The increasing number of cultural groups in the United States poses a significant difficulty for healthcare professionals in meeting fundamental requirements. According to the case of Diane Mathis, failing to address the requirements of all patients has health-related and legal repercussions. The provision of medical interpretation may assist in reducing communication obstacles with these patients. The purpose of having an interpreter is to facilitate correct communication and comprehension between the clinician and the patient.
The case provided by Karliner (2018) describes the situation of a 56-year-old Spanish woman with a complex medical history. The patient’s health record stated that she needed an interpreter to speak with medical staff. A non-Spanish-speaking doctor realized that no in-person translator had been scheduled in advance for the patient’s appointment. Eventually, a medical assistant who spoke Spanish was able to provide translation during the appointment. Before continuing with the elective surgery, the physician concluded that the patient required extra cardiac testing due to the presence of symptoms suggestive of unstable angina. The appointment was scheduled for 30 minutes but lasted almost 75 minutes. This demonstrates how clinicians and health systems struggle with communicating across linguistic boundaries.
Typically, a qualified medical interpreter is a person who has shown linguistic competence in English and a second language pertaining to medical terminology. The sharing of information between patient and caregiver is one of the most crucial aspects of delivering proper treatment. Without good communication, treating a patient may be difficult and even hazardous. The presence of a medical translator helps alleviate anxiety over treatment for both patients with limited English proficiency and clinicians. Utilizing a skilled medical interpreter to aid with communication is crucial for patient safety.
The doctor-patient connection is dependent on communication. It is easy to imagine a variety of instances in which interpreters were required and healthcare workers administered care with care and without ethical infractions. In the intervention phase of the case, there are many situations that illustrate how and to which principles providers should adhere. For example, consider the situation of the foreign female who arrives at the emergency room with stomach discomfort early in the morning. She is traveling with a man and a kid. It would be natural to attempt communication with other family members if one cannot comprehend the patient. However, providers should avoid doing so since cultural roles may exist and, most importantly, family members will be responsible for comprehending and communicating the offered information appropriately.
Given the identical circumstances, but with personnel considered to be from the same culture, one should not request their assistance. This would be a violation of one of the National Standards for Culturally and Linguistically Appropriate Services in Health and Health Care. Specifically, this individual is in violation of the primary principles, which stipulate that a provider would deliver excellent treatment and services that were effective, equitable, intelligible, and courteous. They should be sensitive to varied cultural health ideas and values, personal languages, health literacy levels, and other communication requirements.
As a healthcare administrator, one should adhere to a number of ethical norms while dealing with patients, organizations, and staff. According to the American College of Healthcare Executives’ Code of Ethics (2021), healthcare managers are accountable for providing medical care sustained with current assets. In cases where resources are limited, they must strive to ensure the existence of a resource allocation process that considers ethical implications. In the first scenario, as a health care administrator, my lack of contact with the staff would have made it impossible for them to fulfill their job obligations to the patient. There are other ethical rules that may possibly apply to these instances. It is necessary to maintain a staff environment that is culturally competent, but if that is not feasible, it is important for healthcare administrators to offer services for personnel. The current state of affairs simply reveals more conflicts in which individuals have fled and become refugees. As required by law, the United States healthcare system should continue to deliver culturally competent treatment.
The United States employs the entrepreneurial healthcare model, while the United Kingdom employs the National Health Service model, and the two have many distinguishing qualities. The healthcare system in the United States is private, it depends on individual health insurance purchases. Due to competition among health insurance companies, this health system model has been proven to provide a variety of advantages, including cost savings and advancements in medical technology. Its disadvantage, however, is inequity in medical care, which explains why the rate of uninsured Americans had been so high before the passage of the Affordable Care Act.
In contrast, the United Kingdom employs the National Healthcare System, which is a socialized system defined by tax-based funding, regulated production factors, national ownership, and universal coverage. As the government is accountable for employing healthcare facilities and managing healthcare resources, the NHS health system in the United Kingdom provides healthcare to all people on an equal basis (Thorlby & Arora, 2020). In my opinion, the basic coverage in the United Kingdom is superior to the pricey private healthcare model in the United States. There are several reports from the public that medical treatment in the United States is often costly for the general population, which is a fatal fault given that the purpose of care is to enhance the quality of life for the whole population.
References
American College of Healthcare Executives. (2021). ACHE code of ethics. American College of Healthcare Executives. Web.
Karliner, L. S. (2018). When patients and providers speak different languages. Patient Safety Network. Web.
Thorlby, R., & Arora, S. (2020). The English health care system. International profiles of health care systems, 59.