Background: Handoffs are critical for conveying essential information about the patient’s care, yet they often lack structure and completeness, which increases the risk of adverse events and medical errors. Patients with LEP are especially vulnerable due to communication barriers, which can exacerbate disparities in care quality and outcomes. Despite the rising number of patients with [...]

Background: Written discharge instructions improve patient understanding and self-management after hospitalization, and they are an evidence-based practice to improve patient understanding. However, over the past three decades, studies have shown that patients have poor understanding and routinely overestimate their understanding of provider recommendations, placing them at higher risk for adverse medication events and hospital readmissions. [...]

Background: Patients with limited English proficiency (LEP) have a primary language other than English. During the hospital discharge process, patients with LEP may experience challenges communicating with members of the healthcare team and in our division, they have increased readmission rates and reported increased difficulty understanding discharge instructions compared to English proficient patients. Purpose: To [...]

Case Presentation: A 70-year-old Spanish speaking female was admitted to the hospital with unstable angina. Chart review confirmed that the patient was followed in the cardiology clinic for months for unstable angina and found to have elevated coronary calcium score. Cardiac catheterization was not offered to the patient due to concerns around compliance with dual [...]