The National Standards for Culturally and Linguistically Appropriate Services in Health and Health Care (aka “The National CLAS Standards”) were developed by the Department of Health and Human Services Office of Minority Health, with a goal of helping to eliminate health care disparities for culturally and linguistically diverse patients. Closely aligned with Joint Commission Hospital Accreditation standards, Title VI of the Civil Rights Act, the Americans with Disabilities Act, and Executive Order 13166, implementing the CLAS standards in any health care environment is a pretty sure way to meet legal and accreditation standards for language access. The Section 1557 regulations, implementing the nondiscrimination provisions of the Affordable Care Act, borrow heavily from the CLAS standards.
In this four-part blog series, we’ll examine the four CLAS standards related to Communication and Language Assistance.
The first Standard in this category is, perhaps, the most straightforward: “Offer language assistance to individuals who have limited English proficiency and/or other communication needs, at no cost to them, to facilitate timely access to all health care services.” Seems simple, right? But let’s break it down to make sure we have a full understanding:
- Offer Language Assistance: Language assistance means medical interpreters, right? Well, half-right. The Standard makes clear that both verbal language assistance (interpreting) and written assistance (translation) are required.
- LEP or Other Communication Needs: Limited English Proficiency means people who either do not speak English or do not speak English well enough to effectively participate in their own health care. So, what are those “other communication needs?” The Standards make clear that this includes people who are deaf, hard-of-hearing, visually impaired, disabled or have low health literacy. Also included are situations where someone other than the patient needs language assistance. Where another individual – a parent, spouse, friend, or other caregiver – will participate in the patient’s decision making, support or care, the patient has an “other communication need,” i.e., “I need you to speak with my caregiver.”
- Timely Access to Health Care Services: Even the HHS Office for Civil Rights doesn’t try to put an exact definition on the word “timely.” Rather, it suggests that language assistance should be provided at a time and place that doesn’t impose an undue burden on “important rights, benefits, or services to” the LEP person or cause an “effective denial of the service.” So what does that mean practice? Do your best to provide language assistance as quickly as possible under the circumstances. “Doing your best” starts well before the patient arrives. It includes appropriate policies, procedures and training on language assistance, accessing interpreters, locating translated documents, and the like so that services can be put in place right away, without a nurse having to make fifteen phone calls to find out how to schedule an interpreter.
When it comes to “offering language assistance to individuals who have limited English proficiency and/or other communication needs … to facilitate timely access to all health care services,” Vocalink Global has you covered. Check out vocalinkglobal.com for information on medical interpreting for spoken languages and American Sign Language, on-site or via instant live remote interpreting, and medical translation solutions.
For more information on this important topic, check out www.thinkculturalhealth.hhs.gov and watch for the next installment in this blog series where we’ll discuss informing individuals of the availability of language assistance.
This Blog is provided for informational purposes only. Nothing in this Blog is intended to provide legal advice or to create an attorney-client relationship.