Hearing Aid Compatibility Standards. Final rule; announcement of effective date.

In this document, the Commission announces that the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) has approved, for a period of three years, the information collection associated with rules adopted in the Commission's document Access to Telecommunication Equipment and Services by Persons with Disabilities; Amendment of the Commission's Rules Governing Hearing Aid-Compatible Mobile Handsets et. al., Report and Order and Order on Reconsideration (Order). This document is consistent with the Order, which stated that the Commission would publish a document in the Federal Register announcing the effective date of those rules.

Information and Communication Technology (ICT) Standards and Guidelines. Final rule.

We, the Architectural and Transportation Barriers Compliance Board (Access Board or Board), are revising and updating, in a single rulemaking, our standards for electronic and information technology developed, procured, maintained, or used by Federal agencies covered by section 508 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973, as well as our guidelines for telecommunications equipment and customer premises equipment covered by Section 255 of the Communications Act of 1934. The revisions and updates to the section 508-based standards and section 255-based guidelines are intended to ensure that information and communication technology covered by the respective statutes is accessible to and usable by individuals with disabilities.

Implementation of the Twenty-First Century Communications and Video Accessibility Act of 2010, Section 105, Relay Services for Deaf-Blind Individuals. Final rule.

In this document, the Federal Communications Commission (Commission) adopts rules to convert the National Deaf-Blind Equipment Distribution Program (NDBEDP) from a pilot program to a permanent program. The NDBEDP supports the distribution of communications devices to low-income individuals who are deaf-blind.

Changes to scheduling and appearing at hearings. Final rules.

These final rules explain how a claimant may object to appearing at a hearing via video teleconferencing, or to the time and place of a hearing. These final rules adopt, with further clarification regarding our good cause exception, the notice of proposed rulemaking (NPRM) that we published in the Federal Register on June 27, 2013. We expect that these final rules will have a minimal impact on the public, help ensure the integrity of our programs, and allow us to administer our programs more efficiently.

Human exposure to radiofrequency electromagnetic fields. Final rule.

This document resolves several issues regarding compliance with the Federal Communications Commission's (FCC's) regulations for conducting environmental reviews under the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) as they relate to the guidelines for human exposure to RF electromagnetic fields. More specifically, the Commission clarifies evaluation procedures and references to determine compliance with its limits, including specific absorption rate (SAR) as a primary metric for compliance, consideration of the pinna (outer ear) as an extremity, and measurement of medical implant exposure. The Commission also elaborates on mitigation procedures to ensure compliances with its limits, including labeling and other requirements for occupational exposure classification, clarification of compliance responsibility at multiple transmitter sites, and labeling of fixed consumer transmitters.

Structure and practices of the video relay service program; telecommunications relay services and speech-to-speech services for individuals with hearing and speech disabilities. Final rule.

In this document, the Commission adopts further measures to improve the structure, efficiency, and quality of the video relay service (VRS) program, reducing the inefficiencies in the program, as well as reducing the risk of waste, fraud, and abuse, and ensuring that the program makes full use of advances in commercially-available technology. These measures involve a fundamental restructuring of the program to support innovation and competition, drive down ratepayer and provider costs, eliminate incentives for waste that have burdened the Telecommunications Relay Services (TRS) Fund in the past, and further protect consumers. The Commission adopts several measures in order to: ensure that VRS users can easily select their provider of choice by promoting the development of interoperability and portability standards; enable consumers to use off-the-shelf devices and deploying a VRS application to work with these devices; create a centralized TRS User Registration Database to ensure VRS user eligibility; encourage competition and innovation in VRS call handling services; spur research and development on VRS services by entering into a Memorandum of Understanding with the National Science Foundation; and pilot a National Outreach Program to educate the general public about relay services. In this document, the Commission also adopts new VRS compensation rates that move these rates toward actual costs over the next four years which will better approximate the actual, reasonable costs of providing VRS, and will reduce the costs of operating the program. The Commission takes these steps to ensure the integrity of the TRS Fund while providing stability and certainty to providers.

Rural health care support mechanism. Final rule.

In this document, the Federal Communications Commission reforms its universal service support program for health care, transitioning its existing Internet Access and Rural Health Care Pilot programs into a new, efficient Healthcare Connect Fund. This Fund will expand health care provider access to broadband, especially in rural areas, and encourage the creation of state and regional broadband health care networks. Access to broadband for medical providers saves lives while lowering health care costs and improving patient experiences.

Rules on determining hearing appearances. Final rule.

This final rule is another step in our continual efforts to handle workloads more effectively and efficiently. We are publishing final rules for portions of the rules we proposed in October 2007 that relate to persons, other than the claimant or any other party to the hearing, appearing by telephone. We are also clarifying that the administrative law judge (ALJ) will allow the claimant or any other party to a hearing to appear by telephone under certain circumstances when the claimant or other party requests to make his or her appearance in that manner. We expect that these final rules will make the hearings process more efficient and help us continue to reduce the hearings backlog. In addition, we made some minor editorial changes to our regulations that do not have any effect on the rights of claimants or any other parties.

Final priority; National Institute on Disability and Rehabilitation Research--Disability and Rehabilitation Research Projects and Centers Program--Rehabilitation Engineering Research Centers. Final priority.

