Sounds of Quality - LQIC Final Report

As America becomes more multicultural and multilingual, hospitals and clinicians face a growing challenge of how to provide high-quality care to more than 20 million people who speak or understand little, if any, English. Research has consistently shown that people with limited-English proficiency (LEP) have greater difficulty obtaining health care,1 receive less primary care,2 obtain fewer preventive services3 and are generally less satisfied with their care.4 Literature reviews have shown that LEP patients experience adverse events with some degree of physical harm or suffered permanent or severe harm or death at significantly higher rates compared to English-speaking patients.5