3/18/2023 0 Comments Language preference manager![]() We also use these cookies to understand how customers use our services (for example, by measuring site visits) so we can make improvements. ![]() Martin Conroy, senior manager for Public Sector Programs at Language Line Services, is former director of the Division of Acute and Primary Care Services at the New York State Department of Health, with 37 years of public service responsible for the regulatory oversight of hospitals and clinics, including language access.We use cookies and similar tools that are necessary to enable you to make purchases, to enhance your shopping experiences and to provide our services, as detailed in our Cookie Notice. Oscar Arocha, senior executive of Global Strategic Initiatives at Language Line Services, is a 25-year industry veteran and former director of the largest interpreter services department in the nation at Boston Medical Center. The organizations that embrace the burgeoning need today will be in the best position to comply. Being prepared requires being ahead of the game. The independent, non-profit organization surveys and accredits hospitals and other healthcare institutions across the country via unscheduled accreditation surveys. Healthcare language regulations have been loosely followed by many healthcare organizations until now, leading The Joint Commission to implement the new, more formalized standards. And of course, the admissions staff must be adequately trained to ask the right questions, make the correct choices and set the right expectations. Once all documents have been translated, the IT department has to program different systems to automatically access the appropriate materials in the language assigned to the patient. Ultimately, healthcare organizations must have close collaboration between their IT systems, the admissions department and the office responsible for written translations in the organization. The list may include documents such as reminder appointment letters, notices from clinics, educational materials, pre-op/post-op instructions, test preps, follow-ups notices, test results, prescription labels, discharge instructions, dietary menus, billing notices, financial assistance documents, enrollment forms and many more. For those languages, hospitals should be prepared to consider what makes up that list of “significant” documents. So, what needs to be done once the LEP patient requests all written documentation pertaining to them be in the language they prefer? The answer depends on what languages are identified as exceeding a threshold percentage of the facility’s population. The Commonwealth of Massachusetts, among other states, introduced this as a requirement in 2009, but agreed to push it back when hospitals asked for an extension. ![]() Some states already require hospitals that receive Medicaid or any other type of government funding to ask patients about their preferred written language when registering them. The definition of what constitutes a “significant” (or “vital”) document has been left to the hospital’s discretion. Until now, the majority of the guidance on written communication has called for “significant” documents to be translated into the languages most in demand. Healthcare organizations must comply with federal and state regulations that mandate the provision of language services to qualify for public funds, Medicaid, Medicare and other government-financed programs. Many hospitals might not be prepared and therefore could jeopardize critical funding when the new standards for hospital accreditation based on language access – currently undergoing a one-year pilot – take full effect in January 2012. They should expect to receive at least verbal communication in their language of preference.Ī different challenge that also needs to be addressed is the provision of written information to patients, given the laws, mandates and The Joint Commission’s requirements on the appropriate delivery of services to support effective communication. ![]() Identifying the preferred spoken language sets an expectation with the patient and their family. ![]() The right question – “What is your preferred spoken language?” – has been adopted by many as the more effective way to determine oral language preference for limited English proficient (LEP) patients and their families. We’ve all heard these questions – “Do you speak English?”, “Where were you born?”, “Where do you come from?”, or “What language do you speak?” Unfortunately, each of these risks complicating matters even further. When hospitals ask patients about their language requirements, it is very important they ask the correct questions. This is the second post in a multi-part series about the new Joint Commission standards on language access requirements for limited English proficient patients. ![]()
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