Belonging on Rounds: Translating Research Into Inclusive Practices for Families With Limited English Proficiency to Promote Safety, Equity, and Quality

Exploring the Telephone Call Experience of Patients with Non-English Language Preference in Primary Care vs. Specialty

BACKGROUND

Latine people, comprising 18.5% of the US population, constitute the largest ethnic minority group, with nearly one-third self-identifying as having non-English language preference (NELP). Despite the importance of the telephone in health care access, there is limited understanding of how NELP patients navigate telephone calls with primary and specialty care clinics.

OBJECTIVE

This qualitative study aims to capture how Spanish speakers with NELP characterize their telephone call experiences with primary and specialty care clinics.

DESIGN

Semi-structured interviews were conducted with 24 Spanish-speaking participants from primary care clinics with a sizeable proportion of patients who prefer to communicate in a language other than English at an urban academic medical center in Boston, MA.

PARTICIPANTS

Participants were selected from primary care clinics that were well-equipped to serve Spanish-speaking patients. A total of 24 Spanish-speaking patients with NELP, mainly women (83%), with a mean age of 55.8 years, participated. They represented diverse countries of origin, with an average length of time in the USA of 21.7 years.

APPROACH

Interview questions prompted participants to describe their telephone call experiences with front desk staff, with attention to interpreter availability, ancillary assistance, health outcomes stemming from a lack of language services, and emotional consequences of language discordance on calls.

KEY RESULTS

Patients perceived primary care clinics as providing familiarity and language concordance during telephone interactions, contrasting with specialty care clinics, seen as sources of monolingual English communication. Participants utilized various strategies, such as requesting interpreters, using concise English phrases, or seeking assistance from acquaintances, relatives, or primary care clinic staff, to mitigate language barriers.

CONCLUSIONS

The findings underscore significant challenges faced by Spanish-speaking patients with NELP in ambulatory specialty care telephone calls. The study emphasizes the importance of creating inclusive multilingual telephone environments, standardizing interpreter access, and reflecting the diversity of the communities served.

Medical Complexity, Language Use, and Outcomes in the Pediatric ICU

OBJECTIVES

To determine whether use of a language other than English (LOE) would be associated with medical complexity, and whether medical complexity and LOE together would be associated with worse clinical outcomes.

METHODS

The primary outcome of this single-site retrospective cohort study of PICU encounters from September 1, 2017, through August 31, 2022 was an association between LOE and medical complexity. Univariable and multivariable analyses were performed between demographic factors and medical complexity, both for unique patients and for all encounters. We investigated outcomes of initial illness severity (using Pediatric Logistic Organ Dysfunction-2), length of stay (LOS), days without mechanical ventilation or organ dysfunction using a mixed effects regression model, controlling for age, sex, race and ethnicity, and insurance status.

RESULTS

There were 6802 patients and 10 011 encounters. In multivariable analysis for all encounters, Spanish use (adjusted odds ratio [aOR], 1.29; 95% confidence interval [CI], 1.11-1.49) and language other than English or Spanish (LOES) (aOR, 1.36; 95% CI, 1.02-1.80) were associated with medical complexity. Among unique patients, there remained an association between use of Spanish and medical complexity in multivariable analysis (aOR, 1.26; 95% CI, 1.05-1.52) but not between LOES and medical complexity (aOR, 1.30; 95% CI, 0.92-1.83). Children with medical complexity (CMC) who used an LOES had fewer organ dysfunction-free days (P = .003), PICU LOS was 1.53 times longer (P = .01), and hospital LOS was 1.45 times longer (P = .01) compared with CMC who used English.

CONCLUSIONS

Use of an LOE was independently associated with medical complexity. CMC who used an LOES had a longer LOS.

The Impact of Non-English Language Preference on Pediatric Hospital Outcomes

OBJECTIVES

To characterize the relationship between non-English language preference (NELP) and hospital outcomes including length of stay (LOS), time of discharge, emergency department return visits, readmissions, and cost for pediatric general medicine inpatients.

METHODS

We conducted a retrospective analysis at an urban, quaternary care, free-standing children's hospital. Patients ages 0 to 18 admitted to any general medicine service between January 1, 2017, and December 31, 2019 were included. Patients were divided into 3 language preference categories: English, Spanish, and non-Spanish NELP. Single and multifactor regression analysis was used to model differences in outcome measures by language preference adjusted for technology dependence.

RESULTS

A total of 4820 patients met criteria. In adjusted models, the average LOS for English-speaking patients was 126 hours; LOS for patients who preferred Spanish was not significantly different, whereas LOS for patients with non-Spanish NELP was 50% longer (P < .001). English-speaking patients were discharged earliest in the day (mean 3:08 pm), with patients who preferred Spanish discharged 0.5 hours later and patients with non-Spanish NELP discharged 1.1 hours later than English-speaking patients (P < .001). Patients with NELP were found to be technology-dependent more frequently (P < .001) than the English preference group. Emergency department return visits, readmissions, and cost were not significantly different between groups.

CONCLUSIONS

NELP was associated with longer length of stay and discharges later in the day. The most pronounced differences occurred in patients with non-Spanish NELP who also had more frequent technology dependence and more limited access to interpreters.

Racial and Ethnic Differences in Communication Quality During Family-Centered Rounds

OBJECTIVES

To evaluate racial and ethnic differences in communication quality during family centered rounds.

METHODS

We conducted an observational study of family-centered rounds on hospital day 1. All enrolled caregivers completed a survey following rounds and a subset consented to audio record their encounter with the medical team. We applied a priori defined codes to transcriptions of the audio-recorded encounters to assess objective communication quality, including medical team behaviors, caregiver participatory behaviors, and global communication scores. The surveys were designed to measure subjective communication quality. Incident Rate Ratios (IRR) were calculated with regression models to compare the relative mean number of behaviors per encounter time minute by race and ethnicity.

RESULTS

Overall, 202 of 341 eligible caregivers completed the survey, and 59 had accompanying audio- recorded rounds. We found racial and ethnic differences in participatory behaviors: English-speaking Latinx (IRR 0.5; 95% confidence interval [CI] 0.3-0.8) Black (IRR 0.6; 95% CI 0.4-0.8), and Spanish-speaking Latinx caregivers (IRR 0.3; 95% CI 0.2-0.5) participated less than white caregivers. Coder-rated global ratings of medical team respect and partnership were lower for Black and Spanish-speaking Latinx caregivers than white caregivers (respect 3.1 and 2.9 vs 3.6, P values .03 and .04, respectively: partnership 2.4 and 2.3 vs 3.1, P values .03 and .04 respectively). In surveys, Spanish-speaking caregivers reported lower subjective communication quality in several domains.

CONCLUSIONS

In this study, Black and Latinx caregivers were treated with less partnership and respect than white caregivers.