Can you imagine making an appointment with a new medical provider and, once arriving at the office, finding you cannot get in the door? Or not being able to get on the exam table? What about not being weighed through an entire pregnancy? Or being misdiagnosed because of incorrect positioning due to not being able to get on the table?

These situations are happening every single day. Healthcare providers think in terms of being helpful, but often don't think in terms of physical access.

Persons with disabilities need to know where they can go to access those medical services that they need.

Our primary goal is to provide persons with disabilities with an online searchable database of where they can find the accessible healthcare they need.

We will accomplish this through surveying all healthcare services in RI for accessibility. Students from local colleges and universities will be visiting your office to do this survey over the next few months.

Our secondary goal is to give healthcare providers information: Why they should become accessible; where they can get the standards for accessibility; tax credits to help them pay for barrier removal.

Our third goal is to assess what still needs to be done and what approaches, such as resource sharing, would help with that effort.

Since we will not be able to send surveyors into medical offices for some time yet, we are looking at a new way to provide information to persons with disabilities on what healthcare services are accessible.

Healthcare providers that become members now will be able to do so at no charge. So, why would healthcare providers want to become members?

1. You will be showing your patients that you want to be accessible and inclusive.
2. You will be able to submit your own accessibility elements for inclusion in the website database.
3. The services that you have that are accessible will be searchable online for all persons with disabilities.
4. You will have access to information about accessibility, including what your obligations are about being accessible, how you can become more accessible in your practice, and what the benefits are to you to meeting accessibility guidelines.
5. You will know how to obtain 50% tax credits for your accessibility efforts.
6. You will have access to articles pertaining to accessibility.
7. You will have access to training provided by our organization on specific accessibility issues.
8. You will be notified of promotions and opportunities offered by Accessible Healthcare Rhode Island.

Two immediate benefits of membership are access to two articles regarding physician attitudes toward persons with disabilities and promotion that will provide member respondents with free handcrafted slide boards for patient transfers onto accessible equipment.

Registration is available now. Click on “For Providers” link.