News
Language in Healthcare—News of Interest:
Web: Language access services not commonly offered by Medicare providers (7/16/2010) "Only one-third of Medicare providers offered services that met all four of the Office of Minority Health's (OMH) Culturally and Linguistically Appropriate Services in Health Care (CLAS) standards..."
Web: Illinois Medical Malpractice Blog: Language Barriers Create Medical Errors (5/26/2010)
Web: LA Times: In Riverside, Parkview Community Hospital fined for language error (5/21/2010)
PDF: Recommendation Report from the HHS Advisory Committee on Minority Health (ACMH) (10/2009)
General Language News:
Web: Blowing the Whistle on Unqualified Military Interpreters (by Nataly Kelly and Donald A. DePalma) (9/09/2010) "A former employee who screened interpreters for Afghan languages at Mission Essential Personnel has blown the whistle on his former employer, citing that the practice of sending interpreters into battle — even though they did not speak the language(s) for which they were hired to interpret — is widespread." Past reports have shown that the problems include: interpreters who speak the wrong languages, interpreters who pretend to speak a language, interpreters without ethical principles and standards, and interpreters with no training.
Web: New Platform Makes Telephone Interpreting Possible for Every LSP (8/12/2010)
Web: Poll: Language a barrier for Latinos in schools (8/6/2010)
Web: BP Fails to Cap the Language Leak (7/19/2010) The US Dept. of Labor and other agencies have complained that "...BP was not providing limited English proficient workers with proper training in their native languages to help them understand how to properly handle contaminants" and that there a "...notable lack of bilingual staff and interpreters who can communicate with the area’s diverse population."