Interpreter/ADA
Language Interpreter For Non-English-Speaking Patients And Hearing-Impaired Patients
To ensure effective communication with Patients or Companions who are deaf or hard of hearing, Providence provides auxiliary aids and services free of charge, such as: sign language and oral interpreters, video remote interpreting services, TTY (913-596-7217), note takers, written materials, telephone handset amplifiers, assistive listening devices and systems, telephones compatible with hearing aids, televisions with caption capability or close caption decoders, and open and closed captioning of most PMC programs. Please ask your nurse or other PMC personnel for assistance or ask them to contact the operator who will contact the ADA Administrator(s).
Because we provide healthcare services to people with culturally diverse backgrounds, our interpreting services include a translation phone or in person interpreting. If you need help to understand any aspect of your care or express your concerns, your nurse will arrange for assistance. There is no charge for this service.
Below information regarding Providence’s policy regarding Language Interpreter for Non-English Speaking and Hearing-Impaired Patients is listed.
The policy ensures that patients who are non-English speaking, deaf or hearing impaired or have physical or cognitive limitations will have a competent interpreter or appropriate aids to interpret for them in their source language when they are patients at Providence Medical Center.
Procedure
Providence Medical Center (PMC) recognizes the special needs and concerns of individuals who are hearing impaired or of linguistic and cultural minority groups who are Limited English proficient (LEP), who are deaf, hard-of-hearing or have physical and/or cognitive limitations. The organization will provide special communication devices to deaf and hard-of-hearing patients along with qualified interpreters and translation services to patients in accordance with applicable State and Federal Laws. PMC understands that LEP and hearing-impaired individuals may require interpreter services in clinical and administrative settings to obtain equal access to health care.
Interpreters Available
Individuals with hearing disabilities have a right to effective communication, which includes the provision of sign language and oral interpreters, TTYs, and other auxiliary aids and other auxiliary aids and services, at no personal cost to them. For more information, please call the Operator at 913-596-4000 to be transferred to an ADA Coordinator.
If a PMC employee knows, or it is obvious that a Patient or Companion is deaf or hard of hearing, the employee must advise the Patient or Companion that appropriate auxiliary aids and services will be made available to them, such as sign language and oral interpreters, video remote interpreting services, TTYs, note takers, written materials, telephone handset amplifiers, assistive listening devices and systems, telephone compatible with hearing aids, televisions with captioning or close caption decoders, and open and closed captioning of most hospital facility programs, will be provided free of charge when appropriate. A Patient or Companion in need of auxiliary aids or services shall be directed to the appropriate ADA Coordinator or Coordinators through the Operator at 913-596-4000 to ensure that appropriate auxiliary aids and services are provided in a timely manner.
Interpreter services are available for PMC patients as follows via Cyracom, SpectraCorp.
Notification of Rights to LEP Patients/Families
a. A qualified interpreter at no cost to them for discussion of information necessary for healthcare or financial decisions.
b. Not to rely on their friends or family members as interpreters.
c. To file a grievance about any aspect of their care at PMC, including linguistic access.
d. PMC provides written patient rights and responsibilities in Spanish.
Identification of patients who require interpreter services or assistive devices for physical or cognitive impairments
b. When completing the patient’s admission to the hospital, nursing staff shall ask all patients about the need for assistive devices due to limited English proficiency and/or physical and cognitive impairments. The need for such assistive devices shall be documented in the medical record.
Communication Devices/Adaptive Equipment
Use of Interpreters
• Obtaining medical or social histories
• Obtaining informed consent
• Explaining a diagnosis and plan for medical treatment
• Explaining any change in regimen, environment or condition
• Explaining any medical procedures, tests and/or surgical interventions
• Providing medication instructions and explanation of possible side effects
• Explaining discharge plans
• Discussing issues at patient and family care conferences
• Reviewing legal issues (advance directives, guardianship and etc.)
• Obtaining financial and insurance information
b. All interpreter services provided should be documented in the medical record by the caregiver.
c. The hospital’s preferred sequence of choices for language assistance services is as follows:
• A hospital employee who has successfully completed the Medical Interpreter Assessment
• An independently contracted medical interpreter
d. In emergency situations, treatment will be provided in accordance with standard medical practice. Emergency care will not be delayed pending the arrival of an interpreter. All reasonable efforts will be made promptly to locate an interpreter – this includes the use of over-the-phone interpreter services.
e. Minor children (under the age of 18) should NEVER be used as interpreters.
f. Family and friends, with the exception of ADL activities, should not be asked or required to interpret for LEP or deaf/hard-of-hearing patients. The use of family and friends may result in omissions, substitutions and semantic errors that distort care. It may breach confidentiality, may upset familial relationships and hierarchies that are deeply rooted in culture, and may be particularly problematic when dealing with sensitive issues. Even when the refusal of interpreter by a patient or family member is made, the hospital reserves the right to have a qualified medical interpreter present during any encounter and documented in the medical record that the interpreter or aids were offered and declined by the patient or patient’s family member. The family’s refusal to use an interpreter or desire to use a family member for interpreting MUST be documented in the EHR.
