Public Act 93-0564

SB61 Enrolled                        LRB093 03263 AMC 03280 b

    AN ACT concerning language assistance services.

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

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

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

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

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


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

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

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