Examining the association between professional language interpreter services and intensive care unit utilization among patients with non-English language preference: Evidence from a large U.S. hospital
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Dan P Kelleher1, Amelia K Barwise2, Kellie A Robbins3
1Robert D. and Patricia E. Kern Center for the Science of Health Care Delivery, Mayo Clinic, Rochester, MN, USA.
Objective:
To examine the healthcare utilization of patients with non-English language preference (NELP) who utilized a professional language interpreter (PLI) in the intensive care unit (ICU) compared to similar patients with NELP who did not utilize a PLI in the ICU.
Methods:
Single center cohort study of patients with NELP with at least one ICU admission a large academic medical center in the U.S. Midwest (1/1/2008-12/31/2022). The first model examined ICU length-of-stay (LOS) using a negative binomial and the second model examined whether a patient was readmitted to the ICU using a logistic regression with each model controlling for PLI utilization and covariates.
Results:
Patients with NELP who utilized a PLI in the ICU had 0.87-days longer in the ICU (p < 0.01) and had a 46 % decreased odds of being readmitted to the ICU (p < 0.01) than a comparable patient with NELP who did not utilize a PLI in the ICU.
Conclusion:
Providing patients with NELP with access to a PLI in the ICU can improve patient outcomes and reduce language barriers.
Practice Implications:
These results can provide the justification to potentially increase PLI staffing levels or increase the access to existing PLIs for more patients with NELP in ICUs.
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