Impact of interpretation method on clinic visit length

Area of Science:

• Health Services Research
• Medical Informatics
• Patient Experience

Background:

• Effective communication is crucial in healthcare settings, particularly for patients with limited English proficiency.
• The choice of interpretation method may influence healthcare delivery efficiency and patient flow.

Purpose of the Study:

• To evaluate the impact of different interpretation methods on the duration of outpatient visits.
• To compare visit lengths for patients using no interpreter, hospital interpreters, telephone interpreters, or patient-supplied interpreters.

Main Methods:

• A time-motion study was conducted in a hospital-based outpatient teaching clinic.
• Data collected included patient demographics, interpreter type, provider type, provider time, and total clinic time.
• Consecutive patient visits were observed over a six-week period.

Main Results:

• Patients using any form of interpreter had longer mean provider times (32.4 min vs 28.0 min) and clinic times (93.6 min vs 82.4 min) compared to those not requiring an interpreter.
• Telephone interpreters (36.3 min provider time, 99.9 min clinic time) and patient-supplied interpreters (34.4 min provider time, 92.8 min clinic time) were associated with significantly longer visit durations.
• Hospital interpreters did not significantly alter provider or clinic times compared to patients without interpreters.

Conclusions:

• The use of telephone and patient-supplied interpreters is associated with increased outpatient visit lengths.
• Full-time hospital interpreters do not appear to significantly extend visit times in this setting.
• Optimizing interpretation services may be key to improving efficiency in diverse patient populations.