OCR settles complaint with Florida provider over communication with deaf patient
The complainant alleged that MCR Health failed to provide her with auxiliary aids and services when attending her husband's appointment.
Photo: Basak Gurbuz Derman/Getty Images
The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services' Office for Civil Rights (OCR) has reached an agreement with Florida-based MCR Health to resolve a disability discrimination complaint from a deaf patient who claimed she was not provided adequate supports.
The person who initiated the complaint, who is deaf and hard of hearing, alleged that MCR Health failed to provide her with auxiliary aids and services when she requested an interpreter be present for her while she attended her husband's post-surgical medical appointment as his companion.
MCR Health operates as a Federally Qualified Health Center throughout Florida. OCR sought to enforce Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act and Section 1557 of the Affordable Care Act, two federal civil rights laws prohibiting discrimination on the basis of disability in programs receiving federal financial assistance.
WHAT'S THE IMPACT
Collectively, Sections 504 and 1557 prohibit any organization that receives federal financial assistance from discriminating against qualified individuals with disabilities. It also requires the entity to take steps to ensure communication with people with disabilities is as effective as that with others, through the use of appropriate auxiliary aids and services.
MCR Health voluntarily entered into the agreement and signaled its intent to comply with federal regulations, and agreed to take steps to ensure the availability of auxiliary aids and services.
Specifically, MCR Health said it would furnish appropriate auxiliary aids and services where necessary, review its policies and provide to OCR any revisions that are necessary to implement the terms of the agreement.
The facility also agreed to document any assessments conducted for auxiliary aids and services in a patient's record; create an auxiliary aid and service denial log; and train all staff on the requirement.
THE LARGER TREND
OCR resolved a similar issue last year when CHI St. Vincent Hot Springs, based in Arkansas, was accused of not providing hearing aids to a patient.
President Joe Biden's administration has placed a focus on strengthening protections for Americans who are deaf or hard of hearing, exemplified by a 2021 executive order that focused in part on providing easier access to hearing aids.
ON THE RECORD
"Ensuring patient safety is at the heart of providing care in a quality and ethical manner," said OCR Director Melanie Fontes Rainer. "It should not take a federal investigation for a healthcare provider to provide an interpreter so that a patient's caregiver can understand important information, such as a post treatment plan. We are seeing case after case involving healthcare providers who fail in their responsibility under federal civil rights laws to provide effective communication to patients and their caregivers. This action supports OCR's efforts to promote community integration by removing barriers to receiving services in the community. OCR will continue to take robust enforcement action until we make it clear that healthcare providers must remove unnecessary barriers and provide equal treatment for those who are deaf or hard of hearing."
Twitter: @JELagasse
Email the writer: Jeff.Lagasse@himssmedia.com
