N.Y. Public Health Law § 2803-bb: Provision of language assistance

§ 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.