093_SB0061enr

 
SB61 Enrolled                        LRB093 03263 AMC 03280 b

 1        AN ACT concerning language assistance services.

 2        Be  it  enacted  by  the People of the State of Illinois,
 3    represented in the General Assembly:

 4        Section 5.   The  Language  Assistance  Services  Act  is
 5    amended  by  changing  Sections 10 and 15 and adding Sections
 6    16, 17, 18 and 19 as follows:

 7        (210 ILCS 87/10)
 8        Sec. 10.  Definitions.  As used in this Act:
 9        "Department" means the Department of Public Health.
10        "Interpreter" means a person fluent in English and in the
11    necessary language of the patient who can  accurately  speak,
12    read, and readily interpret the necessary second language, or
13    a  person  who  can  accurately  sign and read sign language.
14    Interpreters shall have the ability to translate the names of
15    body parts and to describe completely symptoms  and  injuries
16    in  both  languages.  Interpreters may include members of the
17    medical or professional staff.
18        "Language or communication barriers" means either of  the
19    following:
20             (1)  With  respect to spoken language, barriers that
21        are   experienced    by    limited-English-speaking    or
22        non-English-speaking   individuals  who  speak  the  same
23        primary language,  if  those  individuals  constitute  at
24        least  5%  of  the patients served by the health facility
25        annually.
26             (2)  With respect to sign  language,  barriers  that
27        are  experienced  by  individuals  who are deaf and whose
28        primary language is sign language.
29        "Health facility" means a  hospital  licensed  under  the
30    Hospital  Licensing Act or a long-term care facility licensed
31    under the Nursing Home Care Act.
 
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 1    (Source: P.A. 88-244.)

 2        (210 ILCS 87/15)
 3        Sec. 15.  Language assistance  services  authorized.   To
 4    insure  access  to  health  care information and services for
 5    limited-English-speaking  or  non-English-speaking  residents
 6    and deaf residents, a health facility must may do one or more
 7    of the following:
 8        (1)  Review existing policies regarding interpreters  for
 9    patients  with  limited  English proficiency and for patients
10    who are deaf, including the availability of staff to  act  as
11    interpreters.
12        (2)  Adopt  and  review  annually  a policy for providing
13    language assistance services to  patients  with  language  or
14    communication  barriers.  The policy shall include procedures
15    for providing, to the extent possible as  determined  by  the
16    facility,  the  use  of an interpreter whenever a language or
17    communication barrier exists, except where the patient, after
18    being  informed  of  the  availability  of  the   interpreter
19    service,  chooses  to  use  a  family  member  or  friend who
20    volunteers to interpret.  The procedures shall be designed to
21    maximize efficient use of interpreters and minimize delays in
22    providing interpreters to  patients.   The  procedures  shall
23    insure, to the extent possible as determined by the facility,
24    that  interpreters  are  available, either on the premises or
25    accessible by telephone, 24 hours a day.  The facility  shall
26    annually  transmit  to the Department of Public Health a copy
27    of the updated policy and shall include a description of  the
28    facility's    efforts   to   insure   adequate   and   speedy
29    communication between patients with language or communication
30    barriers and staff.
31        (3)  Develop, and post in conspicuous locations,  notices
32    that  advise  patients and their families of the availability
33    of interpreters, the procedure for obtaining an  interpreter,
 
