Making Healthcare and Insurance Documents accessible for everyone is a necessity as well as a mandate by the Government. It has become so important to make these documents accessible especially after the Covid-19 pandemic.
Having access to such documents gives information to the people and helps them take timely actions and precautions that may save lives.
Accessibility is not only a patient experience issue. Healthcare organizations, Hospitals and Insurance providers must follow the guidelines outlined in Section 508 and WCAG. Our accessible document remediation team, comprising of testers with disabilities, will assist you in making your health and insurance documents accessible and comply with Section 504 & Section 508.
The Law
In the medical and healthcare sector, you will find a lot of paperwork. Some of that paperwork is, at least in part, diligently filled up by the patient. The patient’s paperwork may provide, for instance, essential information, privacy policy and ensure that their information is correctly written.
The law states that all patient forms, documents, and communication be available in accessible formats for patients with disabilities including visual and hearing impairment. It is important to make such information conform to the accessibility standards.
The purpose of the 1996 Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) is to make it easier for people to maintain health insurance, ensure the confidentiality and security of protected health information (PHI), and help the healthcare industry manage administrative costs. Section 508 of the Federal Act obliges authorities to grant people with disabilities the same access to electronic information and data as people without disabilities.
Many healthcare and insurance companies and hospitals have now started working towards ensuring that their documents and records are 508 and ADA Compliant.
How can we ensure accessible Healthcare?
There has been a substantial number of incidents wherein people with disabilities find it extremely difficult to navigate and access healthcare facilities. Many documents having essential information being inaccessible makes it difficult for them to access and take advantage of the facilities. This is a bitter pill to swallow!
In addition to having a disability-inclusive infrastructure, healthcare organizations must ensure to make all the documents, forms and communications available in an accessible format. It should be compliant with ADA and Section 508.
What types of healthcare documents need to be accessible?
- Statements and billing
- All patient forms, including Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA), authorization, consent, and admissions
- Evidence of Coverage (EOC)
- Annual Notice of Change (ANOC)
- Pharmacy directories
- Provider directories
- Formularies
- Summary of benefits
How can we help?
With our large team of accessibility experts, we help you make healthcare and insurance documents, whether in PDF, Word, Excel or PowerPoint format, accessible and compliant to ADA and Section 508. Today, we support 200+ customers to meet their document accessibility needs.
Write to sales@247accessibledocuments.com to get in touch with our experts and get your document remediated and rendered accessible.
