Speaking Out

By Cynthia Hedges Greising and Romana Hasnain-Wynia

Hospitals recognized for improving patient-centered communication

Being sick makes people vulnerable. For many minority patient populations, cultural, language and other barriers make it even more difficult. According to the Institute of Medicine, communication barriers are especially pronounced among vulnerable populations and contribute to reduced quality, adverse health outcomes and health disparities.

Those working to improve communication with vulnerable populations need to know what solutions are available, what others have found works best and what tools they can adopt for quality improvement in this complex area.

The American Medical Association’s Institute for Ethics, Ethical Force Program, and the Health Research and Educational Trust are building a framework and self-assessment tool to improve patient-centered communication for vulnerable populations. The AMA and HRET have recognized eight hospitals. The project, funded in part by the Commonwealth Fund, spotlights these hospitals’ innovative practices in improving health literacy, strengthening workforce training, increasing patient involvement, integrating technology and facilitating interpreter and other language assistance services.

Nearly 80 hospitals were nominated for recognition. A national panel of health care experts selected these eight:

• Caritas Good Samaritan Medical Center, Brockton, Mass.—Language assistance and community outreach programs

• Harborview Medical Center, Seattle—Language assistance and community outreach programs

•Iowa Health System, Des Moines—Health literacy programs and outreach to adult literacy community

•San Francisco General Hospital—Use of innovative techniques including technology and group encounters to supplement language assistance and health literacy

•Sherman Hospital, Elgin, Ill.—Language assistance programs and interpreter training

•University of Virginia Health System, Charlottesville—International clinic, health literacy programs and electronic tracking

•WakeMed Health and Hospitals, Raleigh, N.C.—Language assistance program and language skill tiering

•Woodhull Medical and Mental Health Center, Brooklyn, N.Y.—Language assistance and patient navigation programs

These hospitals illustrate that establishing a successful patient-centered communication program may begin small, but can progress through further development, partnering and innovative thinking. Each of the hospital programs will be summarized in a report on promising practices from which other hospitals can learn. For more information about the Hospital Recognition Program, call Jennifer Matiasek at the Institute for Ethics, AMA, at (312) 464-4710, e-mail Jennifer.Matiasek@ama-assn.org, or visit www.ethicalforce.org.

Cynthia Hedges Greising, staff writer, and Romana Hasnain-Wynia, Ph.D., vice president, research, are with HRET, Chicago.

Contact Guest Author at rhasnain@aha.org

This article 1st appeared in the November 2005 issue of HHN Magazine.

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