Cost Effectiveness of Language Services in Hospital Emergency Departments (EDs)

Cost Effectiveness of Language Services in Hospital Emergency Departments

Status

Completed

Phases

Study type

Interventional

Source

ClinicalTrials.gov

Registry ID

NCT01041014

Enrollment

447

Registered

2009-12-30

Start date

2008-10-31

Completion date

2010-01-31

Last updated

2015-10-01

For informational purposes only — not medical advice. Sourced from public registries and may not reflect the latest updates. Terms

Conditions

Language Discordance

Keywords

Limited English proficiency, Cost-effectiveness, Emergency Departments, Language Discordance, Satisfaction, Limited English proficient patients, Spanish-speaking patients

Brief summary

Numerous studies suggest that the use of in-person, professionally trained medical interpreters can reduce health care costs associated with diagnosing and treating patients with limited English proficiency. However, few studies have specifically addressed the question of the cost-effectiveness of language services in health care settings. This study used a randomized controlled study design to compare the cost-effectiveness of using professional interpreters with Spanish-speaking patients seen in hospital emergency departments (EDs) versus using the usual language services available to these patients. The main goal of the study was to estimate the effect that professional interpreters have on resource utilization and patient/provider satisfaction in the ED compared to the language services usually offered in these settings. Our hypothesis was that use of trained interpreters would lead to more cost-effective provision of ED services.

Interventions

BEHAVIORALProfessional medical interpreter

All treatment interpreters were certified bilingual in Spanish and English and had completed (1) at least 40 hours of training in medical terminology, ethics, patient privacy, and basic interpreting skills; and (2) an online course in protection of human subjects.

Study design

Allocation

RANDOMIZED

Intervention model

PARALLEL

Primary purpose

HEALTH_SERVICES_RESEARCH

Masking

NONE

Eligibility

Sex/Gender

ALL

Healthy volunteers

Inclusion criteria

* limited English proficient (LEP) Spanish-speaking patients * adults aged 18 or older * LEP parents of children seen in emergency departments

Exclusion criteria

* cognitively impaired, comatose, or traumatized patients * healthy volunteers * prisoners * hospital employees

Design outcomes

Primary

Measure	Time frame
Cost-effectiveness of in-person interpreters versus other language services	June 2009

Secondary

Measure	Time frame
Satisfaction with ability to communicate	June 2009

Countries

United States

Outcome results

None listed

Source: ClinicalTrials.gov · Data processed: Feb 4, 2026