If you ever played baseball or softball as a kid, you probably heard the line “see ball, hit ball.”  Well, I remember thinking as a kid “yeah, okay coach I hear you, but you must not see that ball?!”  It’s not so easy to “see ball, hit ball” when the pitcher throws a curveball and a changeup along with his fastball.  You can never be sure what’s coming.

Patient care is very similar, you “see patient, hit patient.”  Excuse me, that’s “see patient, serve patient!”  However, it’s not so easy when you speak English and the patient speaks Spanish, Standard Hindi, or communicates through American Sign Language.  You can visit almost any major health care facility in the United States today and once again, you can never be sure what’s coming.

Often times when a Limited English Proficiency (LEP) patient is thrown at us, we strike out. We simply get caught off guard.  We waste precious time trying to find someone who speaks their language or we call an interpreter line and get frustrated because we have to pass the phone back and forth over and over again.

You don’t have to strike out.

This is how it works. Once the patient presents himself or herself:

1. The healthcare employee identifies the language of the patient.
2. The healthcare employee calls the video interpreter service and lets them know the language and location.
3. The video interpreter initiates a video call to the specified location.
4. The interpreter then introduces himself or herself to both the patient and employee.
5. The patient and employee talk directly to each other and the interpreter simply bridges the language barrier gap.

A little batting practice

This is another line that you probably heard playing baseball or softball and it is a great analogy for serving our patients.  Look for the fastball (English speaking patient), but be ready for the curve ball and change up.  Telemedicine isn’t so complicated and serving patients that speak another language doesn’t have to be either.  All your team really needs is a little batting practice.

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