Legislation

§ 2803-bb. Provision of language assistance. Every general hospital
shall develop a language assistance program to ensure meaningful access
to the general hospital's services and reasonable accommodation for all
patients who require language assistance. Program requirements shall
include:

1. the designation of a language assistance coordinator who shall
report to general hospital administration and who shall provide
oversight for the provision of language assistance services;

2. policies and procedures that ensure timely identification and
ongoing access for patients in need of language assistance services;

3. the development of materials that will be made available for
patients and potential patients that summarize the process and method to
access free language assistance services;

4. ongoing education and training for administrative, clinical and
other employees with direct patient care contact regarding the
importance of culturally and linguistically competent service delivery
and how to access the general hospital's language assistance services on
behalf of patients;

5. signage, as designated by the department, regarding the
availability of free language assistance services in public entry
locations and other public locations;

6. identification of language of preference and language needs of each
patient upon initial visit to the general hospital;

7. documentation in the medical record of the patient's language of
preference, language needs, and the acceptance or refusal of language
assistance services;

8. a provision that family members, friends, or non-general hospital
personnel shall not act as interpreters, unless:

(a) the patient agrees to their use;

(b) free interpreter services have been offered by the general
hospital and refused; and

(c) issues of age, competency, confidentiality, or conflicts of
interest are taken into account. Any individual acting as an interpreter
should be sixteen years of age or older; individuals younger than
sixteen years of age shall only be used in emergency circumstances and
their use documented in the medical record;

9. management of a resource of skilled interpreters and persons
skilled in communicating with vision and/or hearing-impaired
individuals. Interpreters and persons skilled in communicating with
vision and/or hearing-impaired individuals shall be available to
patients within a reasonable period of time from a request to general
hospital administration by the patient, the patient's family or
representative or the provider of medical care. The commissioner may
approve reasonable time periods to the provisions of this subdivision
regarding interpreters and persons skilled in communicating with vision
and/or hearing-impaired individuals for patients of rural general
hospitals which:

(a) demonstrate that they have taken and are continuing to take all
reasonable steps to fulfill these requirements but are not able to
fulfill such requirements immediately for reasons beyond the general
hospital's control; and

(b) have developed and implemented effective interim plans addressing
the communications needs of individuals in the general hospital service
area;

10. an annual needs assessment utilizing demographic information
available from the United States bureau of the census, general hospital
administrative data, school system data, or other sources, that shall
identify limited English-speaking groups comprising more than one
percent of the total general hospital service area population.
Translations/transcriptions of significant general hospital forms and
instructions shall be regularly available for the languages identified
by the needs assessment; and

11. reasonable accommodation for a family member or patient's
representative to be present to assist with the communication assistance
needs for patients with mental and developmental disabilities.