Disability Rights Texas rights of people
with disabilities when accessing health
care hello I'm Lea an attorney with
disability rights Texas if you are a
person with disability you have certain
rights when accessing healthcare
services you have the right to access
facilities services and information
offered by doctors offices and hospitals
all healthcare providers are prohibited
from discriminating against people with
disabilities
and must provide access in a variety of
ways the main federal laws that protect
your rights are the Americans with
Disabilities Act the ADA a and section
504 of the Rehabilitation Act section
504 these laws require that health care
providers offer individuals with
disabilities full and equal access to
services and facilities I'd like to
review some commonly asked questions
about the rights of people with
disabilities when accessing healthcare
one what if I use a wheelchair walker or
crutches and cannot get into my doctor's
office in general accessibility
requirements depend on the age of the
building overall if the building you are
trying to use has been constructed or
altered since 1990 it will need to
comply with federal and state laws
requiring physical accessibility
the law requires accessible paths of
travel elevators ramps doors that open
easily reachable light switches
accessible bathrooms accessible parking
and signage that can be used by
individuals who are blind or have low
vision if the building was built before
1990 providers are required to remove
architectural barriers if doing so can
be easily accomplished without much
difficulty or expense to what about
physical access to medical equipment and
exam rooms US Department of Justice DOJ
guidelines provide that it is not
acceptable for a healthcare provider to
deny treatment due to an accessible
examination table
or because of concern that staff might
be injured if they assist in
transferring a patient with a mobility
disability the DOJ requires medical
providers to provide accessible
equipment
and to use a lift or trained staff as
necessary to ensure equal access 3 can I
bring my service animal with me to my
appointment
the ATA requires both public and private
health care providers to allow a person
with a disability to be accompanied by
his or her service animal providers can
ask if the animal is a service animal
and what tasks the animal performs for
the individual with a disability the
animal must be individually trained to
do work or perform tasks directly
related to the person's disability an
emotional support animal or therapy
animal does not qualify as a service
animal under the ADEA keep in mind that
the service animal must be under the
control of a handler and the handler
must be able to care for the animal for
I am deaf
how are my health care providers
required to communicate with me health
care providers must provide effective
communication for patients companions
family members and visitors who are deaf
or hard of hearing using auxiliary aids
and services since people who are deaf
or hard of hearing use a variety of ways
to communicate the method that the
health care provider must offer will
vary depending on the abilities of the
individual his or her preferences for
communication and the complexity and
nature of the communications required
auxiliary aids and services includes
equipment or services such as an
in-person qualified sign language
interpreter video remote interpreting
VRI written materials and visual aids
your healthcare provider cannot charge
you for providing sign language
interpreter services it is inappropriate
to ask a family member or other
companion to interpret for a deaf or
hard-of-hearing patient but I am blind
or visually impaired how can I get
information for my healthcare providers
under the ADA a health care providers
must offer auxiliary aids and services
to provide effective communication for
patients companions family members and
visitors who are blind or have low
vision these services may include
readers tape techs Braille material or
other effective means of conveying the
information all information made
available in print to non
impaired patients must be accessible to
those patients with visual impairments
for instance this would include
medication side-effect information
filling invoices and appointment
reminders a healthcare provider cannot
require a person who is visually
impaired to bring someone with him or
her to interpret or facilitate
communication and cannot rely on a
companion to interpret or facilitate
communication 6 what if I have another
disability can I ask for other
modifications to help me access my
healthcare
the ATA provides protection from
discrimination for people with all types
of disabilities including people with
physical cognitive communication and
mental health disabilities health care
providers must make reasonable
modifications and policies practices and
procedures when necessary to avoid
discrimination on the basis of
disability unless the provider can
demonstrate that making the modification
would fundamentally alter the nature of
the service program or activity this
means that the entity must make changes
to the way it does business to
accommodate people with disabilities in
many types of situations for example
taking extra time to explain a procedure
to a patient who has a commented
disability and might require extra time
to understand scheduling an appointment
at a specific time to accommodate a
patient with an anxiety disorder or as
difficulty waiting in a crowded waiting
room 7 what do I do if I'm having
difficulties accessing my health care
provider due to my disability now that
you know more about your rights if you
have problems with accessing healthcare
because of your disability you should
start by talking directly to your
provider often health care providers
have a patient's rights officer or they
have a procedure in place to file an
internal ask to see this person or how
you can file an internal complaint or
grievance 8 where can I file a complaint
if I can't work it out with my provider
or health care if you are unable to
resolve your problem with the provider
or the section 504 or ADA a compliance
officer for the provider you can file a
complaint online with the federal
agencies
responsible for enforcing the ABA and
section 504 these agencies include the
US Department of Health and Human
Services Office of Civil Rights find
them on the web at hhs.gov and the US
Department of Justice at a DEA uh keep
in mind that you only have 180 days from
the date of discrimination to file a
complaint with the appropriate federal
agency thank you for taking the time to
learn about your rights when accessing
health care in addition to this video we
have a handout that you can download and
print with similar information on our
website at dr TX dot org /resources
/resource /name disability rights texas
thanks the travis county women lawyers
Association for providing funding to
make this video possible the information
in this video is not intended to and
does not replace an attorney's advice or
assistance based on your particular
situation to request disability rights
texas services call 1-800 to five two
nine one zero eight or go to intake d r
TX dot o-r-g produced by rooted in
rights