Tuesday, March 19, 2013

Good Article on Inaccessible Doctors' Offices

Via Bloomberg, here.  It begins:
Almost one-fourth of doctors are unable to accommodate and treat patients who use wheelchairs more than 20 years after the passing of the Americans with Disabilities Act, a study found. 
About 22 percent of 256 doctor’s offices surveyed said they couldn’t assist people in wheelchairs, with most of those saying it was because they weren’t able to safely transfer the patient to an exam table, according to research published today in the Annals of Internal Medicine. Lack of access to the building was a secondary reason, the researchers said. 
The Americans with Disabilities Act, passed by the U.S. Congress in 1990, is aimed at ending discrimination for people with disabilities in everyday activities including access to medical care facilities and the services provided there. Today’s findings are one of the first to show where barriers to medical services remain for wheelchair-bound patients, said Tara Lagu, the study’s lead author.

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1 Comments:

Anonymous Anonymous said...

One in four doctor's offices - wow. This is somewhat ironic that a doctor's office wouldn't be able to accommodate wheelchairs, although the expense of the equipment and modifications does factor in. But still... this is a surprising study. Hopefully it does educate doctors on the need to comply by the ADA. As a writer for a minneapolis disability lawyer I'm always interested to hear this kind of news - thanks for linking to it.

11:57 AM  

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