Language barriers make everyday tasks like scheduling an appointment more challenging than they would be for English speakers. Language services can help your hospital or healthcare facility improve experiences for patients with limited English proficiency (LEP). Let’s review how you can use interpretation and translation services to deliver a better scheduling experience for your patients and staff.
Studies show language barriers prohibit scheduling appointments in languages other than English
You don’t have to take our word for it – the National Library of Medicine has published many studies related to limited language accessibility in healthcare, including these recent research projects:
Secret shopper study
A secret shopper study compared the ease of scheduling behavioral health appointments for children in Spanish-speaking families in relation to English-speaking families. A total of 125 facilities answered both English- and Spanish-language calls.
For the English-language caller:
- 71% of facilities attempted to schedule an appointment
- 100% communicated in the caller’s preferred language
For the Spanish-language caller:
- 24% attempted to schedule an appointment
- 25% communicated in the caller’s preferred language
Study Conclusion: There were clear inequities in access to appointments for families who speak Spanish compared with English. Healthcare facilities should strengthen language access training, contracting, and oversight.
Telephone call experience of NELP patients
A qualitative study of non-English language preference (NELP) patients found that Spanish-speaking patients faced significant challenges while navigating telephone calls with primary and specialty care clinics, limiting healthcare access.
The study’s interview questions asked participants to describe their call experiences with front desk staff, focusing on interpreter availability and ancillary assistance. Participants described the strategies they used to mitigate language barriers, such as:
- requesting interpreters
- using concise English phrases
- seeking assistance from acquaintances, relatives, or primary care clinic staff
Study Conclusion: The study emphasizes the importance of creating inclusive multilingual telephone environments, standardizing interpreter access, and reflecting the diversity of the communities served.
How to eliminate scheduling language barriers
Investing in interpretation and translation services can help your staff provide a better scheduling experience for LEP patients. Here are a few ways you can use language services to improve scheduling efficiency:
Interpretation
Adding a qualified interpreter to calls helps your team communicate clearly and effectively. CyraCom can connect your schedulers with interpreters in 250+ languages through our phone interpretation services. We make it fast and easy to add an interpreter to calls, including:
- No need to speak with a live operator: CyraCom’s automated system saves time by skipping speaking to a live interpreter before reaching your interpreter.
- Custom language menus: When team members call for an interpreter, we can list your top languages first for faster connections.
- Speed dials: Our implementation team can add speed dials for top languages, such as Spanish, to make it even easier to connect with our interpreters.
In addition to your scheduler initiating a three-way call with an interpreter, you can make it easy for patients to request language services by providing:
- Interactive Voice Response (IVR): Adding an automated greeting in other languages to your telephone line (i.e., Press/Say 2 for Spanish) helps LEP callers communicate their need for interpretation when they contact your staff.
- Dedicated toll-free numbers: These numbers make it easier for LEP callers to connect with your staff with an interpreter already on the line. CyraCom provides these free-of-charge upon request.
Translation and Localization
There are many other ways you can convert content into different formats for easier scheduling and appointment management:
- Website and scheduling portal content: Translate crucial website content to help LEP people understand how to contact your team to schedule an appointment. You can even translate app or scheduling portal content for a better user experience.
- Automated emails and text messages: Do you send written appointment reminders to your clients? CyraCom’s experts can translate automated email or text messages into your top languages.
- Voiceover recordings: Similar to written appointment reminders, translating robocall messages and using voiceover services can help your LEP patients keep their appointments.
Did you know? CyraCom can help you localize your app content, including translating interactive chatbot responses. We helped a healthcare client translate their scheduling bot’s responses into Spanish, including testing the responses to ensure the correct information went through.
Ready to make scheduling appointments easier for your LEP patients?
Schedule a free language services consultation with CyraCom’s experts.
