Please note: pursuant to decisions by various district courts regarding the 2024 Final Rule implementing Section 1557, entitled Nondiscrimination in Health Programs and Activities, 89 Fed. Reg. 37,522 (May 6, 2024) (“2024 Final Rule”), certain provisions regarding gender identity are stayed nationwide. Other provisions are stayed or enjoined as indicated at www.hhs.gov/1557.
EFFECTIVE COMMUNICATION PROCEDURES:
Excel Complete Home Healthcare will take appropriate steps to ensure that communications with individuals with disabilities, including persons who are deaf, hard of hearing, blind, have low vision, or who have other sensory or manual disabilities, are as effective as communications with others. The procedures outlined below are intended to ensure Excel Complete Home Healthcare staff effectively communicate with individuals (including companions with disabilities) regarding their medical conditions, treatment, and participation or potential participation in our programs, activities, services, and other benefits.
These procedures also apply to, among other types of communication, verbal or written communication of important information, including information contained in documents such as waivers of rights, consent to treatment forms, financial and insurance benefits forms, etc. Excel Complete Home Healthcare shall furnish appropriate auxiliary aids and services, where they are necessary, to allow individuals with disabilities an equal opportunity to participate in and benefit from our programs, activities, services, and other benefits. When auxiliary aids and services are necessary for an equal opportunity to participate and benefit, they will be provided in a timely manner without cost to the individual(s) being served. Auxiliary aids and services include, but are not limited to, qualified interpreters, large print materials, acquisition or modification of equipment or devices, or other similar services or actions.
Excel Complete Home Healthcare is not required to take any action that would result in a fundamental alteration in the nature of the health program and activity or undue financial and administrative burdens.
Excel Complete Home Healthcare shall take appropriate steps to ensure that staff who may have direct contact with individuals with disabilities effectively communicate with individuals with disabilities, including through the effective use of interpreters and other appropriate auxiliary aids or services.
For additional assistance, you may also contact Excel Complete Home Healthcare’s Civil Rights or Section 1557 Coordinator (the staff member for coordinating the effective communication procedures set forth in this document) by phone at 361-575-4500, by email at excel@excelhh.com, or in person at 3804 John Stockbauer, Suite E, Victoria, Texas, 77904.
1. IDENTIFICATION AND ASSESSMENT OF NEED:
Excel Complete Home Healthcare staff members must identify individuals with disabilities who need appropriate auxiliary aids and services to communicate with individuals with disabilities effectively. Excel Complete Home Healthcare staff may identify individuals with disabilities through observation, inquiries to the individuals, and/or by consulting an individual’s existing medical record to see whether it indicates the individual has a disability and needs auxiliary aids or services to ensure effective communication. Individuals with disabilities may self-identify their need for effective communication via appropriate auxiliary aids and services. Staff will consult with the individual to determine what auxiliary aids and services may be necessary to communicate with them effectively.
Staff will document the individual’s preferred auxiliary aid or service in the individual’s record, including any auxiliary aids and services necessary to communicate with companions, and such documentation will identify the individual’s or their companion’s preferred auxiliary aids and services, the actual aids and services provided if different from preferred aids and services.
2. PROVISION OF AUXILIARY AIDS AND SERVICES:
Excel Complete Home Healthcare shall provide, free of charge, the appropriate auxiliary aids or services when necessary to afford individuals with disabilities an equal opportunity to enjoy the program, activities, services, and other benefits:
A list of auxiliary aids and services, including but not limited to contact information for available sign language interpreter services is available upon request by phone at 361-575-4500 or electronically at excel@excelhh.com.
2A. FOR PERSONS WHO ARE DEAF OR HARD OF HEARING:
To ensure effective communication with individuals who are deaf or hard of hearing, Excel Complete Home Healthcare has a staff interpreter available on-site or through audio/visual telehealth.
For persons who are deaf/hard of hearing and who use sign language, and need an interpreter to provide effective communication, Excel Complete Home Healthcare will provide one. Excel Complete Home Healthcare utilizes qualified interpreter staff members or contractors who appear via a dedicated, virtual connection or on-site and interpret effectively, accurately, and impartially, both receptively and expressively, using any necessary specialized vocabulary.
A list of ASL sign language interpreters on staff, is available upon request by phone at 361-5754500 or electronically at excel@excelhh.com.
