A Colorado hospital profits from resolving language barriers
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A Colorado hospital improved care for Spanish-speaking patients by training bilingual staff as interpreters, reducing reliance on virtual interpretation and increasing patient numbers. The program saved the hospital money and improved patient care.
A Colorado hospital has improved care for Spanish-speaking patients by training bilingual staff as interpreters. The hospital, Grand River Health, used to rely on virtual interpretation or family members, including children, to communicate with patients. However, this approach can lead to errors and malpractice lawsuits. To address this, Grand River hired a program coordinator and a full-time medical interpreter and trained dozens of employees in a 40- to 60-hour course. The dual-role employees now interpret for Spanish-speaking patients a few times a day and receive a small pay bump. The program has saved the hospital money, reducing virtual interpretation costs by two-thirds, and increased the number of Spanish-speaking patients by 50%. The hospital's chief medical officer hopes the success will encourage other facilities to improve their language services.
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