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Track
2-5a
Research
Improving Non-English Speaking
Patient Access to Health Care
Through Improved Interpreter Services
In 1995 Hennepin County Medical Center's Quality Council
"sanctioned" a quality improvement team to improve interpreter services
in the institution. The Medical Center provides interpreters for over
a dozen languages. The interpreters receive training specific for medical
interpretation to assist in providing the health care needs of patients.
The problem identified through the quality improvement project was that
interpreters with booked schedules were being interrupted constantly from
their health care interpreting to address non-health care needs of "walk-in"
patients. These interruptions were negatively impacting the quality of
services provided and resulting in internal and external customer dissatisfaction.
After a period of data collection and analysis, using the Juran quality
improvement model, a Spanish language line was established to address
the non-health care needs of customers.
The Spanish language line has contributed to strengthening the
ties between the Medical Center and the Spanish-speaking community. The
goal of the institution is to continue to build ties with its non-English
speaking community through replication of this successful remedy. This
presentation will present an overview of the quality improvement project
beginning with the data defining the problem statement, process for data
collection and analysis leading to defining and implementing a most successful
remedy as documented by data and customer feedback.
Carole R. Roth, PhD,CCC, BC-NCD (Board Certified in Neurologic Communicative
Disorders)
Director of Speech-Language Pathology, Assistant Professor,
Dept. of Communicative Disorders, University of Minnesota
Speech-Language Pathology
Hennepin County Medical Center
701 Park Avenue
Minneapolis, MN 55415
Phone: 612-347-2602
Fax: 612-904-4326
CAROLE.ROTH@CO.HENNEPIN.MN.US
www.HCMC.org
Carole R. Roth, PhD, is Director of the Speech-Language
Pathology Department at Hennepin County Medical Center (HCMC) and is adjunct
faculty at the University of Minnesota. She has been trained as a quality
improvement leader and facilitator. She was team leader for a hospital
"sanctioned" quality improvement team focused on improving interpreter
services to HCMC, a health care provider for a culturally diverse population
of underinsured and uninsured immigrants and residents of Minnesota. Dr.
Roth and her staff regularly work with interpreters in assessing the communication
impairments of adults and children and in developing treatment techniques
consistent with culturally diverse practices of the individuals served.
Dr. Roth is a contributing author of the text: Multicultural Neurogenics,
edited by Gloriajean Wallace. NEXT >
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