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NEWS
FROM CAMBRIDGE HEALTH ALLIANCE
Cambridge Health Alliance is One of Ten Sites in the Nation
Tapped to Help Hospitals Communicate Better with Patients of Limited
English Proficiency
Cambridge, Chelsea, Everett, Medford, Revere, Somerville, Winthrop,
MA…Cambridge Health Alliance (CHA) has been selected as one
of 10 hospitals nationwide to participate in Speaking Together:
National Language Services Network, a high-level national learning
collaborative aimed at helping to develop tested language services
programs that provide more effective and timely communications to
patients with limited English proficiency (LEP). Speaking Together
is funded by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation and administered
by the George Washington University's School of Public Health and
Health Services.
Research shows that when patients have difficulty communicating
with their healthcare providers, they are far less likely to understand
their conditions, adequately communicate symptoms, or adhere to
treatment recommendations. While all hospitals nationwide are legally
required to provide language services to patients who speak limited
English, there are no federal guidelines on the most effective ways
to communicate with these patients. In order to best serve its diverse
patient population, CHA has always fostered an atmosphere of cultural
competence.
CHA will receive a grant of up to $60,000, as well as technical
assistance and training using quality improvement measures developed
by the George Washington University Department of Health Policy.
The resources will serve to strengthen CHA's position as a leader
in the provision of interpreter services. Proven best practices
learned from CHA and other Speaking Together partners will be shared
with health professionals across the nation, giving hospitals with
linguistically diverse patients concrete and tested examples of
effective language services programs and interventions that they
can adopt.
"Just as any patient expects care from a trained, qualified
health care professional, a patient with limited English proficiency
should expect that timely interpreter services will be provided
by professionals who are specially trained in interpreting health
and medical information," said Marsha Regenstein, PhD, MCP,
associate professor in the department of Health Policy at George
Washington University and director of the Speaking Together National
Program Office.
The Robert Wood Johnson Foundation focuses on the pressing health
and health care issues facing our country. As the nation's largest
philanthropy devoted exclusively to improving the health and health
care of all Americans, the Foundation works with a diverse group
of organizations and individuals to identify solutions and achieve
comprehensive, meaningful and timely change. Information about Speaking
Together is available at www.speakingtogether.org.
Cambridge
Health Alliance is a regional healthcare system with three hospitals
and more than twenty primary care practices in Cambridge, Somerville,
and Boston's metro-North communities. As a teaching affiliate of
Harvard Medical School, Cambridge Health Alliance offers medical
residency/training programs and undergraduate learning experiences
in hospital and community settings. Cambridge Health Alliance also
includes the Cambridge Public Health Department, CHA Physicians
Organization (CHAPO), and Network Health, a managed Medicaid plan.
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Media
Contacts
Alison
Harris
Director Media Relations
Phone: 617-499-8323
Cell: 781-424-3293
Pager: 617-546-8696
aharris@challiance.org
David
Cecere
Media Relations Manager
Cambridge Health Alliance
Phone: 617-503-8428
Cell: 617-921-9613
Pager:
617-546-1879
dcecere@challiance.org
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