Rural Health Clinic (RHC) REMINDER

Policy & Procedure (P&P) Reviews/Updates & Staff training on Policy Changes & Accreditation Standards Manual changes

HHS Finalizes Section 1557 Nondiscrimination Rule

Section 1557: “prohibits discrimination on the basis of race, color, national origin, sex, age, or disability in specified health programs or activities, including those that receive Federal financial assistance.” 

Federal financial assistance includes providers who receive reimbursement from Medicare/Medicaid/CHIP/ACA Marketplace Plans

Notice of Nondiscrimination

• The notice of nondiscrimination must be posted by November 2, 2024
  • The section 1557 coordinator (s) must be designated before November 2, 2024. Their contact information must be listed on your notice of nondiscrimination.
• Review compliance with nondiscrimination policy make necessary updates and train staff  
• Longer notice, in English (with translations available as necessary), informing patients that your RHC does not discriminate on the basis of race, color, national origin, sex, age, or disability. 
• Must be posted and provided to all patients annually and upon request. 
• No smaller than 20-point sans serif font, be posted in prominent physical location in office and a conspicuous location on website.

Sample Notice available through HHS

Notice of Availability

• The notice of availability must be posted by July 5, 2025
• Separate from “Notice of Nondiscrimination” this notice is to inform your patients of the free availability of translation services
• Must be available in English and the 15 most common languages spoken by people with LEP in your state.
• The notice must be in at least a 20-point sans serif font and published on a very specific list of documents.

To reduce the burden of these notices, patients can “opt out” of receiving this on an annual basis. Additionally, an RHC can document the patient’s primary language and provide the Notice of Availability in only that language, instead of the top 15.

Quad A Global Accreditation Authority has developed new standards for RHC’s accredited by Quad A.

These standards can be accessed on the Quad A website. 

To assist in identifying the updates, Quad A has also prepared a Change report. QUAD A anticipates that the new standards will be approved and become effective for surveys conducted on or after October 14, 2024.

Please contact Melissa Jones, CRHCP

Rural Health Clinic Senior Associate, Burrows Consulting at melissa@burrowsconsulting.net with any questions. 

Reference https://www.hhs.gov/civil-rights/for-individuals/section-1557/faqs/index.html; https://www.hhs.gov/civil-rights/for-providers/resources-covered-entities/index.html; https://www.quada.org/medicare-programs