ACTION ALERT: FEDERAL CULTURAL COMPETENCY STANDARDS BEING ENHANCED: OPEN TILL 12/31/10!

By: Gustavo Torrez

ACTION ALERT: FEDERAL CULTURAL COMPETENCY STANDARDS BEING ENHANCED: Public Comment Ends December 31, 2010 ACT NOW

As you may have seen we have been reporting for some time now the feds have a set of guidelines for healthcare organizations called the CLAS standards (Cultural & Linguistically Appropriate Services). Some of them are required of all federal funds recipients, others are strongly suggested. Currently, they are taking feedback on how to make these standards better, both online and through a series of live meetings. Although the last live meeting took place on November 15th, it’s not too late to make your voice heard. They are still taking comments till December 31, 2010. While you may think your voice is small, it’s not. The more public comment the better, we have to make sure our voices are heard!

Click here to register and make your comments now, it only take a few minutes! And, if you are not sure what to say, here are some suggestions for you to add:

*Make all standards mandatory for federally funded healthcare agencies, not just the ones related to language.

*Standard 1 – add language in brackets Health care organizations should ensure that patients/consumers receive from all staff member’s effective, understandable, and respectful care that is provided in a manner compatible with their cultural health beliefs and practices, [preferred gender identity,] and preferred language.

*Standard 10 – add language in brackets Health care organizations should ensure that data on the individual patient’s/consumer’s race, ethnicity, [sexual orientation, gender identity,] and spoken and written language are collected in health records, integrated into the organization’s management information systems, and periodically updated.

For those of you who have already filled out the survey, we thank you for all of your continued support for equality for our communities. We all look forward to an enhances set of CLAS Standard in 2011!