The timeline and implementation milestones
The topic is as follows: Strategies to improve the safety of Limited English Proficiency patients at Massachusetts General Hospital Emergency Room. There is currently more focus on the significance of communication difficulties with limited-English-proficient (LEP) patients and how they affect unfavorable situations. According to recent studies, adverse reactions that cause harmful effects with LEP are more commonly brought on by miscommunication (Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality, n.d.). Therefore, the plan is to recruit professional medical interpreters to improve the safety of patients with LEP at the Massachusetts General Hospital Emergency Room.
In this situation, the first goal is to build a culture of advocacy for multicultural client populations’ security. The organization must develop a culture that appreciates patient care for various clinical communities. This culture should be clearly expressed by the management, properly defined in the overall corporate preparation, and endorsed by giving the employees the appropriate resources to do this effectively. The next step is to improve existing systems’ capability to spot healthcare missteps in LEP Patients (Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality, n.d.). The hospital will have to enhance patient care tools’ ability to detect important risk factors and fundamental issues, modify existing systems to recognize medical mistakes in LEP patients more effectively and connect datasets to make information more accessible.
Furthermore, it will be required to enhance the monitoring of medical mistakes for LEP patients through programs that give front-line personnel and translators the authority and resources they need, including tools and retraining (Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality, n.d.). Lastly, another goal is to address the underlying causes that can help LEP patients avoid medical errors. This can be done by enhancing interpretation services and developing methods and mechanisms to avoid medical mistakes (Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality, n.d.). Therefore, the hospital must enhance the integration of medical service delivery, offer interpreted resources, create interpreter usage and cultural sensitivity, and advocate education for healthcare professionals and employees.
Financial impact
The total expected gain is $100000.
Resources
The primary aim of the program is to make communication with LEP patients more effective by hiring interpreters, educating the staff, and employing multilingual specialists. Hence, the resources needed comprise equipment, namely laptops, and textbooks for the education program, as well as facilities in which educational classes will be held. Moreover, educational programs adapted to medical workers are needed to educate the staff.
Compliance
The work of the hospital is regulated by the Massachusetts Department of Public Health, which licenses the hospital’s work. The proposal will have to be regulated by the Public Health Council.
The proposal for improving the safety of LEP Patients at Massachusetts General Hospital is rooted in Massachusetts regulation that requires all acute care hospitals to report patients’ race, ethnicity, and preferred language. Thus, the number of acute patients in need of the services of bilingual staff can be fairly determined, and the same pattern may be applied to other patients as well.
Potential ethical challenges
Potential ethnic challenges comprise autonomy, beneficence, nonmaleficence, and justice.
Autonomy is understood as the involvement of a patient in the process of decision-making by providing him or her with full and relevant information on his or her health status, prognosis, and treatment options. The project enhances autonomy since it allows patients to understand what the doctors say and thus participate in the decision-making process.
The principle of beneficence states that the doctor should act in the interests of a patient. The proposed project upholds this principle by allowing patients to communicate their concerns to a doctor more fully, which ultimately leads to greater understanding and positive outcomes.
The principle of nonmaleficence states that doctors should be guided by the “do no harm” maxim. The proposed project allows doctors to better understand the contraindications patients may have and act accordingly. The project enhances justice by equating the rights of LEP patients with the rights of other patient groups.
References
Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality. (n.d.). Improving patient safety systems for patients with Limited English Proficiency. Web.
Massachusetts General Hospital. (n.d.-a). About Massachusetts General Hospital. Web.
Massachusetts General Hospital. (n.d.-b). CCHI’s mission, vision and values. Web.
Massachusetts General Hospital. (n.d.-c). MGH mission. Web.
Jorgensen, S., Thorlby, R., Weinick, R. M., & Ayanian, J. Z. (2010). Responses of Massachusetts hospitals to a state mandate to collect race, ethnicity and language data from patients: a qualitative study. BMC Health Services Research, 10(1), 1-8. Web.