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Improving Access to and the Quality of
Health Care for Limited English
Proficient Patients: Bringing Together
Research, Interpreters, The Private
Sector, and Policy
Panel Organizer/Moderator: Glenn Flores, MD
Director, Center for the Advancement of Underserved Children
Department of Pediatrics
Medical College of Wisconsin & Children’s Hospital of Wisconsin
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Background
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Between 1990 and 2000
 Number of people in US speaking a language other
than English at home increased from 31.8 million
to 47 million
 Number of Americans limited in English proficiency
(LEP) rose from 14 million to 21.4 million
Projections indicate that by 2010
 At least 69 million Americans will speak a language
other than English at home (a 47% increase)
 At least 28.4 million Americans will be LEP (a 33%
increase)
5% of school-aged US children (4 million) are LEP
 An 150% increase since 1990
Language Barriers and
Children’s Health and Healthcare
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Many studies document that language problems profoundly
impact multiple aspects of children’s health and healthcare
 Access to care
 Health status
 Use of health services
 Patient-physician communication
 Satisfaction with care
 Outcomes
 Resource utilization
But despite federal requirements to provide interpreters to
LEP patients and ample data on effectiveness of interpreters
and bilingual providers, about half of LEP patients fail to get
interpreters, and 80% of states do not have 3rd-party payer
reimbursement for interpreter services
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Session Overview
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Purpose of today’s session: examine mechanisms for improving
access to and quality of healthcare for LEP patients by bringing
together research, interpreters, the private sector, and policy
Experts from each of these 4 fields will examine following topics:
 Research: Lou Hampers, MD, MBA, Medical Director of the
ED (Children’s Hospital, Denver)
 Medical Interpreters: Shiva Bidar-Sielaff, Manager of Minority
Community Relations and Interpreter Services (University of
Wisconsin Hospital & Clinics)
 Private Sector: Michael Greenbaum, CEO (CyraCom
International)
 Policy: Steve Hitov, Staff Attorney (National Health Law
Program)
4 presentations will be followed by 5 minutes of
questions/discussion, with an additional 10-minute discussion
period at session’s end
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Presentations by Panelists