The Bi-Lingual Patient Challenge

The Hispanic population in this country is growing at a tremendous rate. Currently, there are over 40 million Hispanics in the U.S. with a projection of over 100 million by the year 2050, representing 25% of the the total U.S. population. New growth adds new challenges to providing quality care to patients who speak Spanish as their primary language. Overcoming communication barriers in pursuit of quality care for this new demographic is best accomplished with bi-lingual staff member(s) who can render spoken-word interpretations to patients both in the office and over the phone. Making a patient language initiative available is a plus for any practice and should be considered in a practice's marketing effort. Reaching this rapidly growing, yet underserved patient population, in their own language, can dramatically increase a practice's ability to provide improved, quality care – to everyone in its market area. Quality care starts with a language friendly marketing initiative that specifically targets foreign language patient and ends with a significantly improved clinical experience for them and the medical facility too.

Partial Source: Healthcare Executive – Nov./Dec. 2006