The vast majority of hospitals - 80 percent - frequently treat patients with limited English proficiency, providing them critical language services, according to a new report. However, only 3 percent of hospitals reported receiving any reimbursement for those services.
Fifty-two million people - 19 percent of the U.S. population - speak a language other than English at home. Translation and interpretation services are critical to helping patients with limited English proficiency communicate with their caregivers and receive quality care. An increasingly diverse population throughout the United States means the demand for language services will also increase. More than 15 languages were identified as being frequently encountered by at least 20 percent of the hospitals surveyed nationwide.
The report by the Health Research and Educational Trust (HRET), an affiliate of the American Hospital Association, and the National Health Law Program (NHeLP) also describes hospitals' current language services, common barriers to assessing needs and providing services, and the specific tools and resources hospitals say they need to improve health care for patients with limited English proficiency.
While hospitals indicated they have several tools at their disposal to assist patients with limited English, from telephone services to staff interpreters to bilingual clinical and non-clinical staff, many hospitals reported the need for additional tools and training. Staff indicated the most useful additions would be training on how to respond to patients who don't speak English and whose culture may be different from their own.
"The 2000 Census called attention to the increasing number and diversity of individuals with limited English proficiency in the United States," said HRET vice president for research Romana Hasnain-Wynia, lead author of the report. "This new study underscores that most hospitals are trying to meet their needs, but they cannot do it alone. They need help and they need it yesterday."
Also released today is a report by the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities that attempts to answer the critical question of how to pay for these services. It offers several recommendations on ways the federal government could help health care providers ensure quality care to Medicare beneficiaries by paying for language services. The report states reimbursement would serve as a counterpart to current federal civil rights policies that interpreter services be made available for patients with limited English skills, as well as efforts to improve quality of care through removing language barriers between patients and caregivers.
The reports were funded by NHeLP under a grant from The California Endowment. The reports arise from the work of a broad group of national organizations developing a collaborative and consensus-driven agenda to improve policies and funding for access to quality health care for individuals with limited English proficiency. The group includes advocacy groups, hospitals and other healthcare provider associations, caregivers, interpreters and language companies. The reports were released at a Kaiser Family Foundation event and are available at www.hret.org/languageservices and www.healthlaw.org.
The HRET issue brief and full report are attached below in Acrobat format.
