"Doctors say offices not equipped for disabled" by Deborah Kotz | Globe Staff, March 19, 2013
More than one in six Boston doctors offices refused to schedule appointments for callers posing as disabled patients in wheelchairs, researchers at Baystate Medical Center reported Monday in a study of specialty practices that highlights obstacles to routine medical care.
Legal specialists say the practice violates a federal law requiring that people with disabilities have access to appropriate care.
Callers turned away by physicians in Boston and three other cities were mostly told the offices lacked an exam table that could be raised and lowered or a lift for transferring a patient out of their wheelchair. In some cases, practices were located in buildings inaccessible to people in wheelchairs....
While new policies will no doubt mean more costs for doctor’s offices, the changes will ultimately be a “win-win” for health care workers and patients by protecting both from injuries, said Dr. Lisa Iezzoni, director of the Mongan Institute for Health Policy at Massachusetts General Hospital, who wrote an editorial that accompanied the study....
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