Portage County Legal News

Cultural training sought for Ohio health care professionals

KEITH ARNOLD
Special to the Legal News
Published: August 22, 2017

A bill calling for cultural competency training among Ohio's healthcare professionals in order to maintain proper licensure remains stuck in a Senate committee as lawmakers wrap up the final weeks of summer recess.

According to bill sponsor Sen. Charleta Tavares, D-Columbus, healthcare professionals would have to submit evidence to the board which they report to demonstrate that they have completed training in cultural competence according to the standards set by their respective boards were Senate Bill 16 enacted.

"Culture is defined as integrated patterns of human behavior that include the language, thoughts, communications, actions, customs, beliefs, values and institutions of racial, ethnic, religious or social groups," Tavares told members of the Health, Human Services and Medicaid Committee. "Competency in serving diverse cultures implies having the capacity to function effectively as an individual and an organization with regards to the cultural beliefs, behaviors and needs presented by consumers and their communities."

Citing data gathered by the Health Policy Institute of Ohio, the senator said that blacks and Hispanics are more likely than white patients to feel they have been treated disrespectfully during a health care visit - spoken to rudely, talked down to or ignored.

"Compared to white individuals, blacks, Hispanics and Asians are more likely to report that their doctor did not listen to everything they said, they did not fully understand their doctor or they had questions during the visit that they did not ask," Tavares said. "This type of miscommunication can be fatal."

SB 16 would repeal provisions recently enacted by Substitute Senate Bill 332 of the 131st General Assembly concerning cultural competency for health care professionals, according to analysis of the measure by the Ohio Legislative Service Commission. Specifically, the bill requires specified state health care professional licensing boards to make certain considerations and provide information to their licensees and certificate holders on continuing education and training opportunities in cultural competency.

The bill would replace those provisions with requirements that certain health care professionals obtain instruction or continuing education in cultural competency in order to receive or renew a professional license, analysis detailed.

Tavares offered examples of health disparities among racial and ethnic minority populations that included black individuals' high cancer mortality rate, Hispanics higher rates of cervical, gallbladder and stomach cancer and higher rates of diabetes and kidney disease diagnoses among black populations.

Six states have required cultural competency as a part of their continuing medical education: California, Connecticut, New Jersey, New Mexico, Oregon, and Washington.

"Ohio has made notable strides in becoming more culturally competent," Tavares said, citing Senate bills 206 and 332 of previous sessions of the General Assembly. "While these efforts are certainly a step in the right direction, we still have work to do if we want to eliminate health disparities.

"In order to achieve health equity we must eliminate barriers that prevent individuals from receiving quality care. Requiring cultural competency training is an opportunity to assist healthcare providers in gaining the knowledge needed to successfully serve patients from all backgrounds and eliminate health disparities among all Ohioans."

SB 16 stipulates that each licensing board must approve one or more continuing education courses that address cultural competency in health care treatment within 90 days of enactment.

"To be approved, a course must include instruction in addressing the problems of race and gender-based disparities in healthcare treatment decisions," commission analyst Lisa Musielewicz wrote. "The bill authorizes the boards to approve courses that are included within continuing education programs certified by professional associations or similar entities."

A fellow senator joined Tavares to cosponsor the bill.

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