A Practical Guide to Implementing the National CLAS Standards: For Racial, Ethnic, and Linguistic Minorities, People with Disabilities and Sexual and Gender Minorities
January 2017 | Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services prepared by National Committee for Quality Assurance
“ The National CLAS Standards describe a framework to deliver services that are culturally and linguistically appropriate and respectful, and that respond to patients’ cultural health beliefs, preferences and communication needs. Standards can be employed by all members of a health care organization, state or community. ”
The purpose of this toolkit is to enable organizations to implement the National CLAS Standards and improve health equity. It is organized according to the enhanced National CLAS Standards, and provides practical tools and examples of CLAS, in addition to efforts to implement the National CLAS Standards that can be adapted for use by health care organizations. It is intended for organizations that have already decided to pursue CLAS, to improve equity and eliminate health care disparities; it is not a decision guide about whether to implement National CLAS Standards.