It’s the Law: Any Patient Not Proficient in English Is Entitled to A Professional Interpreter

Any healthcare provider, who takes federal funds, which means virtually all healthcare providers, must meet the legal requirement to provide language services for their patients who are not proficient in English. Without an adequate command of the language, these patients may take a course of action which they would not otherwise have taken and could even waive their rights without knowing it.

If subsequent medical complications arise and the individual’s family can prove that a facility or a doctor neglected to provide a qualified interpreter, legal action could justifiably be taken. Individuals practicing in the medical community have an obligation to be aware of the law and how it applies to any person that they may be called upon to treat.

A person who does not have an excellent command of English cannot enjoy the same rights as an English speaking individual in the same medical setting. When discussing medical options the patient has the right to know what is at stake and to be involved in the decision making process and cannot be deprived of those rights.

Federal law requires that language-based assistance be provided to limited English proficient (LEP) people who use federally subsidized services to make these services as open to them as they are to individuals who are proficient in English. Failure to do so can constitute national origin discrimination in violation of federal law.

State law on whether interpreters are required is different and varies from state to state. Some states have law on the issue that are generally applicable to all healthcare providers in the state and not linked to the receipt of state dollars.

Please note that because a patient brings a relative to interpret for them this does not satisfy the legal requirements for having a qualified medical interpreter available. The medical field is filled with complicated terms and instructions and unless you are an expert in both the terms of the profession and the language that they are being used in errors are not only possible, they are likely.

If a facility posts signs reading Bring Your Own Interpreter that facility is violating the civil rights of the people it serves and the obligations it accepts in using federal funds to administer services to the community.

Healthcare providers who have clients or practice in hospitals that serve a large Hispanic or Asian community should have an expert professional interpreter on staff. If that is not the case, the situation can be remedied by calling in a qualified professional interpreter.

Simply hiring bi-lingual staff members is not the answer. A bilingual receptionist, for instance, is not an expert in medical terminology and therefore cannot adequately relate medical information. To rely on non-professional interpretation for a patient is to risk a liability related claim that will far exceed the cost of hiring a professional interpreter.

Anyone who is not a certified professional interpreter should refrain from acting as an interpreter even if asked to do so by a patient. Even if a staff member is trying to act in the best interest of the patient, that person needs to be aware that it is their employer’s responsibility to provide a certified professional interpreter.

Any individual who provides voluntary interpretation services should protect himself or herself by having the patient sign a form that releases the volunteer interpreter from any liability that could result. Of course, the hospital or clinic or doctor’s office that provides the service to the patient can not sign away their responsibility and will still be found to have broken the law by not providing a professionally certified interpreter.