§ 2803-BB — Provision of language assistance

§ 2803-bb. Provision of language assistance. Every general hospital\nshall develop a language assistance program to ensure meaningful access\nto the general hospital's services and reasonable accommodation for all\npatients who require language assistance. Program requirements shall\ninclude:\n 1. the designation of a language assistance coordinator who shall\nreport to general hospital administration and who shall provide\noversight for the provision of language assistance services;\n 2. policies and procedures that ensure timely identification and\nongoing access for patients in need of language assistance services;\n 3. the development of materials that will be made available for\npatients and potential patients that summarize the process and method to\naccess free language assistance services;\n 4. ongoing education and training for administrative, clinical and\nother employees with direct patient care contact regarding the\nimportance of culturally and linguistically competent service delivery\nand how to access the general hospital's language assistance services on\nbehalf of patients;\n 5. signage, as designated by the department, regarding the\navailability of free language assistance services in public entry\nlocations and other public locations;\n 6. identification of language of preference and language needs of each\npatient upon initial visit to the general hospital;\n 7. documentation in the medical record of the patient's language of\npreference, language needs, and the acceptance or refusal of language\nassistance services;\n 8. a provision that family members, friends, or non-general hospital\npersonnel shall not act as interpreters, unless:\n (a) the patient agrees to their use;\n (b) free interpreter services have been offered by the general\nhospital and refused; and\n (c) issues of age, competency, confidentiality, or conflicts of\ninterest are taken into account. Any individual acting as an interpreter\nshould be sixteen years of age or older; individuals younger than\nsixteen years of age shall only be used in emergency circumstances and\ntheir use documented in the medical record;\n 9. management of a resource of skilled interpreters and persons\nskilled in communicating with vision and/or hearing-impaired\nindividuals. Interpreters and persons skilled in communicating with\nvision and/or hearing-impaired individuals shall be available to\npatients within a reasonable period of time from a request to general\nhospital administration by the patient, the patient's family or\nrepresentative or the provider of medical care. The commissioner may\napprove reasonable time periods to the provisions of this subdivision\nregarding interpreters and persons skilled in communicating with vision\nand/or hearing-impaired individuals for patients of rural general\nhospitals which:\n (a) demonstrate that they have taken and are continuing to take all\nreasonable steps to fulfill these requirements but are not able to\nfulfill such requirements immediately for reasons beyond the general\nhospital's control; and\n (b) have developed and implemented effective interim plans addressing\nthe communications needs of individuals in the general hospital service\narea;\n 10. an annual needs assessment utilizing demographic information\navailable from the United States bureau of the census, general hospital\nadministrative data, school system data, or other sources, that shall\nidentify limited English-speaking groups comprising more than one\npercent of the total general hospital service area population.\nTranslations/transcriptions of significant general hospital forms and\ninstructions shall be regularly available for the languages identified\nby the needs assessment; and\n 11. reasonable accommodation for a family member or patient's\nrepresentative to be present to assist with the communication assistance\nneeds for patients with mental and developmental disabilities.\n