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Improving Language Access in Healthcare: A Case Study

When a 500-bed, independent medical center – known for superior patient care  was struggling to communicate with its diverse patient population, it partnered with GLOBO to centralize support and improve language access.


A Growing Need for Language Support

Located in an urban area with a highly-diverse population, the medical center recognized that providing culturally and linguistically appropriate services was central to the delivery of safe, equitable, high-quality patient care. However, the medical center's Director of Patient Relations feared its use of multiple language services vendors was jeopardizing its ability to provide meaningful access throughout the facility.

The disjointed services and outdated technology made it difficult for physicians and hospital staff to access the services and, as a result, the medical center's monthly telephone interpreting usage continually fell short of its projections by nearly half.


75%

The medical center's population is comprised of 75% minorities

45%

Approximately 45% of the population speaks a language other than English at home

25%

Nearly 25% of the population is considered Limited English Proficient (LEP)

Given the demographics of the local population, the medical center’s Director of Patient Relations projected the need for 70,000-80,000 minutes of monthly telephone interpreting to effectively communicate with its Limited English Proficient patients, however the facility routinely used only ~40,000 minutes per month.


Inconvenienced by the inefficiencies of using multiple vendors, and wary of noncompliance, the medical center began searching for a more innovative and comprehensive solution.

Beyond improving communication with LEP patients, the medical center was driven to provide better language support in order to:

  • Ensure compliance and improve quality measures in the current environment of stringent reimbursement guidelines and regulations
  • Increase patient satisfaction scores, which not only reflect the quality of care and service, but drive reimbursements
  • Improve health outcomes for limited-English speakers to reduce readmission rates and address other quality and cost issues stemming from language barriers
  • Optimize resource utilization and improve efficiency of providers by simplifying and streamlining language services

Bridging the Gap in Language Access

To begin optimizing language access, the medical center partnered with GLOBO to provide telephone interpreting services. GLOBO proved to be an invaluable partner, helping the medical center immediately increase the availability of language services and improve patient-provider communication.

Having worked with numerous language services companies in the past, the medical center saw four key differentiators with GLOBO:

Easy Implementation: To guarantee that services were easily accessible throughout the facility, GLOBO conducted a site assessment to determine telephony needs and optimal placement of hardware. Equipped with language services that were easy to access and simple to use, physicians and hospital staff were able to provide better, more efficient care for patients.

 User-Friendly Platform: GLOBO’s user-friendly platform, GLOBO HQ, provided the medical center with a single piece of technology to order, manage and track omni-channel language services. Using GLOBO HQ, the medical center was able to streamline the management of language services at the enterprise level, simplify the user experience, and better support its diverse patient population.

Actionable Data Insights: Real-time data, accessible through GLOBO’s platform, helped the medical center draw discrete connections between performance data and the key metrics that drive reimbursement (patient satisfaction, readmission rates and medical outcomes).

Medically Qualified Linguists: GLOBO utilizes professional, experienced interpreters that are familiar with medical terminology and aware of cultural sensitivities to ensure critical details are accurately communicated and understood. With instant access to medically-qualified interpreters, language barriers never prevent or delay access to care. 


"Streamlining our language services through GLOBO HQ has been like having a giant easy button on my desk. My patients are happy, my team is happy, and I can manage and track all of our service channels in one place."

- Director of Patient Relations

Providing Meaningful Access for LEP Patients

By partnering with GLOBO to make telephone interpreting services more robust and readily available, the medical center doubled access to language services and bridged the gap between its projected and actual telephone interpreting usage.

Partnering with GLOBO, the medical center was also able to:

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Ensure compliance with legislation dictating language access in healthcare through real-time reports and data transparency
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Increase patient satisfaction scores among limited English speakers, through effective communication
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I mprove quality of care and health outcomes by eliminating risks associated with language barriers
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Optimize resource utilization by leveraging technology to make language services more accessible across department


After realizing how easy it was to order, manage and track language services through GLOBO HQ, the medical center immediately began transitioning additional services over to GLOBO, including its Video Remote Interpreting (VRI), On-Site Interpreting and Translation services. 

By centralizing language support through GLOBO HQ, the medical center reduced the administrative burden of managing language services and increased access to critical language services. More importantly, this meant that Limited English Proficient patients were getting the high-quality care that all patients deserve.

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