Cost Effectiveness of Language Services in Hospital Emergency Departments (EDs)

NCT ID: NCT01041014

Last Updated: 2015-10-01

Basic Information

• Recruitment Status: COMPLETED
• Clinical Phase: NA
• Total Enrollment: 447 participants
• Study Classification: INTERVENTIONAL
• Study Start Date: 2008-10-31
• Study Completion Date: 2010-01-31

Brief Summary

Numerous studies suggest that the use of in-person, professionally trained medical interpreters can reduce health care costs associated with diagnosing and treating patients with limited English proficiency. However, few studies have specifically addressed the question of the cost-effectiveness of language services in health care settings. This study used a randomized controlled study design to compare the cost-effectiveness of using professional interpreters with Spanish-speaking patients seen in hospital emergency departments (EDs) versus using the usual language services available to these patients. The main goal of the study was to estimate the effect that professional interpreters have on resource utilization and patient/provider satisfaction in the ED compared to the language services usually offered in these settings. Our hypothesis was that use of trained interpreters would lead to more cost-effective provision of ED services.

Conditions

Language Discordance

Study Design

• Allocation Method: RANDOMIZED
• Intervention Model: PARALLEL
• Primary Study Purpose: HEALTH_SERVICES_RESEARCH
• Blinding Strategy: NONE

Study Groups

Professional medical interpreter

Limited English proficient Spanish-speaking patients seen in the treatment arm were provided with the services of a professionally-trained medical interpreter to facilitate communication between the patient and emergency department staff

Group Type: EXPERIMENTAL

Professional medical interpreter

Intervention Type: BEHAVIORAL

All treatment interpreters were certified bilingual in Spanish and English and had completed (1) at least 40 hours of training in medical terminology, ethics, patient privacy, and basic interpreting skills; and (2) an online course in protection of human subjects.

Control, Usual Language Services

Patients randomized to the control arm receive the services of the emergency departments' usual language services (i.e., a telephone language line or ad hoc interpreters).

Group Type: NO_INTERVENTION

No interventions assigned to this group

Interventions

Professional medical interpreter

All treatment interpreters were certified bilingual in Spanish and English and had completed (1) at least 40 hours of training in medical terminology, ethics, patient privacy, and basic interpreting skills; and (2) an online course in protection of human subjects.

Intervention Type: BEHAVIORAL

Eligibility Criteria

Inclusion Criteria

• limited English proficient (LEP) Spanish-speaking patients
• adults aged 18 or older
• LEP parents of children seen in emergency departments

Exclusion Criteria

• cognitively impaired, comatose, or traumatized patients
• healthy volunteers
• prisoners
• hospital employees

• Eligible Sex: ALL
• Accepts Healthy Volunteers: No

Sponsors

Robert Wood Johnson Foundation

OTHER

Sponsor Role: collaborator

Mathematica Policy Research, Inc.

OTHER

Sponsor Role: lead

Responsible Party

Responsibility Role: SPONSOR

Principal Investigators

Ann D Bagchi, Ph.D.

Role: STUDY_DIRECTOR

Mathematica Policy Research

Stacy Dale, MPA

Role: PRINCIPAL_INVESTIGATOR

Mathematica Policy Research

Robert Eisenstein, MD

Role: PRINCIPAL_INVESTIGATOR

University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey

Locations

CentraState Healthcare System

Freehold, New Jersey, United States

Robert Wood Johnson University Hospital

New Brunswick, New Jersey, United States

Countries

United States

Other Identifiers

55879RWJF

Identifier Type: -

Identifier Source: org_study_id