Health and Human Services Study

Editor: The Department of Health and Human Services, in conjunction with medical industry representatives, are undertaking a study on how health care quality is affected by communication with people with hearing loss. My cynical nature perked up at this, especially because several recent suits contending that medical professionals fail to ensure "equal access" to people with hearing loss have been settled in favor of the deaf or hard of hearing client.

Anyway, if you are interested in participating or want additional information, their website is now operational.

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The US Department of Health and Human Services, Health Care Financing Administration, has initiated a project to determine standards for quality health care to deaf and hard of hearing adults. This project is a joint effort between Gallaudet University, the Health Care Financing Administration, and the Delmarva Foundation for Medical Care.

The ultimate purpose of the project is to propose to the Health Care Financing Administration a set of standards for providing health care services to deaf and hard of hearing patients. In developing these standards, they will address such questions as:

Does failure (there may be no such failure) to engage in meaningful communication within the health care encounter pose a problem for patients (rather than physicians, etc.) who are hard of hearing or deaf?

Could communication problems result in a poorer health outcome for the deaf or hard of hearing patient?

How would this approach affect the patient?

How burdensome would a set of standards be for the health care provider?

Comments from the public are welcome.

For more information, visit their website at: http://deafness.dfmc.org/