P2.N280: Improving Interpreter Use for Patients with Limited English Proficiency: A Health Equity Initiative

Purpose/Objectives: Approximately 25 million people in the United States have limited English proficiency (LEP). Patients with LEP represent a highly vulnerable group, facing elevated risks of gaps in insurance coverage, medical errors, and inferior clinical outcomes compared to English-proficient patients. With more than 100 languages spoken in the US, it is often not possible to achieve language concordance between patient and provider. Thus, providers must use other means to communicate with LEP patients and, if they receive federal financial assistance, are required to do so by Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964. Providers recognize they are unintentionally hindering care to patients with LEP when not utilizing an interpreter. However, they often cite various barriers to using interpreters. Our objective is to improve pediatric resident use of interpreter services for hospitalized patients with LEP from a median of 55% to above 75% by September 2024 on the pediatric unit at NYU Langone Long Island Hospital.

Design/Methods: In February 2023, the NYU health system launched a new Electronic Health Record-Integrated Interpreter (EHR-II) service. EHR-II reduced common barriers to using interpreter services through decreased wait times, auto-collecting patient and provider information, and the applications’ ability to launch directly from the patient’s chart and multiple electronic devices. Through data analytics we are now able to track interpreter utilization. We educated residents through training modules and a “show and tell” session targeted at residents was completed in October 2023. We have currently scoped our project to admissions and we measure documentation of interpreter use in our H&P notes.

Results: Our median interpreter usage has improved from a baseline of 55% above median values. Interpreter usage has increased since the start of EHR-II go-live and current interpreter usage has surpassed our goal of 75%.

Conclusion/Discussion: The ability to provide patients with interpreter services in their preferred language promotes health equity. With an improved interpretation system that helps to eliminate barriers to its use, utilization of language interpreters may also increase.