Practice Management Alert

Question: Are there any resources available to ensure compliance with civil rights laws, as they pertain to health care providers?

Alabama Subscriber

Answer: Yes! The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Office of Civil Rights (OCR) offers these resources for providers, per the OCR website:

• "Hospitals and Effective Communication– to assist state hospitals and other health care providers meet the communication needs of persons who have limited English proficiency ... as well as persons who are deaf or hard-of-hearing," which you can access here: https://www.hhs.gov/civil-rights/for-individuals/special-topics/hospitals-effective-communication/index.html.
• "Adoption/Foster Care– to assist adoption and foster care agencies comply with regulations for nondiscrimination placement of a child," which you can find here: https://www.hhs.gov/civil-rights/for-individuals/special-topics/adoption/index.html.
• "Limited English Proficiency (LEP) – to ensure effective linguistic services and programs for persons who have limited English proficiency (includes published guidance)," accessible here: https://www.hhs.gov/civil-rights/for-individuals/special-topics/limited-english-proficiency/index.html.
• "National Origin Discrimination– to assist agencies with benefit applications and other administrative procedures, to ensure they do not deter or deny eligible national origin groups from obtaining services," which you can find here: https://www.hhs.gov/ocr/civilrights/resources/specialtopics/origin/index.html
• "Community Living & Olmstead– to assist providers in serving persons with disabilities in the most integrated setting," which you can access here: https://www.hhs.gov/civil-rights/for-individuals/special-topics/community-living-and-olmstead/index.html.
• "Temporary Assistance to Needy Families– to assist providers in making their programs and services available without regard to a person's race, color, national origin, disability, sex, age or religion," which you can find here: https://www.hhs.gov/civil-rights/for-individuals/special-topics/needy-families/index.html.
• "Medicare Provider Certification– Medicare Certification Civil Rights Information Forms and Technical Assistance," which you can access here: https://www.hhs.gov/civil-rights/for-providers/clearance-medicare-providers/index.html.
• "The Federal Health Care Provider Conscience Protection Laws– to assist covered entities in understanding health care provider conscience rights," which you can find here: https://www.hhs.gov/civil-rights/for-individuals/conscience-protections/index.html.