Join Inova Health Systems and Language Line Services for a free educational forum to address the rapidly diversifying patient population of Northern Virginia.

Providers who attend will learn the most current legislative, regulatory and trending information as well as identifying model programs and practical tools for staff members to use while providing care that is linguistically appropriate and culturally sensitive.

The educational forum includes valuable sessions on:

• The latest trends and developments in language interpretation presented by industry trainer and subject matter expert Cindy Roat, MPH.
• Regarding technology advances for language & cultural access, Dr. Charles Lee, MD. president and founder, PolyGlot Systems, Inc. will demonstrate a new technology-based solution to improve access where current gaps exist.
• How video interpreting is improving access and patient satisfaction by Jonathan Hirsch of Holy Name Hospital.
• Implementing and integrating language services within your organization by Tina M. Arcidiacono, MBA/HCM Manager Patient Relations, South Jersey Healthcare.
• Partnering for Patient Safety Language and culture a Key to quality care by Sandra Sanchez, M.S., Director, Language Interpretive Services and Multi-Cultural Affairs Grady Health System, Atlanta and Linda Joyce, M.S., Language Access Consultant.
• Organizational model and best practices in cultural competence by Martine Charles, MPH Director, Cultural Competence INOVA, and
• And an open panel discussion with the audience, speakers and language interpretation experts concluding the day.

There is no cost for providers, however space is limited, so contact David Palmer now and let him know you'll be there.

Invest in a Friday offsite and join your fellow healthcare professionals for the latest tips and advice on how you and your organization can best care for limited English speaking patients.

Hope to see you there.

Objective. To examine differences in the characteristics of adverse events between English speaking patients and patients with limited English proficiency in US hospitals.

Setting. Six Joint Commission accredited hospitals in the USA.

Method. Adverse event data on English speaking patients and patients with limited English proficiency were collected from six hospitals over 7 months in 2005 and classified using the National Quality Forum endorsed Patient Safety Event Taxonomy.

Results. About 49.1% of limited English proficient patient adverse events involved some physical harm whereas only 29.5% of adverse events for patients who speak English resulted in physical harm. Of those adverse events resulting in physical harm, 46.8% of the limited English proficient patient adverse events had a level of harm ranging from moderate temporary harm to death, compared with 24.4% of English speaking patient adverse events. The adverse events that occurred to limited English proficient patients were also more likely to be the result of communication errors (52.4%) than adverse events for English speaking patients (35.9%).

Conclusions. Language barriers appear to increase the risks to patient safety. It is important for patients with language barriers to have ready access to competent language services. Providers need to collect reliable language data at the patient point of entry and document the language services provided during the patient-provider encounter.

Address reprint request to Richard G. Koss, The Joint Commission. Tel: +1-630-792-5939; Fax: +1-630-792-4939; E-mail: rkoss@jointcommission.org

Study by Chandrika Divi, Richard G. Koss, Stephen P. Schmaltz and Jerod M. Loeb

The Joint Commission, One Renaissance Boulevard, Oakbrook Terrace, IL 60181, USA

Full study by subscription

Are your Spanish-speaking patients happy with your service?

How do you know?

It's easy for English-speaking customers to let you know when there's a problem. They just call, write or walk in your door.

But what about your customers who speak only Spanish? Do you provide the same level of excellent service to them? Do you speak their language?

If not, you need to read this first-ever "Hispanic Rage Study" detailing customer care experiences among U.S. Hispanics.

This study proves there's a big difference...

...between how English- and Spanish-speaking customers. respond to poor service! How so?

90% of Spanish speakers who had a product or service problem felt rage, meaning they were "extremely or very frustrated" with the problem they faced and how their complaints were handled. By comparison, 70% of English speakers experience rage.

Spanish speakers are three times more likely than English speakers to contact the media or seek revenge through litigation.

Spanish speakers had to spend twice as much time complaining to resolve a problem than did English speakers.

Spanish-speaking consumers would buy significantly more products/services from companies that make it easy to communicate in Spanish.

If you would like an 8-page summary of this study conceived and sponsored by Language Line Services and conducted by Customer Care Measurement & Consulting Group, go to the Hispanic Rage web page and complete the simple form.

You'll have the summary right away.

Each month you'll receive our free monthly email newsletter featuring news, tips, interviews, surveys, stats, special offers and other useful information to help you better serve your limited English-speaking patients.

If you have a story idea, drop us a note at healthletter@languageline.com.

If you enjoyed this issue, share it with your colleagues and friends. Just ask them to send us a subscription request to healthletter@languageline.com or visit our website.

Your information will never be shared with anyone, ever! See our Privacy Policy here.