Treating patients who speak little-to-no English costs individual physician practices on average $19,000 a year, according to a report released here last week.
Philadelphia-based American College of Physicians, a national organization representing 120,000 internal medicine physicians, related subspecialists and medical students released that finding last week during its annual meeting. More than 6,000 medical professionals attended the four-day event staged at the San Diego Convention Center.
The report is titled “Language Services for Patients with Limited English Proficiency: Results of a National Survey of Internal Medicine Physicians.” In it, a random sample of 2,077 physicians nationwide responded.
“Two-thirds of the internists in our survey reported having trouble with patients of limited English proficiency,” said Dr. William Golden, noting that Spanish-speaking patients represented the largest pool, especially in a region such as San Diego.
Chinese, Russian, Korean and Vietnamese, respectively, were the most predominantly reported languages after Spanish.
Golden is outgoing chair of the ACP’s board.
Outgoing President Dr. Lynne Kirk commented on the need for more standardized medical literature to be published in multiple languages to help ease the burden placed on physicians.
“The ability to communicate back and forth is extremely critical,” said Kirk. “It doesn’t matter how brilliant a physician is unless a patient understands how complex their illness is.”
According to Golden, the added costs range from paying a translator to the extra time spent trying to get non-English speakers to explain their ailments and understand directions on their treatments.
Although not directly addressed in the survey, the costs caused by unnecessary X-rays, blood work and other diagnostic tests prompted by a lack of communication is also great, Golden said.
While many physicians rely on patients’ family members to translate, the practice raises several ethical and legal dilemmas in terms of accuracy and privacy, especially when a child translates for an adult. Office staff can also be affected when paperwork and billing has to be discussed.
“I think clearly the amount of money that could be saved is enormous,” Golden said.
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Disposable Dollar Saver:
Hospitals looking to cut down on the number of deaths , and associated costs , from catheter-related bloodstream infections are the target of Poway-based Iapyx Medical.
The 12-person company founded in 1996 started selling two new disposable devices this month designed to help stabilize catheters inserted into the human body in place of standard sutures that can lead to infections.
Cost per device is less than $10. Company spokesperson Terra Giefer said a “limited number” have been sold thus far and it will be three months before purchasing agreements for further sites could be complete.
The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said there were 80,000 catheter-related bloodstream infections in U.S. intensive care units last year.
The cost to hospitals runs between $296 million and $2.3 billion annually, and between 2,400 and 20,000 deaths were related to these specific infections, according to the CDC.
Giefer declined to release revenue numbers.
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Coaching Contract:
A San Diego-based company has landed a contract with Concord-based Jenkins Athens Insurance Services to help make its 200-plus employees healthier.
American Specialty Health Inc. is launching a telephone and Internet-based program that will give Jenkins Athens employees tips and support with weight management, tobacco cessation and overall healthier living campaigns. Requests for the terms of the contract were not answered.
American Specialty was founded in 1987 and has 500 employees.
Its last reported revenues were $120 million for 2005.
Send health care news to Jessica Long at
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