1. 1 Improving Access to and the Quality of Health Care for Limited English Proficient Patients: Bringing Together Research, Interpreters, The Private Sector, and Policy Panel Organizer/Moderator: Glenn Flores, MD Director, Center for the Advancement of Underserved Children Department of Pediatrics Medical College of Wisconsin & Children’s Hospital of Wisconsin

2. 2 Background l Between 1990 and 2000 u Number of people in US speaking a language other than English at home increased from 31.8 million to 47 million u Number of Americans limited in English proficiency (LEP) rose from 14 million to 21.4 million l Projections indicate that by 2010 u At least 69 million Americans will speak a language other than English at home (a 47% increase) u At least 28.4 million Americans will be LEP (a 33% increase) l 5% of school-aged US children (4 million) are LEP u An 150% increase since 1990

3. 3 Language Barriers and Children’s Health and Healthcare l Many studies document that language problems profoundly impact multiple aspects of children’s health and healthcare u Access to care u Health status u Use of health services u Patient-physician communication u Satisfaction with care u Outcomes u Resource utilization l But despite federal requirements to provide interpreters to LEP patients and ample data on effectiveness of interpreters and bilingual providers, about half of LEP patients fail to get interpreters, and 80% of states do not have 3 rd -party payer reimbursement for interpreter services

4. 4 Session Overview l Purpose of today’s session: examine mechanisms for improving access to and quality of healthcare for LEP patients by bringing together research, interpreters, the private sector, and policy l Experts from each of these 4 fields will examine following topics: u Research: Lou Hampers, MD, MBA, Medical Director of the ED (Children’s Hospital, Denver) u Medical Interpreters: Shiva Bidar-Sielaff, Manager of Minority Community Relations and Interpreter Services (University of Wisconsin Hospital & Clinics) u Private Sector: Michael Greenbaum, CEO (CyraCom International) u Policy: Steve Hitov, Staff Attorney (National Health Law Program) l 4 presentations will be followed by 5 minutes of questions/discussion, with an additional 10-minute discussion period at session’s end

5. 5 Presentations by Panelists