Translation and interpretation are among the services that help assure equal treatment in the health care system.

Language translation and interpretation services, when correctly provided, help to guarantee equal access to health care for all. They thus reduce “health disparities.”

An in-depth article from delawareonline.com explains how language services, along with other forms of sensitivity to patients’ cultures, are an important factor in decreasing these differences in access to and the quality of health care.

Of course, quality language services guarantee that patients and the medical staff understand each other, which clearly leads to better care.

The lack of such services, however, can affect treatment in a more indirect and complex fashion. “A practitioner who discounts the importance of these [linguistic and cultural] factors in the medical relationship risks not only alienating a patient, but not getting a complete picture of his or her health problems, said Ed Woomer, senior director of patient and family services at Alfred I. duPont Hospital for Children. That could result in a doctor missing symptoms or giving a misdiagnosis that ultimately may affect treatment and outcome.”

So besides the “technical” act of providing correct information, language services contribute to good relationships and general patient well-being, which in turn lead to better diagnoses.

The article by journalist Kelly Bothum also explains how language services correlate to more accurate use of prescription medicine, fewer unnecessary medical tests, as well as fewer repeat appointments and hospitalizations.

So in the long run, besides assuring fair treatment for all, medical language services turn out to be a good investment.

Betty Carlson

See Also

• Language Translation, Inc.
  A leading language translation and interpretation service provider for more than 20 years.