The SPEAK Act of 2025, introduced in the House, is designed to improve access to health care information technology for people who have limited English proficiency (LEP). While the bill’s title mentions establishing a task force, the text provided focuses on a requirement for the Secretary of Health and Human Services to issue guidance within one year. This guidance would outline best practices for using interpreters during telemedicine, providing accessible instructions for accessing telehealth systems, and improving access to digital patient portals and multilingual patient materials. The guidance would be developed in consultation with a broad range of entities, including electronic medical record (EMR) providers, telehealth vendors, clinicians, insurers, language service companies, interpreter associations, quality certification groups, and patient advocates. In short, the bill seeks to standardize and promote multilingual, tech-enabled health care access, particularly for telehealth, by codifying a process for federal guidance rather than immediate regulatory requirements. The emphasis is on practical, cross-stakeholder best practices to help LEP individuals more easily use telehealth and digital health tools.
Key Points
- 1Short title: The act may be cited as the Supporting Patient Education And Knowledge Act of 2025 (SPEAK Act of 2025).
- 2Guidance requirement: Within one year of enactment, the Secretary of Health and Human Services must issue or update guidance on how to furnish telehealth services to individuals with LEP, in consultation with multiple stakeholder categories.
- 3Core guidance topics:
- 4- Best practices for using interpreters during telemedicine appointments.
- 5- Best practices for providing accessible instructions to access telecommunications systems.
- 6- Best practices to improve access to digital patient portals for LEP individuals.
- 7- Best practices for using video platforms that support multi-person interpretation during telemedicine.
- 8- Best practices for delivering patient materials, communications, and instructions in multiple languages, including multilingual text reminders and prescription information.
- 9Stakeholder groups to consult:
- 10- Health information technology providers (EMR, remote monitoring, telehealth vendors)
- 11- Health care providers (physicians, hospitals)
- 12- Health insurers
- 13- Language service companies
- 14- Interpreter/translator associations
- 15- Health and language services quality certification organizations
- 16- Patient and consumer advocates (including LEP advocates)
- 17Nature of action: The guidance is a non-binding set of best practices intended to guide how telehealth and multilingual health information are delivered, not a funded mandate or regulatory requirement (at least in the excerpt provided).