. wai is compliant with these rules and built for clinics in Seattle. For Checkout, the clinic signs a business associate agreement with wai before anything goes live, and the booking page stores the service booked, never the reason for the visit.5
The languages Seattle patients write in
Of 722,225 Seattle residents aged five and over in the 2020 to 2024 American Community Survey, 170,826 speak a language other than English at home.6 Chinese, including Mandarin and Cantonese, is the largest group with 36,036 speakers, ahead of Spanish with 34,234.6
Vietnamese follows with 11,342 speakers, then Tagalog with 7,318 and Korean with 6,059, while 24,194 residents speak other Indo-European languages.6 wai works in any language, so each patient writes in their own and the reply is drafted for the team to approve.
What a demo shows in Seattle
A patient books a skin check on the clinic's website at 9pm, takes the earliest time in three taps and pays the deposit by card or Apple Pay into the clinic's own Stripe account, with the clinic as merchant of record.5 The receipt and intake questionnaire arrive straight after.5
The patient answers the intake questions by voice in her own language, and the clinician reads them in English before the visit.8 Next morning a missed call from the same patient becomes a drafted text, and a WhatsApp question about parking sits in the same thread with a reply drafted in the clinic's voice. A person on the team approves each one before it sends, as set out in human approval for patient messages.
In the consult room the recording opens with the announcement Washington requires. wai drafts the note during the visit, and the clinician reviews and signs it.
For health systems, insurers and public bodies in Seattle
For larger organisations wai builds one defined care pathway at a time on the live platform, with data and model rights, portability and exit terms agreed in the contract. The organisation owns what is built, as set out on wai for organisations.
Where to start
First, list every place health data enters the clinic outside the chart, including web forms and advertising tags, and check each against the consent and homepage policy rules of the My Health My Data Act with counsel.1
Second, write the recording announcement into the consult script and the consent form.2 Third, pull one month of enquiries and count them by language and hour of arrival.
Then request a demo and bring that month, so it runs on your own services and evening enquiries.
Bring a week of your clinic's enquiries and see each one drafted for your team to approve.
Frequently asked questions
Does the My Health My Data Act apply to a Seattle clinic?
Protected health information under HIPAA and health care information handled under RCW 70.02 are exempt.1 Data outside those, such as a website enquiry or a wellness service booked online, can fall within the act, so map those flows with counsel.
Do patients have to agree before an AI scribe records a consult in Washington?
Yes. Recording a private conversation needs the consent of every party, and an announcement made at the start and captured on the recording counts as consent.2
Who licenses doctors in Seattle?
The Washington Medical Commission licenses physicians and physician assistants and handles complaints against them.4
Which languages should a Seattle clinic plan for?
Where does wai host a Seattle clinic's records?
wai hosts each clinic's records in its own country, under that country's rules. We set this up with your clinic. For a Seattle clinic that is the United States.
Does wai message patients on its own?
No. wai drafts each reply and a person on the team approves it before it sends. Nothing clinical goes out without a clinician's signature.
Sources
- 1Washington State Legislature, 2023Chapter 19.373 RCW, Washington My Health My Data ActRead 14 October 2026Read source
- 2Washington State LegislatureRCW 9.73.030, intercepting, recording or divulging private communication, consent requiredRead 14 October 2026Read source
- 3Washington State LegislatureRCW 70.02.020, disclosure by health care providerRead 14 October 2026Read source
- 4Washington Medical Commission, 2026Washington Medical CommissionRead 14 October 2026Read source
- 5wai, 2026wai CheckoutRead 14 October 2026Read source
- 6US Census Bureau, 2025American Community Survey 2020 to 2024 5-year estimates, table C16001, language spoken at home, Seattle cityRead 14 October 2026Read source
- 7US Census Bureau, 2025County Business Patterns 2023, King County, WashingtonRead 14 October 2026Read source
- 8wai, 2026wai changelogRead 14 October 2026Read source
Every Seattle enquiry answered, in the patient's language.
Fifteen minutes with a clinician who uses wai daily, on your own enquiries and Washington's rules. We reply within one working day.
Partner with us
See it on your own patients, then build it with us
Thirty minutes on your own patients, doctors and rules, in your market. We reply within one working day, and the clinics that partner with us early shape what we build next.
See what wai does between the visits