Written Translations
b. All translations of documents produced by PMC must be coordinated by the Business Development, Communications Department to ensure the accuracy of the translation. Vital documents and a number of patient education materials have been translated into Spanish.
Approval of Interpreters
b. PMC associates shall not require an individual with a disability to bring another individual to interpret for him or her.
c. PMC will not rely on an adult friend or family member of the individual with a disability to interpret except in an emergency involving imminent threat to the safety of an individual or the public where there is no interpreter available; or where the individual with a disability specifically requests that the adult friend or family member interpret, the accompanying adult agrees to provide such assistance, and reliance on that adult for such assistance is appropriate under the circumstances, 28 C.F.R. 36.303(c)(3).
d. PMC will not rely on a minor child or a Patient to interpret except in an emergency involving imminent threat to the safety of an individual or the public where there is no interpreter available Id 36.303(c)(4).
e. If a patient or a patient’s authorized representative insists upon a friend or family member interpreting or refuses to have an interpreter, staff should notify their Department Director and Risk Management through the safety event reporting system. The patient and patient’s representative should be made aware of his/her right to a qualified interpreter at no charge. Even if the patient or patient’s representative refuses to use a hospital approved interpreter, the hospital staff can still request the presence of such an interpreter to ensure accurate communication. The mode of interpretation should be documented in the EHR along with the patient’s refusal or desire to use a family member.
Staff Training and Resources
• Communication needs of the deaf, hard-of-hearing, and patients with LEP.
• When and how to use interpreters
• How to use a TDD, over-the-phone interpreter services or other communications aids or other independent contracted medical interpreters.
b. All new employees will receive information about interpreter services and communication aids during New Employee Orientation and annually thereafter.
Establish patient is non-English speaking or hearing impaired and identify language need or aid required by the patient.
For Telephonic Interpretation
For On-Site Interpreter Services
2. Other off-site interpreter needs should go through the House Supervisor for approval. A form/log for requesting an interpreter is kept in the House Supervisor Office.
For Hearing Impaired Language Needs
2. All aids needed are provided with NO cost to the person being served.
3. Auxiliary aids and interpreters may be utilized upon the patient’s request. The hearing-impaired person must be able to choose the mode of communication that services his/her needs sign language through an interpreter, written notes, lip-reading, TDDs, or other assistive devices. The mode of communication should be documented in the EHR.
4. Auxiliary aids available to persons with impaired sensory, manual, or speaking skills include readers, Braille materials, qualified sign language interpreters, flash cards, telephone amplification devices, paper and pencil, taped materials, and telecommunication device for the hearing impaired (TDD and TTY).
5. When physical impairments to effective communication exist, the patient’s right to communicate is facilitated using communication aids:
a. Cyracom
b. Interpreter – the hospital may utilize the services of the interpreter lines. Only employees certified in interpreting should be used to interpret.
c. Communicator Cards – obtain from nursing supervisors’ office on 2nd floor or the Speech Pathology Department.
d. TTY Telecommunication – a portable machine used for deaf, hearing impaired and speech impaired persons to provide telephone communication. Obtain from Telecommunications Office through the nursing supervisor.
e. Volume Control Telephone – obtain from Telecommunications Office.
f. Amplified Telephone Attachment – obtain from Telecommunications Office through the supervisor.
Documentation To Be Completed By Staff
- The family’s refusal to use an interpreter or desire to use a family member for interpreting MUST be documented in the EHR.
- The mode of communication should be documented in the EHR.
Reference/Evidence Based Practice
- Title III of the Americans Disability Act (ADA)
- Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964
- Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973
- Office for Civil Rights, HHS: Title VI of the Civil Right Act of 1964; Guidance regarding the Prohibition Against National Origin Discrimination As It Affects LEP Persons
- TJC 2022 Standards:
a. HR.01.02.01
b. PC.02.02.21
c. RC.02.01.01
d. RI.01.01.01
e. RI.01.01.03
6. Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990
7. TJC Advancing Effective Communication, Cultural Competence, and Patient-and Family-Centered Care