Workforce Language Services

Dr. Pauline W. Chen writes for the New York Times that during the care of a liver transplant patient named Armando, she would often use the few words she knew in Spanish and gestures to communicate. Admittedly, asking “Dolor?” and giving a thumbs up was a shortcut that she and many doctors resort to when time and resources are short.

Doctors may not know how much this shortcut can compromise a patient’s well being.

For over a decade now, researchers have documented the effects of language barriers on health care. Patients who speak English poorly or not at all face longer hospital stays, an increased risk of misdiagnoses and medical errors, and decreased access to acute and preventive care services, often regardless of socioeconomic or insurance status. These disparities exist, in part, because of a lack of access to trained medical interpreters and translation services.

But according to a new study published in The Journal of General Internal Medicine, doctors’ assumptions about communication — what they deem important in a conversation — may also have a role.

The study points out that many doctors neglect to use an interpreter simply because they don’t deem it important. If they can get by with minimal language skills for a quick check-in with a patient, they assume, why bother?

The fact is, everyone wants to talk to their doctor. Click here to read what doctors and hospitals are doing to understand their patients.