Rates and Predictors of Professional Interpreting Provision for Patients With Limited English Proficiency in the Emergency Department and Inpatient Ward

The provision of professional interpreting services in the hospital setting decreases communication errors of clinical significance and improves clinical outcomes. A retrospective audit was conducted at a tertiary referral adult hospital in Brisbane, Australia. Of 20 563 admissions of patients prese...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Inquiry (Chicago) 2017, Vol.54, p.1-6
Main Authors: Ryan, Jennifer, Abbato, Samantha, Greer, Ristan, Vayne-Bossert, Petra, Good, Phillip
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Age Factors
Audits
Australia
Clinical significance
Communication
Communication Barriers
Emergency medical care
Emergency Service, Hospital - organization & administration
Ethnicity - statistics & numerical data
Female
Gender
Health care
Hospitals
Humans
Inner city
Inpatients - statistics & numerical data
Interpreters
Language
Languages
Legislation
Length of stay
Medical referrals
Multiculturalism & pluralism
Original Research
Patients
Physicians
Population
Quality
Referrals
Retrospective Studies
Services
Translating
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Summary:The provision of professional interpreting services in the hospital setting decreases communication errors of clinical significance and improves clinical outcomes. A retrospective audit was conducted at a tertiary referral adult hospital in Brisbane, Australia. Of 20 563 admissions of patients presenting to the hospital emergency department (ED) and admitted to a ward during 2013-2014, 582 (2.8%) were identified as requiring interpreting services. In all, 19.8% of admissions were provided professional interpreting services in the ED, and 26.1% were provided on the ward. Patients were more likely to receive interpreting services in the ED if they were younger, spoke an Asian language, or used sign language. On the wards, using sign language was associated with 3 times odds of being provided an interpreter compared with other languages spoken. Characteristics of patients including their age and type of language spoken influence the clinician’s decision to engage a professional interpreter in both the ED and inpatient ward.
ISSN:0046-9580
1945-7243
DOI:10.1177/0046958017739981