July 7, 2009

A young mother returns to the emergency room every week to receive treat for symptoms that doctors are unable to diagnose because of her 7-year-old daughter's limited capacity to interpret effectively. Recently she became ill after taking the wrong dosage of medication as translated by her daughter.

An 18-year-old collapses after telling a girlfriend he was "intoxicado," meaning "nauseated" in Spanish. When she relays this to non-Spanish speaking paramedics, they treat him for a drug overdose. Thirty-six hours later, the doctors determine he had a brain aneurysm. Today, he is bound to a wheelchair, largely because of insufficient treatment.

The affects of language barriers in a health care setting can be steep for both practitioners and patients. The consequences can range from misunderstandings to malpractice or misdiagnosis or even death. Patient/provider miscommunication may lead to unnecessary tests, prolonged treatment and increasing health care costs for all Illinois residents.

While the denial or delay of medical care because of language barriers is discriminatory by law, many patients still do not receive the care they need. Barriers to providing adequate language assistance for non-English speaking patients include the lack of a clear policy, untrained staff, and an inability to communicate clearly the availability of language services to patients who are in need of an interpreter.

Hospitals that stay ahead of the curve work with Heartland Alliance's Cross-Cultural Interpreting Services (CCIS), which offers more than 100 interpreters and more than 30 different languages. Throughout the hospital, signage in English, Spanish, Arabic and Polish alert patients to the availability of interpreters.  When patients call their health care provider to schedule an appointment, hospital personnel routinely inquire about the need for an interpreter. If interpreting services are needed, the provider contacts CCIS to schedule an interpreter. 

CCIS is a premier language service provider in Chicago and has successfully trained over 1,000 students in the art and ethics of medical interpretation. The relationship with trained interpreters is an extraordinarily successful one on both sides. CCIS works with a group of highly-skilled, professional interpreters. Working with CCIS gives these individuals the opportunity to utilize their talents and skills to embark upon a challenging yet rewarding career.

By collaborating with other organizations in the community to identify unmet needs, underserved populations, CCIS is able to consistently provide the highest quality interpretation and document translation services possible. As a program of Heartland Alliance, CCIS contributes daily to protecting the health and well-being of thousands of patients.

Learn more about Cross-Cultural Interpreting Services

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