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Improving Language Access at California Hospitals

Whether prompted by changing demographic profiles, laws and regulations, business strategies or consumer requests, California hospitals are faced with the need to evaluate and improve their efforts to deliver care in languages that are understandable to their patients. The purpose of this study will be to identify, examine and share best practices and promising models from California hospitals that are working to ensure their patients receive language-appropriate care.

To view the report, Improving Language Access in California Hospitals, click here. To view the four-page issue brief, Considering Language Access Services for California Hospitals, click here. To view the online resource document, Language Access Online Resources for California & the Nation, click here. To view a 16-page list of general references, Improving Language Access in Hospitals – General References, click here.

Background

According to the 2000 Census, almost 40% of Californians age five and older speak a language other than English at home and 20% of this same population speaks English less than very well.[1] This raises the question of whether California residents are receiving adequate health care in spite of language barriers. In addition, regulations recently proposed by the California Department of Managed Care will require managed care companies to ensure that hospitals and other providers with which they contract have adopted policies to meet the language needs of patients. A body of literature exists on the costs and benefits involved in the provision of language access services; the impact interpreter services have on patient care; the gap between quality hospital-based interpreter services and the growing population of limited-English proficient patients; and what language access policies and procedures in health care should look like. However, to date no studies have systematically examined best practice interpreter and translator services in California hospitals.

Study summary

After completing a literature review on the topic, the research team interviewed administrators and leaders from select hospitals to explore the services they are providing for limited English proficient patients, the hospital costs associated with those services, the organizational commitment to ensuring appropriate language access, and the outcomes associated with the services being provided. By publishing the findings, our objective is to provide California hospitals with models and information about the policies, strategies and activities that their colleagues have adopted.

Funding

This study is a project of the Health Workforce Tracking Collaborative, which is funded by The California Wellness Foundation, The California Endowment and the California HealthCare Foundation and administered at the UCSF Center for the Health Professions.

For more information, contact Catherine Dower at cdower@thecenter.ucsf.edu.