Staff will document the use of the qualified interpreter staff members used to effectively communicate with the individual in the individual’s record. Auxiliary aids and/or services that are provided to an individual when they first contact Excel Complete Home Healthcare should again be made available to that individual if the individual returns to Excel Complete Home Healthcare, unless the individual confirms that they no longer require the auxiliary aid and/or service.
(ii) For persons who are deaf/hard of hearing and who use sign language as their primary means of communication, when an interpreter is necessary to provide an equal opportunity to participate in or enjoy our program, activities, services, and other benefits, Excel Complete Home Healthcare will provide one. Excel Complete Home Healthcare utilizes qualified interpreter staff members or contractors who appear via a dedicated, virtual connection or on-site and interpret effectively, accurately, and impartially, both receptively and expressively, using any necessary specialized vocabulary.
*The contact information for the interpreter service provider is: Day Translations Contact@daytranslations.com https://www.daytranslations.com/signup Phone: 1-800-969-6853 Fax: 1-800-856-279 Address: Day Translations. Inc, 477 Madison Avenue Floor 6, New York, New York 10022
Further information regarding interpreter services is available upon request by phone at 361-5754500 or electronically at excel@excelhh.com. Staff will document the use of the interpreter service used to effectively communicate with the individual in the individual’s record. If the individual returns, staff will not require the individual to repeat the request or recall the auxiliary aid and/or service previously utilized. Instead, staff will confirm with the individual whether the auxiliary aid and/or services previously provided are still needed.
(iii) Communicating by Telephone with Persons Who Are Deaf or Hard of Hearing [If your covered entity communicates with persons who are deaf or hard of hearing by telephone, listed below are three methods for communicating over the telephone which may be utilized to communicate with persons who are deaf/hard of hearing. Select the method(s), or some equally effective alternative, to incorporate in your policy that best applies/apply to covered entity.]
Method 1: Excel Complete Home Healthcare utilizes relay services for external telephones with text telephone (TTY) users. We accept and make calls through a relay service. The state relay service is Relay Texas and contact information for Voice is 800-676-3777; for Speech is 877787-1989; TTY: 800-676-3777; Voice Carryover is 866-931-9027; Spanish is 800-676-4290; Fax is 877-877-3291 and Email is relaytexas@t-mobile.com
Method 2: Excel Complete Home Healthcare communicates with individuals who are deaf or hard of hearing by telephone by utilizing the following method: texting. If necessary, staff may contact the Civil Rights Coordinator/1557 Coordinator for any additional assistance regarding our resources to effectively communicate with individuals with disabilities over the telephone. Staff will document the use of the method of telephone communication used to effectively communicate with the individual in the individual’s record. If the individual returns, staff will not require the individual to repeat the request or recall the auxiliary aid and/or service previously utilized. Instead, staff will confirm with the individual whether the auxiliary aid and/or services previously provided are still needed.
(iv) The following are additional auxiliary aids and services that Excel Complete Home Healthcare offers and are readily available to ensure that communications with people with disabilities are as effective as communications with others: note-takers telephone handset amplifiers assistive listening devices closed caption decoders text telephones (TTYs) email computer-aided transcription services written copies of oral announcements telephones compatible with hearing aids open and closed captioning videotext displays SMS (text) If an individual with a disability requires an auxiliary aid or service not listed above, staff will contact the Civil Rights Coordinator/1557 Coordinator to arrange for the provision of the necessary auxiliary aid or service. Any auxiliary aids or services must be provided in accessible formats, in a timely manner, and in such a way as to protect the privacy and independence of the individual with a disability. Staff will document the use of the appropriate auxiliary aids and services used to effectively communicate with the individual in the individual’s record.
(v) Some persons who are deaf or hard of hearing may prefer or request to use an adult that accompanies them to communicate with Excel Complete Home Healthcare. Excel Complete Home Healthcare may rely upon the adult that accompanies the individuals with a disability to communicate with the individual only after we have effectively communicated to the individual that we are willing to provide them appropriate auxiliary aids and services, including an interpreter, free of charge. Additionally, Excel Complete Home Healthcare will not rely on an adult accompanying an individual with a disability to interpret or facilitate communication except:
(a) In an emergency involving an imminent threat to the safety or welfare of an individual or the public where there is no interpreter available (for example, directly following a natural disaster such as an earthquake); or
(b) Where the individual with a disability specifically requests that the accompanying adult interpret or facilitate communication, the accompanying adult agrees to provide such assistance, and reliance on that adult for such assistance is appropriate under the circumstances. Staff will document that we permitted an accompanying adult to effectively communicate with the individual in the individual’s record. Auxiliary aid and/or service that are provided to an individual when they first contact Excel Complete Home Healthcare should again be made available to that individual if the individual returns to Excel Complete Home Healthcare, unless the individual confirms that they no longer require the auxiliary aid and/or service.
