Remote Video Interpreting Services

May 2, 2013 | Story

Using two-way video, medical interpreters at four of Sutter Health’s campuses in San Francisco have been able to double the size of their caseloads, and now serve 8 to 12 patients a day.

EHR “Alerts” Increase Use of Interpreters

St. Mary's hospital used its EHR system to increase the use of qualified interpreter services during admission from 44 percent to 73 percent over seven months, and during discharge from 26 percent to 60 percent.

Interpreters to Ensure Patients Receive Instructions in Their Native Language

February 26, 2013

Oregon Health and Science University saw a 65 percent improvement in ensuring patients with limited English proficiency have an interpreter during admission and discharge.

Health Care Interpreter Training Expands to Include Arabic and Mandarin

November 30, 2012 | Program Result Report

The Certification Commission for Healthcare Interpreters developed and pilot tested certification exams for health care interpreters seeking professional certification in Mandarin and Arabic to help patients communicate with health professionals.

Does a Video-Interpreting Network Improve Delivery of Care in the Emergency Department?

October 18, 2011 | Journal Article

Video interpreting services had minimal impact on health care outcomes in this study of two hospitals in California.

Health Insurance Plans Collecting More Data on Race, Ethnicity, and Language

March 13, 2012 | Program Result Report

Researchers at America's Health Insurance Plans conducted four surveys of health insurance plans from 2003 to 2011 to chart the extent to which the plans collected and used data on the race, ethnicity, and language of their enrollees.

Helping Non-English Speakers Navigate Emergency Departments

October 17, 2011 | Story

Study by RWJF Scholar finds video-interpreting may reduce number of Spanish-speaking patients who leave emergency departments against medical advice.

The Impact of Interpreters on Parents' Experiences with Ambulatory Care for Their Children

February 1, 2006 | Journal Article

The current investigation focused on individuals seeking health care who had limited English proficiency (LEP). The study sample of 26,671 respondents was taken from the Consumer Assessment of Health Plans Survey (CAHPS). Surveys were completed via ...

Item and Scale Differential Functioning of the Mini-Mental State Exam Assessed Using the Differential Item and Test Functioning (DFIT) Framework

November 1, 2006 | Journal Article

Survey items or multiple-item scales on statistical analyses can produce misleading results when the probability of an individual endorsing an item or category is influenced by an individual's membership in a particular group. In the present study t ...

Overcoming Language Barriers in Health Care

May 1, 2004 | Journal Article

More than 46 million people in the United States do not speak English as their primary language, and more than 21 million speak English less than "very well." Persons who have limited English proficiency are less likely to have a regular source of p ...