Background: One in five Americans (64 million) speak a language other than English, and one in twelve Americans (26 million) speak English less than “very well”, classifying them as having limited English proficiency (LEP). LEP patients have difficulty navigating the healthcare system due to language barriers in understanding their treatment plans, communicating with providers and [...]

Background: Communicating with patients with limited English proficiency (LEP) can be a challenge. Despite laws and studies reinforcing the need to use appropriate interpretation services, many fail to do so. Impressing upon learners the importance of effective communication with LEP patients poses another barrier. We created an innovated immersive experience to help learners understand the [...]

Background: When people with Limited English Proficiency (LEP) access the US healthcare system, a disparity is created, leading to worse outcomes and lower quality of care.1-5 In-person interpreters are essential in circumventing these disparities, yet pitfalls to collaboration between providers and interpreters persist.6-9 This study’s goal was to assess barriers and identify opportunities for intervention [...]

Background: Patients with limited English proficiency (LEP) comprise 19% of the adult population of California (1). Communication barriers between providers and patients with LEP contribute to health disparities and associate with increased adverse events (2,3). Working with professional interpreters associates with decreased hospital length-of-stay and readmission rates (4). However, few providers receive formal training on [...]

Background: Patients with limited English proficiency (LEP) experience inferior health outcomes. The end-of-life period represents a particularly vulnerable time for LEP patients who may not receive optimal symptom management due to language barriers and other factors. There is limited data on disparities in provider practices around opioid administration based on patient LEP status, particularly at [...]

Background: In 2015, the United States had 25 million people with limited English proficiency (LEP). Most prior studies on disparities in outcomes in hospitalized patients with LEP compared to those with English proficiency were conducted outside the US and focused on outcomes such as hospital length of stay and mortality. There are also Emergency Department [...]

Background: Patients with Limited English Proficiency (LEP) face multiple barriers to care and are at risk for worse health outcomes compared to similar patients with English Proficiency (EP). In sepsis, a common diagnosis and major cause of mortality in the US, the association of LEP with health outcomes has not been widely explored. We aimed [...]

Background: Patients with limited English proficiency (LEP) face barriers communicating with their medical providers and understanding their treatment plans. Prior work shows that communication barriers limit LEP patients’ understanding of their discharge instructions. However, little is known about disparities in outcomes between LEP and English proficient (EP) patients. To address this gap, we measured the [...]

Background: The existing literature suggests there is no significant difference in risk adjusted inpatient mortality between patients whose preferred language is English and those who preferred a non-English language.1 However, these studies typically exclude patients with missing language data from analysis. Purpose: In our health system, missing language data is specified in the electronic health [...]

Background: The coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic has disproportionately affected certain racial and ethnic minority groups, many of whom may not speak english as a primary language. Patients with Limited English proficiency (LEP) have previously been shown to have worse outcomes in the hospital, including higher odds of mortality from sepsis. We investigated the association [...]