Sixth National Conference on Quality Health Care for Culturally Diverse Populations: Peer-to-Peer Practice Advancement Sessions Identifying Barriers to Improving Language Services Delivery for Patients with Limited English Proficiency (poster presentation only)
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C-7 Speaking together: Findings from a hospital disparities collaborative

Identifying Barriers to Improving Language Services Delivery for Patients with Limited English Proficiency (poster presentation only)
Tuesday, September 23, 2008: 2:00 PM-4:00 PM, Minn Marriott, 8th Floor - Excelsior/Lafayette
Research has demonstrated that the likely results of using untrained interpreters or friends, family, and associates are an increase in medical errors, poorer patient-provider communication, and poorer follow-up and adherence to clinical instructions. A national quality improvement program, Speaking Together, developed performance measures to provide information about the extent to which LEP patients receive appropriate language services during critical times in a patient’s health care experience. Hospitals can use data from performance measures to improve language service delivery systems within their organization.  Ten hospitals participating in Speaking Together have recently measured their performance on the delivery of language services to patients during initial assessment and discharge. Progress in the 10 hospitals participating in 18-month learning collaborative improved at the start of the project but later leveled off without further improvement. Hospitals were collecting and reporting data about their progress but did not know why additional improvement was not made. To identify the barriers to improvement and to assess the provision of language services at each hospital a short point of service diagnostic was developed. A total of 1000 patients were tracked over the course of the diagnostic exercise.

The short point of service diagnostic is applicable to hopsitals beyond the group of 10 engaged in the collaborative and in the inpatient or outpatient setting. Quantifying how the language service is delivered allows hospitals to more effectively identify and target improvement strategies and interventions for clinical practice change and language service delivery. Even with highly active language services departments, approximately 1 out of 4 patients with LEP did not receive a language service at assessment or discharge – two times during the health care experience when communication is critically important.

A Power Point presentation style handout including a hardcopy of the diagnostic tool and instructions for use will be provided to particpants.

Presentation Information:

Program: Peer-to-Peer Practice Advancement Sessions
Primary Category: Language Access
Subtopics: Interpreter services—development and management, Methods - patient and staff surveys, organizational and patient measures, data collection and analysis, Program/intervention evaluations, Quality improvement

Region Addressed by Presentation: National
Organization: University
Population/Demographic: Patients with LEP
Keywords: Limited English Proficient, performance measures, quality improvement


Website: www.speakingtogether.org
Catherine A. West, MS, RN , Department of Health Policy, The George Washington University Medical Center, Washington, DC
    Quality Improvement Specialist
    The George Washington University Medical Center
    Department of Health Policy
    2021 K Street NW, Suite 800
    Washington DC, USA 20006

    Phone: 202-994-8663
    Email Address: west@gwu.edu

    Biographical Sketch:     Cathy West is the quality improvement specialist for Speaking Together, an RWJF funded program that uses a quality improvement framework to improve language services operations. Ms. West provides technical assistance to the ten organizations participating in the 18-month learning network to measure and improve language services operations. Ms West has over 20 years experience in the healthcare arena including hospital, nursing home and home heath practices. Her experience includes clinical pathway development, data collection and analysis, facilitation of clinical quality improvement teams, and directing statewide collaboratives. Additionally she directed the development and implementation of a statewide public reporting initiative, the Maryland Performance Evaluation Guide. She was Director of Quality Improvement Programs for the Delmarva Foundation, the CMS Quality Improvement Organization for Maryland and the District of Columbia. Ms. West received her BSN and Masters of Science in Nursing with a concentration in Administration and Managed Care from the University of Maryland.
Marsha Regenstein, PhD , Department of Health Policy, The George Washington University Medical Center, Washington, DC
    Associate Research Professor
    The George Washington University Medical Center
    Department of Health Policy
    2021 K Street, NW, Suite 800
    Washington DC, USA 20006

    Phone: 202-994-8662
    Fax: 202-973-1150
    Email Address: marshar@gwu.edu

    Biographical Sketch:     Marsha Regenstein, PhD, MCP is the director of Speaking Together: National Language Services Network. She is an associate research professor in the Department of Health Policy at The George Washington University Medical Center, where the Speaking Together National Program Office is housed. Dr. Regenstein also leads the cardiovascular market assessment component of Expecting Success: Excellence in Cardiac Care, a national program of the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation intended to improve the quality of health care provided to minority populations in the United States. Dr. Regenstein was previously the director of the National Public Health and Hospital Institute and vice president of the Economic and Social Research Institute. She received a BA from Brandeis University, a master of city planning from MIT, and a PhD in public policy from The George Washington University.
See more of: Speaking together: Findings from a hospital disparities collaborative
See more of: Peer-to-Peer Practice Advancement Sessions