title: Comparison of throughput times for limited English proficiency patient visits in the emergency department between different interpreter modalities.
abstract: Appropriate interpretation is imperative for families with limited English proficiency (LEP). We compared throughput times for ED visits involving families with LEP based on type of interpretation provided: in-person interpretation, remote telephonic interpretation or bilingual providers. This study is a secondary analysis of a prospective study of caretaker satisfaction with different interpreter modalities. We queried the medical record for event time stamps, clinical factors and disposition. The in-person cohort (116 min) had a significantly shorter total throughput time than telephonic (141 min) and bilingual provider (153 min) cohorts (P < 0.0001), due to a difference in time seen by provider to disposition. Time seen by provider to disposition remained statistically significantly shorter for the in-person cohort when compared to telephonic interpretation when controlling for potential confounders such as admission rate (P = 0.006). In-person interpretation significantly decreased ED throughput times and may be an important consideration in the choice of interpreter modality.
authors.affiliation: Section of Pediatric Emergency Medicine, The Children's Hospital, University of Colorado School of Medicine, Denver, CO, USA. Grover.Amy@tchden.org
authors.forename: Amy
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Grover
authors.forename: Sara
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Deakyne
authors.forename: Lalit
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Bajaj
authors.forename: Genie E
authors.initials: GE
authors.lastname: Roosevelt
mesh_terms: D017028:Caregivers / Q000523:psychology; D003144:Communication Barriers; D004636:Emergency Service, Hospital / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D006801:Humans; D007802:Language; D007902:Length of Stay / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D017060:Patient Satisfaction; D013689:Telephone; D017748:Time Management / Q000379:methods / Q000458:organization & administration; D014175:Translating