Language Accessibility at Select Academic Ophthalmology Centers Across US Metropolitan Areas.

Area of Science:

• Ophthalmology
• Health Services Research
• Linguistic Health Equity

Background:

• Language concordance between patients and physicians is crucial for improving health outcomes.
• The capacity of academic ophthalmology centers to serve limited English proficiency (LEP) populations is not well understood.

Purpose of the Study:

• To assess the alignment between the language skills of ophthalmologists in US academic centers and the linguistic needs of surrounding LEP populations.
• To identify disparities in language coverage and ophthalmologist availability for diverse LEP groups.

Main Methods:

• A cross-sectional study analyzed ophthalmologists from 32 academic ophthalmology programs.
• Data on ophthalmologist language offerings and local LEP demographics were collected from institutional websites and US Census Bureau data.
• Language coverage, adjusted ratios, and ophthalmologist availability per 10,000 LEP patients were calculated and compared regionally.

Main Results:

• Overall language coverage by ophthalmologists was 54.9% in the Northeast, 52.5% in the South, 40.3% in the West, and 32.4% in the Midwest.
• Spanish and Vietnamese were the only languages consistently underrepresented across all regions.
• Ophthalmologist availability was notably low for Spanish and Chinese language speakers.

Conclusions:

• Academic ophthalmology centers exhibit significant gaps in language concordance, disproportionately affecting Spanish-speaking patients.
• These workforce-level disparities contribute to inequities in ophthalmic care.
• Targeted strategies for recruitment, training, and reporting are needed to enhance Spanish-language capacity and address regional shortages.