Speaking of language access: Interpreter requests and availability -- impact on patients' ratings of healthcare quality in a complex provider network, within a large and diverse Medicaid health plan, 2011

Culturally and linguistically appropriate services require access to professional medical interpreter services at the point of service. Funding such services depends on making the case to administrators for resources. Healthcare organizations are increasingly rated in published measures of the quality of services. Demonstrating how interpreter access impacts those patient ratings, helps make the case for resourcing language access. The study analyzes the association between interpreter access and patients' ratings of healthcare quality. The briefing reports on interpreter access and service ratings in 2011 at a large urban Medicaid health plan serving a diverse population through an unusually large and complex provider network. Patients in 38 provider groups were surveyed as part of a pay-for-performance (P4P) program. Patients were asked how often they needed medical interpreters; how often they requested interpretation; and how often they got interpreter services. The briefing reports the percent of patients needing, seeking, and getting interpreters; relative access between language groups; and access for adult vs pediatric patients -- to guide design of interventions to promote interpreter access. The study also tests the association between interpreter access and patients' ratings of the quality of health care. The research connects interpreter access to performance ratings that demonstrate the value of interpreter services in terms of ratings that healthcare administrators care about. This presentation reports a best practice in measuring and analyzing interpreter access and its impacts, using surveys already done by healthcare systems for other purposes.