Access to Medical Care for Persons with Mobility Disabilities

I ran across this web article yesterday (in MDA's Quest Magazine) and thought it would be worth sharing. The government publication it references is quite good. The Q&A section was very interesting because it explained the responsibilities of a medical facility and health care providers in regards to adhering to the requirements of the Americans with Disability Act (ADA). Most new facilities comply with these requirements, but many family practices are in older buildings and do not have adequate room or even the ability to make major modifications to their facility. My family doctor's office, for example, does have a ramp, but I do not have reasonable access to all rooms. They plan to build new offices in the near future. I plan to give a copy of this guide to my doctor in hopes he will consider these recommendations.

Below is the web article as well as a couple of sections that I took from the publication itself.

"Improving accessibility of health care facilities

The Department of Health and Human Services Office for Civil Rights, in conjunction with the Department of Justice's Civil Rights Division, has produced a free publication titled Access to Medical Care for Persons with Mobility Disabilities.

The 19-page document contains technical guidance for making health care facilities more accessible for patients with disabilities. Although geared toward health care providers, individuals with disabilities also are welcome to the publication, either for themselves or to give to their doctors.

Included in the publication are an extensive question-and-answer section; illustrations of accessible medical equipment and examination rooms; and an overview of ADA (Americans with Disability Act) requirements.

Title III of the ADA prohibits discrimination on the basis of disability by private hospitals, physicians' offices, clinics and other health care providers. The Rehabilitation Act of 1973 prohibits such discrimination by health care providers that receive federal financial assistance.

To download a copy of the publication from the ADA website, go to http://www.ada.gov/medcare_ta.htm. To be sent a copy, call the ADA Information Line at (800) 514-0301."


 

The publication begins by stating, "Both Title II and Title III of the ADA and Section 504 require that medical care providers provide individuals with disabilities:

• full and equal access to their health care services and facilities; and
  
• reasonable modifications to policies, practices, and procedures when necessary to make health care services fully available to individuals with disabilities, unless the modifications would fundamentally alter the nature of the services (i.e. alter the essential nature of the services)."
  

The last section of the publication discusses Staff Training. "A critical, but often overlooked component to ensuring success is adequate and ongoing training of medical practitioners and staff. Purchasing accessible medical equipment will not provide access if no one knows how to operate it. Staff must also know which examination and procedure rooms are accessible and where portable accessible medical equipment is stored. Whenever new equipment to provide accessible care is received, staff should be immediately trained on its proper use and maintenance. New staff should receive training as soon as they come on the job and all staff should undergo periodic refresher training during each year.

Finally, training staff to properly assist with transfers and lifts, and to use positioning aids correctly will minimize the chance of injury for both patients and staff. Staff should be instructed to ask patients with disabilities if they need help before providing assistance and, if they do, how best they can help. People with mobility disabilities are not all the same - they use mobility devices of different types, sizes and weight, transfer in different ways, and have varying levels of physical ability. Make sure that staff know, especially if they are unsure, that it is not only permissible, but encouraged, to ask questions. Understanding what assistance, if any, is needed and how to provide it, will go a long way toward providing safe and accessible health care for people with mobility disabilities."

If reasonable access is, or potentially could be, an issue for you, I recommend that you download the PDF or call the number provided for a hard copy. Being disabled is difficult enough. We should not be further handicapped by less than adequate medical facilities.