Healthcare
“People may not always want to disclose an inability to hear, especially if it isn’t the reason for the consultation.”
—Inclusive environments for patients with hearing loss, 21 Feb 2025
Permanently installed counter hearing loop at the front desk. UCHealth Medical Center of the Rockies, Colorado
Portable counter hearing loop on bedside table at Nebraska hospital.
Counter hearing loops at check-in counters at medical offices. Photo credit: Audio Directions
Floor mat hearing loop in front of pharmacy counter. Photo credit: Audio Directions
A doctor visit or hospital stay can be stressful enough, but if you do not hear well, that stress is compounded because of the critical nature of the information being disseminated. It is essential for the patient’s health and well-being that they clearly understand doctors’ and medical staff ‘s instructions. Understanding and asking appropriate questions can avoid mistakes and misunderstandings, which helps the patient to make reasoned decisions and get the safest and best care possible.
Possible Assistive Listening System Locations
- Service desks: emergency room check-in, information desk, pharmacy (Counter hearing loops)
- Individual patients: consultation, patient room (Portable counter hearing loop, portable FM system)
- Rooms: auditoriums, community rooms, chapel (Permanent hearing loop, FM, IR)
Because communication is a cornerstone of patient safety and quality care, every patient has the right to receive information in a manner he or she understands. Effective communication allows patients to participate more fully in their care. When a patient understands what is being said about his or her care, treatment, and services, that patient is more likely to fulfill critical health care responsibilities. Communicating effectively with patients is also critical to the informed consent process and helps practitioners and hospitals give the best possible care.
—The Joint Commission Comprehensive Accreditation Manual for Hospitals , “Rights and Responsibilities of the Individual” Chapter, Introduction to Standard R1.01.03 (2019)
Resources
updated 3/19/25
- Paragraph template and checklist. Describe your assistive listening system on your webpage. Promoting Your Assistive Listening System, with Checklist by the Center for Hearing Access (2 pages, pdf)
- Templates for facilities/sites: graphics, audio pre-event, handouts, ideas.
- Lists of hearing loops across the United States and Canada.
- HLAA (Hearing Loss Association of America)
- Toolkit (patients and providers), Guide for Effective Communication in Health Care (34 pages, pdf)
- Quarterly articles, patient stories (webpage, each article is 2 pages)
- Program, Communication Access in Health Care (webpage)
- Article, Effective Communication in Medical Settings: Your Rights Under the Law. Hearing Life Magazine, Spring 2022 (2 pages, pdf)
- Blog post, My Journey from Caregiver to Patient to Advocate, April 15, 2025
- Comorbidities correlations article. Beck, D. et al. (Feb 18, 2025) Untreated Hearing Loss, Hearing Aids, and Cognition: Correlational Outcomes 2025, HearingTracker.
- Medicare, November 2023. Improving Access to Care for People with Disabilities with a handout Improving Communication Access for Individuals Who Are Deaf or Hard of Hearing (20 pages, pdf)
- ADA Business Brief, 8/11/05. Communicating with People Who Are Deaf or Hard of Hearing in Hospital Settings (webpage)
- Facility Guidelines. Optimizing acoustic environments at healthcare facilities, Quiet Communities (webpage)
- Short Video
- 2025. Effective Communication For Hospital Patients With Hearing Loss (5:25 minutes) by Students of Dr. Elizabeth Runnion at Nazareth University & HLAA Rochester NY Chapter Healthcare Taskforce
- 2024. Enhancing Healthcare: A Guide for Interacting with Individuals with Hearing Loss, individual contributor, (4 minutes) by Richard Pocker.
- Captions. Communication Access Realtime Translation (CART) at UCHealth Medical Center at the Rockies
- Library
- Zotero online library (healthcare) with articles, websites, and examples (webpage)
- Zotero online library (pharmacies) with articles, websites, and examples (webpage)
Legal Resources
- ADA Webinar, 8/22/24. ADA’s Effective Communication requirements in healthcare settings (webpage). Includes link to slides (pdf). Steve Gordon.
- ADA Webinar, 8/22/24. Healthcare and the ADA Webinar: Personal Experiences with Healthcare Barriers & the ADA video archive (webpage)
- Final HHS Ruling, 4/26/24. The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) Office for Civil Rights (OCR) and the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) issued a final rule under Section 1557 of the Affordable Care Act (ACA) advancing protections against discrimination in health care. New Rule to Strengthen Nondiscrimination Protections and Advance Civil Rights in Health Care (webpage)
- HHS final ruling, Section 504 (this website)
- Section 1557. Section 1557 Final Rule: FAQ (webpage) Section 1557 is the non-discrimination provision of the Affordable Care Act (ACA). The final rule requires effective communication, including through the provision of appropriate auxiliary aids and services.
- DOJ, 4/14/23 U.S. Attorney’s Office Reminds Healthcare Providers of ADA’s Effective Communication Requirements (webpage)
- Webinar, 5/3/23. Sweet. Kara, and Steve Gordon. “Episode 117: ADA and Effective Communication in Health Care Settings with the Department of Justice – ADALive!” (webpage). PowerPoint slides (pdf)
- ADA Healthcare Webinar Series. 16 recorded webinars (webpage). The series topics cover physical accessibility, effective communication, and reasonable modification of policy issues under the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990 (ADA). (webpage)
- Agreement, Seattle Washington, 2018. Swedish Medical Center First Hill Hospital Settlement Agreement (webpage). Discrimination includes failing to take such steps as necessary to ensure that no individual with a disability is excluded, denied services, segregated, or otherwise treated differently than any other individual because of the absence of auxiliary aids and services (webpage)
- Justice Department, updated 2014. Justice Department Announces Americans with Disabilities Act Barrier-free Health Care Initiative by US Attorney’s Offices Nationwide (webpage)