Language and Cultural Issues

How Can Health Care Organizations Bridge the Digital Divide?

David Grandy, national vice president, innovation for Kaiser Permanente

For most Americans, expansion of digital health care at hospitals and health systems across the nation has improved the patient experience and medical outcomes. But for individuals unable to access broadband internet service or lacking ability or desire to use web-based tools, modern medicine’s benefits are beyond their grasp. Innovators at California-based Kaiser Permanente (KP) Read More

Filling In the Gaps Left By Telemedicine

Ann Mond Johnson, CEO, American Telemedicine Association

Telemedicine came to the rescue when COVID-19 first rattled the capacity and safety of health care delivery. It didn’t take long for hospitals, providers, and patients to embrace the conveniences, especially when federal waivers allowed for expanded access to virtual care services, and payers relaxed their reimbursement guidelines. But there’s a problem: The pandemic shed Read More

Telemedicine a Saving Grace — Unless You’re Poor or Don’t Speak English

Marcia Simon

// By Marcia Simon, APR // Telemedicine came to the rescue when COVID-19 first rattled the capacity and safety of health care delivery. It didn’t take long for hospitals, providers, and patients to embrace the conveniences, especially when federal waivers allowed for expanded access to virtual care services, and payers relaxed their reimbursement guidelines. Hospitals Read More

Cross-Cultural Messaging Can Improve Patient Satisfaction

Jill Mead

“With patient experience increasingly recognized as connected to a host of measures, including patient outcomes and your bottom line, it’s essential to reach all of your target populations with education and messaging that resonate with people’s cultural backgrounds and native languages,” says Jill Mead, in-house compliance counsel for full-service language solutions company Vocalink, Inc. “More Read More

Cross-Cultural Communication Strategy: Improve Your Health System’s Patient Satisfaction Scores with Training and More Inclusion

Jill Mead

// By Jill Mead // With patient experience increasingly recognized as connected to a host of measures, including patient outcomes and your bottom line, it’s essential to reach all of your target populations with education and messaging that resonate with people’s cultural backgrounds and native languages. More than ever before in our history, U.S. hospital Read More

NYC Hospital Launches Fight Against Diabetes in Latino Community

A new educational campaign led by Lenox Hill Hospital has rallied together an impressive array of big and small public and private groups in New York City to fight against a common problem: the incidence of diabetes in the Latino community. “Hispanics are almost twice as likely as non-Hispanics to be diagnosed with diabetes and Read More

Language Access in Health Care Under a Trump Presidency

Jill Mead

Part 2: Interpreting (Spoken Word) Requirements for Health Care Organizations // By Jill Mead // Are you wondering about President Donald Trump’s current plans to “repeal and replace” the Affordable Care Act? Most people working in the field want to know the timeframe and what this will mean when it comes to interpreting (spoken word) Read More

Tailoring Messages to Better Fit the Latino Community

“Arminda “Mindy” Figueroa, the Founder and President of Latin2Latin Marketing + Communications

How to Overcome 5 Common Challenges to Health Care Organizations’ Cultural Outreach Efforts // By Lisa D. Ellis // What if you were in a foreign country and needed emergency medical care but couldn’t communicate effectively with the health care providers there? This could put your life at risk, if you and your provider couldn’t Read More

How to Dispel Stereotypes in Health Care Marketing

Sara Tack, Co-Founder and Creative Director at Smith & Jones

In the wake of the Orlando tragedy, it’s more important than ever for health care organizations to keep their messages all-inclusive. Here’s how. // By Sara Tack // Hospitals and health systems are responsible for taking care of anyone and everyone regardless of race, religion, gender orientation, or age. That’s the nature of health care: Read More

Marketing Health Care to Multicultural Audiences

// By Cheryl L. Serra // If you market health care, you know a cookie-cutter approach just doesn’t cut it. You need to determine a number of factors: Who makes health care decisions in the family? What does your audience believe about health care and health care providers? Increasingly, you also need to consider how Read More