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Health department outlines ADA website work, HIPAA billing changes and a proposed meeting cadence shift
Summary
Officials told the board they must make significant website changes to meet new ADA rules, plan to become a HIPAA‑covered entity in clinical settings once billing starts, and asked members to consider moving to a first/third Wednesday meeting schedule.
Dr. Hughes told the board staff have permission to explore renovating the department’s building or moving to a larger facility to accommodate new hires and improve public access. She described recent operational problems (a stuck fire alarm) and the strain on current space.
She warned of sweeping changes to ADA web accessibility rules that will affect public dashboards, PDFs and social media. "Our website... has to be ADA compliant and those rules have changed pretty significantly," she said, noting the department is working with GIS and communications staff to meet an April 24 deadline and that some pages may be temporarily taken down while they are remediated.
On clinical operations, Dr. Hughes said the department’s electronic health record rollout positions the clinic to bill insurers voluntarily and that "our clinic setting will become a HIPAA covered entity" once billing begins; staff are coordinating with the county attorney to ensure privacy and compliance.
Separately, a board member floated changing the board’s meeting cadence to first and third Wednesdays with firm start and stop times to improve punctuality and predictability; members were asked to consider the idea and provide feedback before any formal change is proposed.
