Compliance: Don't Treat Non-English Speakers Like LEPers

Why This Topic Matters

Language access affects compliance, patient communication, and operational planning in medical practices. Understanding the general requirements and available support structures can help practices evaluate whether they need language services and how to organize them.

Article Sections

1. Assess your patients' language needs and come up with a plan

   Introduces the need to evaluate language access issues in a practice and to plan for communication support for patients with limited English proficiency.

2. Best practices from Hennepin County Medical Center

   Describes broad operational approaches used by a large health system to support language access, including interpreter access and multilingual patient resources.

3. Federal law and HHS guidance

   Summarizes the federal compliance framework and references HHS guidance relevant to language-access obligations for practices receiving certain types of funding.

4. Assessing your practice's circumstances

   Covers the general factors practices are encouraged to consider when evaluating their language-access needs and available resources.