Our quality improvement efforts are designed to ensure quality care and member satisfaction. To achieve these goals, we continually review the aspects of our plan that affect member care and satisfaction and look for ways to improve them. One way to do this is to share with network practitioners the types of languages patients in their area may speak and to provide information on available interpreting services.
Highmark annually assesses languages spoken by the population in our service area and compares them to the data practitioners report on their network applications. Our 2017 analysis concluded that the following counties had greater than 1,000 residents speaking the following primary languages:
Language: |
Counties in which language |
Counties in which |
Spanish or Spanish Creole |
Berkeley, Jefferson, Kanawha, Monongalia, Raleigh |
— |
In addition, our telephone translation vendor provides a breakdown of all calls Highmark Member Service representatives received during the year that required interpreter services. In 2016, Member Service received 47,775 calls (a 16.6 percent decrease from 2015) from members speaking 73 different languages. The largest percentage of calls (86.8 percent) was from members speaking Spanish. The total number of calls serviced for Spanish was 40,784.
If you currently see non-English-speaking members and need access to interpretation services, various vendors are available to provide 24/7 interpretation services on a fee-for-service basis. Your office would be responsible for making and paying for all necessary arrangements. More information is available in the article “Language Interpretation for Limited English Proficient Patients” that appeared in Issue 6, 2014, of Provider News 
.
Video remote interpretation services are available to you and your patients. For details, see the Provider News article titled Video Remote Interpreting: Another Way to Meet Your Patients’ Language Access Needs .
Additionally, please review applicable laws governing language interpretation requirements.
You may wish to use the following resources to enhance interactions with patients of limited English proficiency (LEP):
. In an effort to better serve all members, we are expanding the information in our provider directory regarding the language services options that may be available at network physician practices. If you offer language services such as bilingual staff, telephone or in-person interpreters, Braille or American Sign Language, please update your practice and physician information via the NaviNet® Provider File Management function to reflect these services.
Patients and health care providers alike must have ready access to competent language services (including interpreting of oral communications and translating written materials), because language barriers increase avoidable risks to patient safety. A provider’s focus should be to ensure that the patient and provider can communicate effectively in the same language.
The risk of poor medical care being delivered to LEP patients, as well as the risk of legal exposure for health care providers, is high. This risk can be significantly reduced when competent language services are provided1. To ensure necessary language services are available when needed, providers should collect and record accurate language data for patients; recognize a patient’s language needs at each key patient encounter; and document the language services provided throughout the series of patient-provider encounters.
With a little planning, providers can identify needed language services and have the appropriate plans in place to ensure the timely provision of language services throughout the care continuum. This could include arranging for a competent interpreter before the patient’s appointment. Such actions help to improve quality and eliminate health care disparities.
