JCAHO rules to address diversity, language, health literacy

The Joint Commission plans to revise hospital accreditation standards to include diversity, language and health literacy requirements for patient care processes. The commission won’t tell hospitals what technology to use but will lay out expectations and quality guidelines. For example, hospitals could train bilingual staff, hire an interpreter or purchase technology-based interpreter services.
http://www.jointcommission.org/PatientSafety/HLC/HLC_Develop_Culturally_Competent_Pt_Centered_Stds.htm

One Size Does Not Fit All: Meeting the Health Care Needs of Diverse Populations

The Joint Commission’s Hospitals, Language, and Culture (HLC) study is issuing a new research report, One Size Does Not Fit All: Meeting the Health Care Needs of Diverse Populations. This report provides a framework to help organizations meet the challenges of providing safe, quality care to culturally and/or linguistically diverse patients. [...]

Annotated Bibliography by Alice Chen, M.D.

Annotated Bibliography

New Mexico Needs Healthcare Interpreters

“Intoxicado” has been called the $71 million word. That’s the award a Florida hospital was to pay in a malpractice suit that left 18-year-old William Ramírez a quadriplegic due to the wrong interpretation of the word.
http://www.thecitizen.info/2007/01/state_needs_hea.html