Translating Rights into Access: Language Access and the Affordable Care Act

More than twenty-four million people in the United States are considered limited English proficient (LEP), and numerous studies have documented the consequences of communication barriers in healthcare. These consequences include: patients’ inability to become engaged and involved in their care; the...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:American journal of law & medicine 2012-06, Vol.38 (2-3), p.348-373
Main Authors: Teitelbaum, Joel, Cartwright-Smith, Lara, Rosenbaum, Sara
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Americans with Disabilities Act 1990-US
Civil Rights - legislation & jurisprudence
Communication Barriers
Community Networks
Disabled Persons - legislation & jurisprudence
Enforcement
Government regulation
Health care access
Health care policy
Health care services accessibility
Health insurance
Health Services Accessibility - legislation & jurisprudence
Hospitals
Humans
Information technology
Informed Consent - legislation & jurisprudence
Language Arts
Language barriers
Laws, regulations and rules
Patient Protection & Affordable Care Act 2010-US
Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act - legislation & jurisprudence
United States
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Summary:More than twenty-four million people in the United States are considered limited English proficient (LEP), and numerous studies have documented the consequences of communication barriers in healthcare. These consequences include: patients’ inability to become engaged and involved in their care; the absence of crucial information—including cultural information—essential to healthcare quality; risks to patient safety arising from the misunderstanding of physician instructions; and ethical and legal lapses stemming from the absence of informed consent. Addressing healthcare rights necessarily entails coming to grips with how to facilitate communication and the exchange of information between the healthcare system and an increasingly diverse patient population. The history of language access services in healthcare is grounded in two distinct bodies of law: the law of informed consent and civil rights law. Modern notions of informed consent law—which have their roots in the Nuremberg trials of the late 1940s—would recognize a cause of action in tort where a lack of adequate communication creates a barrier to an LEP patient's ability to consent to care. In modern healthcare law, the ability of patients to affirmatively give informed consent to treatment is considered a fundamental element of healthcare quality.
ISSN:0098-8588
2375-835X
DOI:10.1177/009885881203800205