Advancing Patient Safety: How AI Can Improve the Quality of Patient-Provider Communication

Poor communication between providers and limited-English speaking patients is known to drive up the cost of care through increased readmissions, extended hospital stays, and preventable medical errors.

Despite the widespread recognition of this challenge, some healthcare organizations and their language service providers struggle to consistently evaluate and improve the quality of medical interpreting services.

With over 68 million people in the United States who speak a language other than English, ensuring accurate medical interpretation isn’t just a compliance requirement; it’s imperative for critical patient safety, experience, and clinical outcomes. But how do we know if the interpretation encounter is good or just good enough?

The Connection Between Quality and Health Outcomes

Communication barriers can severely affect the quality of care patients with limited English proficiency (LEP) receive. Without adequate language support, LEP patients are:

• Less likely to have an understanding of their diagnosis
• Less likely to understand treatment plans or follow-up care
• Less likely to feel confident in the care they received
• More likely to have a negative experience with their care providers

Medical interpretation can positively impact patient care. According to Jennifer Winters, assistant vice president of Value Based Care at Affinia Healthcare, utilizing high-quality interpretation from the start of care is fundamental. “Recognizing the patient’s cultural and linguistic needs can create a greater level of understanding, lead to better outcomes, and reduce repeat visits, as it allows healthcare providers to see a more complete picture of the patient’s health,” said Winters.

Plenty of research highlights that patients who receive care in their preferred language tend to have better health outcomes than those who do not. In one study examining readmission rates and the length of hospital stays for LEP patients, researchers found that over 24% of patients who did not have access to an interpreter during admission and discharge were readmitted within 30 days. Additionally, patients who used an interpreter had a significantly shorter stay than LEP patients without an interpreter (2.57 days vs. 5.06 days).

The Gap in Quality Measurement

Despite the connection between implementing language support along the patient journey and health outcomes, organizations face obstacles in assessing interpretation quality. While there are guidance and quality standards for interpreters, we see an opportunity to better define how interpretation encounters are evaluated. Current monitoring practices vary across health systems and language services providers.

Health systems serving diverse populations have higher interpreting service utilization rates—one of the largest health systems we serve, on average, uses over 100,000 minutes of video remote interpreting each month. With a high volume of interpreting sessions, humans can only evaluate a small fraction of these interactions manually. The limited sampling of calls makes it difficult to ensure consistent quality and experience across the board.

Live Quality: A Proactive Approach to Interpretation Assessment

At GLOBO, “good” isn’t good enough when it comes to patient safety and experience for LEP populations. We are working toward redefining what it means to provide interpretation excellence. It begins with our new Live Quality tool, which uses AI technology to review 100% of GLOBO’s video and audio interpreting calls.

“We are thrilled to be the first in the language services industry leveraging AI to ensure all interpreter sessions are reviewed,” said Elizabeth Robeck, senior vice president of operations at GLOBO Language Solutions. “This is a real game-changer for providing greater insight into the quality of each interaction and delivering consistent experiences for patients and providers.”

Through the GLOBO Live Quality tool, we are able to quickly assess anything that might be disruptive during interpreting sessions—from backgrounds and attire to lighting and audio quality—to ensure a compliant and professional experience during every encounter.

By smartly leveraging AI technology, we can help our healthcare partners:

• Gain a better understanding of interpretation quality across all encounters
• Address issues before they impact patient care
• Improve patient understanding and confidence
• Enhance patient-provider experience and satisfaction

Advancing Toward a New Standard in Medical Interpreting

With the capability to evaluate every interaction, we are one step closer to better defining measurable standards for assessing the quality of each medical interpretation session. GLOBO Live Quality is more than just an improvement in language services—it’s a crucial step closer to ensuring safer, more effective care for all patients, no matter what language they speak.

Want to learn more about GLOBO’s AI-enabled innovations? Request a briefing session with one of our language access experts here.