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

Language Discordance Clinical Trial

Official title:

Cost Effectiveness of Language Services in Hospital Emergency Departments

Clinical Trial Details — Status: Completed

Administrative data

• NCT number: NCT01041014
• Other study ID #: 55879RWJF
• Status: Completed
• Phase: N/A
• First received: December 28, 2009
• Last updated: September 29, 2015
• Start date: October 2008
• Est. completion date: January 2010

Study information

• Verified date: December 2009
• Source: Mathematica Policy Research, Inc.
• Contact: n/a
• Is FDA regulated: No
• Health authority: United States: Institutional Review Board
• Study type: Interventional

Clinical Trial 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.

Recruitment information / eligibility

• Status: Completed
• Enrollment: 447
• Est. completion date: January 2010
• Est. primary completion date: April 2009
• Accepts healthy volunteers: No
• Gender: Both
• Age group: N/A and older

Eligibility

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

Study Design

Allocation: Randomized, Intervention Model: Parallel Assignment, Masking: Open Label, Primary Purpose: Health Services Research

Related Conditions & MeSH terms

• Emergencies
• Language Discordance

Intervention

Behavioral:
• 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.

Locations

Country	Name	City	State
United States	CentraState Healthcare System	Freehold	New Jersey
United States	Robert Wood Johnson University Hospital	New Brunswick	New Jersey

Sponsors (2)

Lead Sponsor	Collaborator
Mathematica Policy Research, Inc.	Robert Wood Johnson Foundation

Country where clinical trial is conducted

United States, 

Outcome

Type	Measure	Description	Time frame	Safety issue
Primary	Cost-effectiveness of in-person interpreters versus other language services		June 2009	No
Secondary	Satisfaction with ability to communicate		June 2009	No