Health Care Standards for People with Hearing Loss

It seems that there are currently no universal standards regarding the provision of health care services to people with hearing loss. According to a presentation at the annual conference of the American Public Health Association that may be about to change.

Representatives of Delmarva Foundation for Medical Care in Easton, Maryland and Gallaudet University in Washington, DC have recently drafted a set of recommendations, including the following:

1. The provider and/or healthcare organization should be responsible for ensuring that communication does not create a barrier to the equal access to services.

2. Providers should be familiar with interpreters and how to acquire and assess their services.

3. Programs for educating deaf and hard-of-hearing consumers should include topics such as how to provide a clear medical history, use of emergency services and medications, and clear expression of needs.

4. Providers should allow additional time for assessment and treatment, including the verification of comprehension.

5. Billing procedures should be modified so that providers can bill a third party for interpreting services.

6. Hospitals should provide appropriate accommodations, including interpreters, captioned TVs, and clear labeling of patient needs on the patient's chart.

7. HCFA should consider covering the services of audiologists and hearing devices under Medicare and Medicaid, as well as designating deafness/hard of hearing as a complicating condition and providing additional compensation when additional time is required to provide services.

I'd like to see accommodations added for people with hearing loss who DON'T use interpreters - CART and assistive listening devices. But, other than that, I think these recommendations are a good start towards standard health care practice for people with hearing loss.