Language barriers to informed consent and confidentiality: the impact on women's health

Obtaining informed consent and maintaining confidentiality are critical to the way we practice medicine and remain a crucial part of our medicolegal responsibility to the patient and to society. Nevertheless, little attention has been paid to these topics in populations who may have limited English proficiency. Despite research suggesting that language barriers have direct effects on health and health care delivery, many health care settings do not provide professionally trained interpreters to patients who need them. This is clearly a challenge that will only grow as our nation becomes more diverse. Perhaps nowhere is this issue more significant than in women's health, given the very personal and sensitive nature of the medical exams and interventions. As health care providers, we must conduct and facilitate research on how language barriers compromise quality of care, and we must advocate for systems and policy change.