In the first post of a multi-part series on Healthcare Finance News, Language Line Services’ Oscar Arocha and Deborah Yvette Moore discuss the new Joint Commission standards on language access requirements for limited English proficient patients. Language Line Services is the global leader in telephone interpreting and language solutions and serves clients in government, healthcare, telecommunications, and many other industries. Here is a clip of their article:
When the Joint Commission’s new standards for hospital accreditation based on language access take full effect a year from now, many hospitals might not make the cut and could lose critical funding. That’s because to qualify for public funds, Medicaid, Medicare and other government-financed programs, healthcare organizations must comply with federal and state regulations that mandate the provision of language services.
Until now, the regulations have often been loosely followed, leading the Joint Commission to implement, new, more formalized standards. A year-long pilot started in January 2011, and full implementation is scheduled for January 1, 2012. The Joint Commission is an independent, non-profit organization that surveys and accredits hospitals and other healthcare institutions across the country via unscheduled accreditation surveys.