The Assistant Secretary for Special Education and Rehabilitative Services announces a priority for a Rehabilitation Engineering Research Center (RERC) on Universal Interfaces and Information Technology Access under the Disability and Rehabilitation Research Projects and Centers Program administered by the National Institute on Disability and Rehabilitation Research (NIDRR). The Assistant Secretary may use this priority for a competition in fiscal year (FY) 2013 and later years. We take this action to focus research attention on areas of national need. We intend to use this priority to improve outcomes for individuals with disabilities.

[Communication through electronic media in pediatrics. Use recommendations]. / Comunicación a través de medios electrónicos en pediatría. Recomendaciones de uso.

New information and communication technologies have had an impact on our lives in general, as well as in our health care and pediatric practice. Given this fact, it is essential to establish an initial framework for this type of interactions between physicians and patients in order to provide the necessary security tools to all the involved parties. The existing legislative gap to date has not been an impediment to the use of these technologies in medical communication, but it is necessary to establish what the responsibilities, obligations and rights of each party are, arising from their use. This document briefly describes the available electronic communication channels, with their advantages and disadvantages, and suggests recommendations for the responsible and safe use. Our aim is to frame this new modality of interaction between doctors and their patients, in order to highlight its value and evaluate its limitations.

Las nuevas tecnologías de información y comunicación, como parte de la revolución digital, han impactado en nuestras vidas en general y han atravesado la práctica pediátrica. Consideramos esencial establecer un primer encuadre para este tipo de interacciones entre médicos y pacientes a los fines de brindar la seguridad necesaria a todas las partes involucradas. El vacío legislativo, hasta la fecha, no es un impedimento para la utilización de estas tecnologías en la comunicación médica, pero es necesario establecer cuáles son las responsabilidades, obligaciones y derechos de cada parte, emergentes de su utilización. Este documento describe brevemente los distintos canales de comunicación electrónica disponibles con sus respectivas ventajas y desventajas, y se generan recomendaciones para el uso responsable y seguro de cada herramienta. Su objetivo es enmarcar esta nueva modalidad de interacción médico-paciente, resaltar su valor y, a su vez, reconocer sus limitaciones.

Access to emergency number services.

Access to emergency services is mandated by Title II of the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA). The Department of Justice oversees the accessibility of public safety answering points (PSAPs), popularly called 9-1-1 centers. The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) has at least two roles in emergency number access: (1) as regulator of the ADA's Title IV on telecommunications access, and (2) as regulator of communications companies with regard to support of and interconnection with PSAPs. The rules of both agencies contributed significantly to the improvement during the 1990s of access to 9-1-1 for people who are deaf, hard of hearing, or speech disabled. However, as new technologies for text wireless communications and relay services have moved quickly to Internet protocol (IP)-based technologies over the past 5-8 years, the use of traditional wireline telephones and text telephones among deaf, hard of hearing, and speech-disabled people has declined. PSAPs cannot be contacted via the newer forms of telecommunications, such as e-mail, instant messaging, and IP-based forms of relay services, including video relay services. The gap between the technology supported by policy and the technologies currently being used by deaf and hard of hearing people has become a serious problem that is difficult to solve because of the separate jurisdictions of the two agencies, the need for coordination within the FCC, technological challenges, and funding issues. In this article, the key policy and technology challenges will be analyzed and recommendations made for short-and long-term solutions to this dilemma.

Law & psychiatry: Telecourt: the use of videoconferencing for involuntary commitment hearings in academic health centers.

The use of videoconferencing for psychiatric involuntary commitment hearings is not a recent development. The courts ruled on the constitutionality of these proceedings as long ago as 1993. In 2004 University of Michigan Hospital began videoconferencing involuntary commitment hearings with Washtenaw County Probate Court. The experience of the University of Michigan Health System and the Washtenaw Probate Court with telecourt hearings for involuntary commitment has proven to benefit the safety and dignity of patients as well as the financial health of the medical center.

The telehealth divide: disparities in searching public health information online.

This article explores e government inequalities to searching Medicare and Medicaid information online. Telehealth, a branch of e government, can bring public health service and insurance information to the citizen. The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services website, among others, has critical information for potential beneficiaries and recipients of services. Using Pew survey data and multivariate regression analysis we find people in most need of Medicare and Medicaid information online (the elderly and poor) are accessing it, and people with years of online experience are strong proponents of online searches. Despite being less likely to have broadband services, individuals in rural areas were not found to be less likely to search for information online. In conclusion, some disparities are narrowing as the elderly and poor in need of access to public health insurance are searching for it online. However, people without Internet access and experience (perhaps the oldest and poorest) remain disadvantaged with respect to accessing critical information that can link them to needed health care services.

Intimate partner violence, technology, and stalking.

This research note describes the use of a broad range of technologies in intimate partner stalking, including cordless and cellular telephones, fax machines, e-mail, Internet-based harassment, global positioning systems, spy ware, video cameras, and online databases. The concept of "stalking with technology" is reviewed, and the need for an expanded definition of cyberstalking is presented. Legal issues and advocacy-centered responses, including training, legal remedies, public policy issues, and technology industry practices, are discussed.