A Kentucky hospital’s outpatient clinic settled with the U.S. Attorney’s Office to resolve allegations of violating the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA). It is alleged that the outpatient clinic were turning away patients that had or were being treated for an Opioid Use Disorder (OUD).
The outpatient clinic is a behavioral medicine clinic, and according to the complaint filed by a prospective patient, the clinic refused to accept her as a patient because she was prescribed buprenorphine. Buprenorphine is one of the medications used to treat OUD.
The compliant prompted an investigation into the outpatient clinic’s practice of turning away prospective patients who were prescribed medications to treat OUD. Individuals receiving this treatment are generally considered disabled under the ADA, which, among other things, prohibits private healthcare providers from discriminating on the basis of disability.
Under the terms of the agreement, the outpatient clinic will adopt non-discriminatory admissions policies at the clinic, revise its non-discrimination policy to specifically address discrimination on the basis of OUD, provide training on the ADA and OUD to admissions personnel, pay a civil penalty of $50,000 to the United States, and pay the complainant $40,000 for pain and suffering.
Issue:
All nursing facilities must train their staff who screen for admissions to be knowledgeable of Title III of the ADA. Refusing an individual’s admission to a facility based solely on the fact that they are being treated for OUD could be seen as a violation of the person’s civil rights. Discrimination on the basis of disability is prohibited. While federal law prohibits discrimination in the workplace, most states have enacted their own additional laws regarding disability discrimination. It is essential that administration and human resources are aware of their state-specific laws.
Discussion Points:
- Review policies and procedures on discrimination and your admission policy. Ensure that your policies include prohibiting discrimination on the basis of disability or any other protected category.
- Educate appropriate staff on Title III of the ADA and how denying admission to the facility based upon OUD could be seen as discrimination. Document that the trainings occurred and file the signed training document in each employee’s education file.
- Periodically audit applications for admission to determine if any individuals were denied based on any protected class or category.
