JCAHO report addresses language, cultural issues
Hospitals should provide ongoing training to staff on how and when to access language services, The Joint Commission recommends in a recent report.
Other strategies suggested include establishment of a centralized program to coordinate services relating to language and culture and implementation of a uniform framework for systematic collection of data on race, ethnicity, and language.
The recommendations are based on a study of how 60 hospitals are providing health care to culturally and linguistically diverse patient populations.
The most frequently cited challenges related to language and staffing. Hospitals often reported finding it difficult to find staff with cultural or linguistic competency, and some indicated there are challenges created by having a diverse staff.
All but six hospitals reported financial stresses in relation to serving diverse populations.
Study: Access to data not impeded by HIPAA
The federal Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA), which allows states to continue having privacy laws more stringent than the federal standard, has not prevented health care providers from using personal health data to treat patients and enhance health care quality, according to a recent study funded by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation.
Researchers affiliated with George Washington University School of Public Health and Health Services reviewed federal and state court decisions from 1996 to 2006 involving HIPAA. According to the authors, none of the cases specifically involving questions of conflict between state and federal requirements concerned the denial of a health care provider's access to health information to treat patients, improve quality, or disseminate information for transparency purposes.
The authors say they found no evidence from these legal decisions that more stringent state laws preclude securing necessary data at the point of treatment or including health information in electronic databases used for quality improvement or transparency.
Hospitals should provide ongoing training to staff on how and when to access language services, The Joint Commission recommends in a recent report.You have reached your article limit for the month. Subscribe now to access this article plus other member-only content.
- Award-winning Medical Content
- Latest Advances & Development in Medicine
- Unbiased Content