USP proposed prescription labels in plain language, larger type and the patient's preferred language. The 'once' problem shows why a bad translation is worse than none.
USP proposed prescription labels in plain language, larger type and the patient's preferred language. The 'once' problem shows why a bad translation is worse than none.
Rhode Island cut its Southeast Asian and Portuguese interpreters, then spent years fixing it. Language access is cheap compared with what happens without it.
Lawmakers want every chain pharmacy in New York State to translate prescription labels, extending a 2009 city law after research found most pharmacists rarely translate at all.
New Joint Commission standards force hospitals to provide interpreting, turning a chronically under-supplied role into one of the fastest growing jobs in American healthcare.
Oregon endorses the national CMI credential and funds oral exams in five more languages, giving hospitals a single standard for judging whether an interpreter is competent.
Washington's proposed 2 million dollar cut would end Medicaid interpreter subsidies for 70,000 residents, shifting risk and cost onto clinics and patients.
Long Beach cut the Spanish simulcast of council meetings, then told housing advocates the promised interpreters were not available either.
How Joint Commission accreditation standards turned medical interpreting from a hospital courtesy into a reimbursement-linked patient-safety requirement.
Emergency patients given a professional interpreter were four times as likely to report satisfaction, and the Annals of Emergency Medicine study points to safety gains too.