The GLOBO Blog

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.

Transitions in care -- when a patient moves from one setting of care to another -- represent significant vulnerability for all patients. When a patient is Limited English Proficient, opportunities for miscommunication pose an added challenge in transitioning their care safely. 

One of the most underrepresented and under-treated populations in our country is the deaf and hard of hearing. Historically, deaf and hard of hearing individuals have faced great disparities in healthcare. Due to cultural and linguistic barriers, they are at high risk for poor health knowledge and inequitable access to medical and behavioral care.

Seeking care for mental health and substance abuse treatment is a difficult endeavor, and it

Are you--and more importantly, your patients--satisfied with your health system’s language services provider? If you’re unsure, it could be a sign that it’s time to upgrade.

Selecting a language services partner goes beyond looking at the price tag. After all, your language services provider plays a crucial role in helping your staff communicate with limited-English-speaking patients.

The healthcare industry’s shift to value-based care is well underway. The model advocates improving outcomes for acute and chronic patients through evidence-based, cost-effective care. Part of improving patients’ health outcomes is ensuring your medical staff can clearly communicate with every patient, regardless of language. Providing

One incremental improvement can pave the way for significant change.

Section 1557 of the Affordable Care Act (ACA) is one such improvement. The law seeks to reduce healthcare disparities by requiring covered health programs and activities to offer meaningful access to care to all patients. Under this provision, individuals with limited English proficiency, as

Risk isn’t just a strategy board game. It's a guiding principle in reaching conclusions and making decisions. Nowhere is the need to identify and quantify risk clearer than in healthcare.

Patients and medical professionals work hand-in-hand to identify health histories and risk factors as they develop care plans. Clinicians and data experts rely on patients’ medical histories and habits

At 18 percent of the U.S. gross domestic product, the healthcare industry is a mammoth web that ties together for-profit and nonprofit health systems, insurance companies, government agencies and consumers. Still, even the slightest shift in thinking--like moving from doctor-centric decision making to patient-centered care--can cause rippling effects throughout the industry.

The Institute of Medicine defines patient-centered care as “respectful of and responsive to

Every healthcare system needs to have a functional, informative website. But consider this: Are your patients able to read the website in the language they speak?

Many of your patients--about 20 percent--speak a language other than English at home, but most websites are written in English. A global survey of 3,000 individuals reveals that more than half of those individuals prefer websites written in their native tongue, or boycott English-language

The recent shift in our nation's healthcare reimbursement model (from pay-for-volume to pay-for-value) has given patient satisfaction scores a new level of significance for health systems. Though there's uncertainty surrounding the future of the Affordable Care Act, which put this model in place, value-based care is likely here to stay.

With hospital reimbursements based on outcomes and quality measures, your HCAHPS scores now have a direct and causal effect on your facility’s bottom line. So how do you improve patient satisfaction and boost HCAHPS scores?

Effective communication is a vital component to HCAHPS success. And with a growing number of limited-English speakers in the United States, so is the quality of your health system’s medical interpreting.

“In medicine, good communication is the action most highly praised by patients and families. ‘My nurse explained to me…’ and, ‘the doctor sat and talked to us…’ are phrases associated with high HCAHPS scores. You never see a comment card saying, ‘my nurse ran that infusion so well,’ or ‘my doctor picked the perfect antibiotic.’ The key to higher patient satisfaction scores is communication.”
-Darin Vercillo, MD, co-founder and CEO of Central Logic

Read on to learn 1) why limited-English patients factor so heavily into your patient satisfaction scores, and 2) how implementing quality medical interpreting at your facility aids in clearer communication, resulting in greater positive experiences for all of your patients.