As of June 2023, Oregon House Bill 2359 is scheduled to go into effect on July 1, 2023.
HB 2359 requires healthcare interpreters providing their services to Oregon-based medical facilities to be qualified or certified on the state Oregon Health Authority (OHA) registry.
The part of HB 2359 that applies to interpreters providing services in person went into effect in 2022. Requirements for telephone and video interpreting were excluded for the first year — but the July deadline is looming.
How we’re preparing for HB 2359
CLI has been keeping close track of HB 2359 and related legislation. It’s a top priority that we help our healthcare clients in Oregon be fully compliant with these new requirements.
We also want to make sure our state’s most vulnerable residents can quickly access healthcare interpreters without more barriers.
And CLI is as prepared as we can be.
Below are some of the ways we’re working to address the remote interpreter requirements involved with HB 2359.
► What has been communicated to your interpreters about the new law?
CLI has shared with our interpreters all relevant information about the law, the purpose of it, and the desire to have our Oregon-based interpreters take the necessary steps to be listed on the OHA registry.
► Have you been able to increase the number of OHA-registered interpreters since the law passed?
CLI has been successful in adding some OHA-registered interpreters since the law passed, with the goal to further boost this number. We have reached out to all our Oregon-based interpreters to encourage them to get registered. CLI has also reached out to every interpreter on the OHA registry who provided their contact information, in an attempt to recruit them to our team as remote interpreters. To date, we have contacted over 700 interpreters and are in discussions with all who have responded.
► How do you plan to demonstrate compliance when your Oregon healthcare systems get audited by OHA?
CLI has documented the outreach and marketing efforts we have undertaken to increase the count of interpreters who qualify. We also put a process in place to programmatically reach out to our OHA-registered interpreters as the first responders for interpreting requests from our Oregon healthcare clients. CLI stands behind our efforts and will work with our healthcare clients in the state to provide proof of efforts to comply with these regulations.
See also: Answers to Your Top 5 Questions about Oregon House Bill 2359
If you still have questions about how CLI is preparing for Oregon HB 2359, or want to learn more about how we can support your organization with healthcare interpreters, please get in touch with us!