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 1    and  the  telephone  numbers  to  call  for filing complaints
 2    concerning interpreter service problems, including,  but  not
 3    limited  to,  a  T.D.D. number for the hearing impaired.  The
 4    notices shall be posted, at a minimum, in the emergency room,
 5    the admitting area, the facility entrance, and the outpatient
 6    area.   Notices  shall  inform  patients   that   interpreter
 7    services  are  available on request, shall list the languages
 8    for which  interpreter  services  are  available,  and  shall
 9    instruct  patients to direct complaints regarding interpreter
10    services to the Department of Public  Health,  including  the
11    telephone numbers to call for that purpose.
12        (4)  Identify and record a patient's primary language and
13    dialect  on  one  or more of the following: a patient medical
14    chart, hospital bracelet, bedside notice, or nursing card.
15        (5)  Prepare  and  maintain,  as  needed,   a   list   of
16    interpreters  who  have been identified as proficient in sign
17    language and in  the  languages  of  the  population  of  the
18    geographical area served by the facility who have the ability
19    to translate the names of body parts, injuries, and symptoms.
20        (6)  Notify  the  facility's  employees of the facility's
21    commitment  to  provide  interpreters  to  all  patients  who
22    request them.
23        (7)  Review  all  standardized  written  forms,  waivers,
24    documents, and informational materials available to  patients
25    on  admission  to determine which to translate into languages
26    other than English.
27        (8)  Consider  providing  its  nonbilingual  staff   with
28    standardized  picture  and  phrase  sheets for use in routine
29    communications   with   patients   who   have   language   or
30    communication barriers.
31        (9)  Develop  community  liaison  groups  to  enable  the
32    facility       and       the        limited-English-speaking,
33    non-English-speaking,  and  deaf  communities  to  insure the
34    adequacy of the interpreter services.
 
SB61 Enrolled              -4-       LRB093 03263 AMC 03280 b
 1    (Source: P.A. 90-655, eff. 7-30-98.)

 2        (210 ILCS 87/16 new)
 3        Sec. 16.  Complaint system.  The Department shall develop
 4    and implement a complaint system through which the Department
 5    may receive complaints related to violations of this Act. The
 6    Department shall establish a complaint system or  utilize  an
 7    existing  Department  complaint  system. The complaint system
 8    shall include (i) a complaint verification process  by  which
 9    the  Department  determines  the  validity of a complaint and
10    (ii) an opportunity for a  health  facility  to  resolve  the
11    complaint through an informal dispute resolution process.
12        If  the  complaint  is  not resolved informally, then the
13    Department shall serve a notice of violation of this Act upon
14    the health facility. The notice  of  violation  shall  be  in
15    writing and shall specify the nature of the violation and the
16    statutory provision alleged to have been violated. The notice
17    shall inform the health facility of the action the Department
18    may  take  under the Act, the amount of any financial penalty
19    to be imposed and the opportunity for the health facility  to
20    enter into a plan of correction. The notice shall also inform
21    the health facility of its rights to a hearing to contest the
22    alleged violation under the Administrative Procedure Act.


23        (210 ILCS 87/17 new)
24        Sec.  17.  Plan of correction; penalty. If the Department
25    finds that a health facility is in violation of this Act, the
26    health  facility  may  submit  to  the  Department,  for  its
27    approval, a plan of correction. If a health facility violates
28    an approved  plan  of  correction  within  6  months  of  its
29    submission, the Department may impose a penalty on the health
30    facility.  For  the  first  violation  of an approved plan of
31    correction, the Department may impose  a  penalty  of  up  to
32    $100.  For  a  second  or subsequent violation of an approved
 
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 1    plan of correction the Department may impose a penalty of  up
 2    to  $250.  The  total  fines imposed under this Act against a
 3    health facility in a twelve month  period  shall  not  exceed
 4    $5,000.
 5        Penalties  imposed  under  this  Act shall be paid to the
 6    Department  and  deposited  in  the  Nursing  Dedicated   and
 7    Professional Fund.

 8        (210 ILCS 87/18 new)
 9        Sec.  18.  Rules.   The  Department shall adopt any rules
10    necessary for the administration and enforcement of this Act.
11    The Illinois Administrative Procedure Act shall apply to  all
12    administrative  rules  and procedures of the Department under
13    this Act.

14        (210 ILCS 87/19 new)
15        Sec. 19.  Administrative Review Law.  The  Administrative
16    Review  Law  shall  apply  to  and govern all proceedings for
17    judicial review of  final  administrative  decisions  of  the
18    Department under this Act.