Emergency Department Care for Patients with Limited English Proficiency: a Retrospective Cohort Study.

ABSTRACT:

Background

Limited English proficiency (LEP) patients may be particularly vulnerable in the high acuity and fast-paced setting of the emergency department (ED).

Objective

To compare the care processes of LEP patients in the ED.

Design

Retrospective cohort study.

Setting

ED in a large tertiary care academic medical center.

Patients

Adult LEP and English Proficient (EP) patients during their index presentation to the ED from September 1, 2013, to August 31, 2015. LEP patients were identified as those who selected a preferred language other than English when registering for care.

Main measures

Rates of diagnostic studies, admission, and return visits for those originally discharged from the ED.

Key results

We studied 57,435 visits of which 524

SUBMITTER: Schulson L 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC6258635 | biostudies-literature | 2018 Dec

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature