unit 5 health information
Recent audit results revealed several data errors associated with hospital encounters of patients who speak English as a second language. Create a scenario that illustrates what could happen if patient identity management and language access policies are not followed. Explain errors that could occur due the MPI infrastructure, misconduct of medical staff, lack of a translator being present, and any other possible event(s). Your scenario should cover a full hospital encounter starting from patient registration to patient discharge. For each error, (1) evaluate the healthcare standards and/or laws that specifically address patient information, privacy, and language access policies, and (2) recommend a solution.
A patient comes into a large hospital from the ER. The patient is experiencing leg pain and inflamation. The patient recently took a long trip from their native country of Moracco and had to take several long legs on an airplane to arrive at their daughter's home in Arizona. The whole family is traveling for a joyful event, the marriage of the patients eldest daughter. The patients name is Alli. This is his first time in the United States and does not speak any English. His native tongue is Ariabic, specifically Moroccan Ariabic the native language of Morocco. He can comunicate freely with his family and has no need for English as his daugher and future son in law can serve as translators in public for him. His daughter is much to busy with the final wedding plans to accompany her father to the hospital. She believed him to have a minor issue that has to due with the long trip and his age. So Alli's wife, Jeanika comes to the hospital with her husband but she also speaks no English and serves as no help to her husband in communication with the hosptial staff.
Upon admission to the ER he is asked a series of questions about his pain and symptoms. Although Alli is able to comunicate his name, age and simple demographics he has difficulty in understanding the questions the staff is asking about his condtion. The hospital has inturpretation available but the Ariabic interpreter is on call and will not be in for several hours. So in lue of an actually interpreter Alli is provided a telephonic interpretation device called a Mosiac. Alli can give his symtoms orally into the device which then provides a translatted interpretation back to the hospital staff. There is a live person at the end of the line, but not even the hosptial staff knew that this person was not required to be nor was a certified translater.
Alli tells the translator telephonically that he woke to a pain in his left calf the morning following his long trip to the United States. He says that the pain and swelling in his leg had gotten consitently worse. Now on his second day in the US, early in the morning his wife and him travel to the hospital for treatment. The swelling is painful at a 7 out of 10 and is hot to touch. It feels like there is a lump developing under the skin in his calf and it does not seem to be getting better. Alli is not sure if he is having an allergic reaction to something or perhaps was unknowingly bitten by a spider or something else. Despite his age, at 79 Alli is relatively healthy and does not take an medication. He is slighlty overweight and since retiring several years prior he is much less active that he used to be.
