California Language Assistance Program (CALAP)  |  Language Line Services SB 853 Compliance Program



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Are you a Compliance or Risk Manager with a Health Plan?

Senate Bill 853 – California Language Assistance Program (CALAP) went into effect 1/1/09 to ensure compliance you must:

“This landmark language assistance law will end the unnecessary distress and confusion many health plan members with LEP have when attempting to access care.

“It will ensure that California health plan members receive their health care services in a language that they can speak and understand.”

Cindy Ehnes, Director, Department of Managed Health Care


Are those staff member that handle patient/member communications bilingual or professional interpreters?

If you are responsible for your California health plan's compliance management for CALAP regulation, you probably know that you must provide interpreters who are trained, proficient and competent in the skill and profession of interpreting.

The proficiency standards outlined here in the Technical Assistance Guide (TAG), Language Assistance Program Survey by Department of Managed Health Care (DMHC) California HMO Help Center, Division of Plan Surveys, Issue date: December 10, 2008 states...

Interpreter Proficiency standards:

  • A documented and demonstrated proficiency in both English and the other language;
  • A fundamental knowledge in both languages of health care terminology and concepts relevant to health care delivery systems; and
  • Education and training in interpreting ethics, conduct and confidentiality (The Department will accept CHIA or National Council on Interpreting in Healthcare standards).


With the exposure to liability and risk for the providers and the health plans when servicing limited English proficient (LEP) patients/members with bilingual staff that are not proficient and competent to interpret in clinical settings testing and training of your bilingual staff is more important than ever.

Are you prepared for CALAP compliance monitoring to ensure you meet the standards of the regulation for language access to an interpreter?

Language Line University [hot link to http://www.languageline.com/page/cert_prod/ ] has pioneered the Medical Interpreter Certification Test and Training with the most comprehensive medical testing and certification process available covering:

  • Medical terminology knowledge
  • Medical procedural knowledge
  • Interpretation skills and protocols
  • Bilingual language fluency
  • Knowledge of culture-specific medical practices


Free White Paper

"Are You Speaking My Language?  A Guide for Understanding and Complying with the California Health Care Plan Requirements for Language Interpretation and Translation"


The Language Line Services SB 853 Compliance Program...

...addresses all the components your health plan needs for a well-rounded, comprehensive language assistance program, including:

  • Policy planning and development
  • 24/7 access to interpreters in over 170 spoken languages and
  • American Sign Language
  • Member outreach and customer service
  • Document translation (including localization of your website)
  • Medical interpreter certification, and
  • Compliance auditing, among other services


For the sake of your health care plan's compliance, please act now!


PS:  Did you know?

According to the UCLA Center for Health Policy Research, 3.4 million of California’s adult HMO enrollees (ages 18 to 64) speak a language other than English at home.

Of those, almost 30 percent report not being able to speak English well or not at all.

This population saw the efforts of California health plans come to fruition on January 1, 2009, the state’s deadline for health plans to implement their language assistance programs.




Read press release

 

Pending legislation, regulations and agreements that can impact your business


It is well documented that patients with limited fluency in English have gaps in healthcare that affect their access and quality of care. Clear doctor-patient communication in the patients preferred language is critical to ensuring high-quality healthcare and patient safety throughout the healthcare delivery system.

This is no longer a regional issue and as a result many States are looking at legislation that will eliminate language barriers, improve access, reduce disparities and improve quality of healthcare. The implementation of the California Senate Bill 853 requires health plans to develop a formal Language Assistance Program to address these issue for their members at the doctors’ office, clinics or other specialists facility.


Language Line Services tracks related legislation...


...that can affect your business and your customers we are sign up for our free healthcare newsletter to keep abreast of new developments.
Helpful links…

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National Health Law Program - http://www.healthlaw.org/

The Joint Commission - http://www.jointcommission.org/

The National Committee for Quality Assurance - http://www.ncqa.org/

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Limited English Proficiency - http://www.lep.gov/

Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services - http://www.cms.hhs.gov

Office of Minority Health Resource Center - http://www.omhrc.gov

Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality - http://www.ahrq.gov/

Office for Civil Rights - http://hhs.gov/ocr/index.html

United States Department of Justice - http://www.usdoj.gov/crt/cor/coord/titlevistat.php

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National Academy for State Health Policy - http://www.nashp.org/

National Association of Insurance Commissioners - http://www.naic.org/

Health Affairs - http://content.healthaffairs.org/

The Access Project  - http://www.accessproject.org/language.html

Robert Wood Johnson Foundation - http://www.rwjf.org/

The California Endowment – http://www.calendow.org/

Kaiser Daily Health Report - http://www.kaisernetwork.org/daily_reports/rep_hpolicy.cfm

National Health Plan Collaborative - http://www.nationalhealthplancollaborative.org/

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Recently the NY Attorney General Mario Cuomo reached an agreement with the two largest pharmacies in the country to require language access at the store level.