Reducing the Use of Ad Hoc Interpreters at a Safety-Net Health Care System.

Background: Providing effective communication assistance is critical to ensuring that patients with limited English proficiency (LEP) receive safe and high-quality health care services. Health care providers often use ad hoc interpreters such as patients' family members or friends to communicate with LEP patients; however, this practice presents risks to communication accuracy, patient safety, quality of care, and privacy.

Methods: Cambridge Health Alliance (CHA) undertook a quality improvement (QI) initiative to reduce the use of patients' family members and friends as interpreters during clinical encounters.

A framework to identify the costs of providing language interpretation services.

The availability of language services for patients with limited English proficiency has become a standard of care in the United States. Finding the resources to pay for language programs is challenging for providers, payers, and policymakers. There is no federal payment policy and states are developing policies using different methodologies for determining costs and reimbursement rates.