(vi) Excel Complete Home Healthcare will not rely on a minor child to interpret or facilitate communication, except in an emergency involving an imminent threat to the safety or welfare of an individual or the public where there is no interpreter available (for example, directly following a serious car accident where, due to the nature of the injuries sustained by an individual with a disability, critical care is a priority). Staff will document the use of a minor child to effectively communicate with the individual in the individual’s record. If it would be inappropriate to rely on the adult accompanying an individual with a disability for any of these reasons, staff will arrange alternative auxiliary aids and services, including interpreter services, free of charge.
2B. FOR PERSONS WHO ARE BLIND OR WHO HAVE LOW VISION:
(i) Excel Complete Home Healthcare staff will ask for the individual’s preferred communication method(s).]
(ii) Excel Complete Home Healthcare staff will assist individuals who are blind or have low vision fill out forms when necessary to afford those individuals an equal opportunity to participate in and benefit from our programs, activities, services, and other benefits.
(iii) Excel Complete Home Healthcare staff will provide written documents and materials to an individual who is blind or has low vision in a timely manner in an appropriate alternate format, including converting written documents, such as materials concerning treatment, benefits, services, waivers of rights, and consent to treatment forms, to large print, Braille, audio recordings, and/or to an electronic format, when necessary to afford persons an equal opportunity to participate in and benefit from our programs, activities, services, and other benefits unless it would be a fundamental alteration or undue burden. These alternately formatted documents may be obtained by contacting the Civil Rights Coordinator/Section 1557 Coordinator.
(iv) Staff are available to communicate the information contained in important written documents, including materials concerning treatment, benefits, services, waivers of rights, and consent to treatment forms by reading aloud and explaining these forms to persons who are blind or have low vision when necessary to ensure effective communication. Staff will document the alternate format used to effectively communicate with the individual in the individual’s record. Auxiliary aid and/or service that are provided to an individual when they first contact Excel Complete Home Healthcare should again be made available to that individual if the individual returns to Excel Complete Home Healthcare, unless the individual confirms that they no longer require the auxiliary aid and/or service.
2C. FOR PERSONS WITH SPEECH DISABILITIES:
To ensure an individual with speech impairments or disabilities has an equal opportunity to participate in our program, activities, services, and other benefits, staff will confirm which auxiliary aids and services the individual prefers and then provide appropriate auxiliary aids and services, if available, to the individual in a timely manner. Staff will document the alternate format used to effectively communicate with the individual in the individual’s record. Auxiliary aid and/or service that are provided to an individual when they first contact Excel Complete Home Healthcare should again be made available to that individual if the individual returns to Excel Complete Home Healthcare, unless the individual confirms that they no longer require the auxiliary aid and/or service.
2D. FOR PERSONS WITH OTHER TYPES OF DISABILITIES:
Excel Complete Home Healthcare staff will provide each individual with a disability with necessary auxiliary aids and services sufficient to afford an equal opportunity to participate in our programs, activities, services, and other benefits. Staff will give primary consideration to the request of the individual with a disability in determining which auxiliary aids and services to provide and will provide the necessary auxiliary aids and services to the individual in a timely manner.
If an individual with a disability requires an auxiliary aid or service that is not readily available, staff shall contact the Civil Rights Coordinator/Section 1557 Coordinator to arrange for the timely provision of the necessary auxiliary aid or service. Staff will document the auxiliary aids and services used to effectively communicate with the individual in the individual’s record. Auxiliary aid and/or service that are provided to an individual when they first contact Excel Complete Home Healthcare should again be made available to that individual if the individual returns to Excel Complete Home Healthcare, unless the individual confirms that they no longer require the auxiliary aid and/or service.
3. TRAINING:
Excel Complete Home Healthcare will ensure that all relevant staff are trained on the requirements for effective communication as set forth in this document.